Android O developer preview already launched with performance optimization and many new features.
Here are the updates from Android O :-
01. Background limits :
In Android O there is a limit for the apps in background mainly in three areas.
i)Implicit broadcasts
ii)Background services
iii)Location updates
Because of this it’s easier to create apps that have minimal impact on a user’s device and battery.
02.Notification:
In Android O notifications are redesigned to provide an easier and more consistent way to manage behavior and settings.
Here are the new updates :-
Notification channels: Notification channels are app defined categories for notification content. Up to Android N users can either block all notifications or allow all notifications.But in Android O users can now block or change for each channel individually.
Snoozing : Users can snooze notification to reappear at a later time.
Timeouts: You can now set timeout using Notification.Builder.setTimeout() after which notification will be cancelled.
Background colors: You can now set and enable a background color for a notification. You should only use this feature in notifications for ongoing tasks which are critical for a user to see at a glance. For example, you could set a background color for notifications related to driving directions, or a phone call in progress. You can also set the desired background color using Notification.Builder.setColor(). Doing so allows you to use Notification.Builder.setColorized() to enable the use of a background color for a notification.
03. Autofill APIs:
It always takes a time to fill the data for login, registration, credit card information etc. Sometimes users gets frustrated to fill the data repetitively or when they make mistakes. Android O introduces new autofill api to manage these data. Users can select an autofill app, similar to the way they select a keyboard app.Once user select autofill app it’s easier to fill the data into forms and it’s secure.
04. PIP for handsets and new windowing features:
Picture in Picture (PIP) display is now available on phones and tablets, so users can continue watching a video while they’re answering a chat or driving a car. Apps can put themselves in PiP mode from the resumed or a pausing state where the system supports it — and you can specify the aspect ratio and a set of custom interactions (such as play/pause). Other new windowing features include a new app overlay window for apps to use instead of system alert window, and multi-display support for launching an activity on a remote display.
05. Font resources in XML:
Fonts are now a fully supported resource type in Android O. Apps can now use fonts in XML layouts as well as define font families in XML — declaring the font style and weight along with the font files. There is no need to bundle fonts as assets. Fonts are compiled in R file and are automatically
available in system as a resource.
06. Adaptive icons:
Android O introduces adaptive launcher icons. Adaptive icons support visual effects, and can display a variety of shapes across different device models.
07. Wide-gamut color for apps:
Android developers of imaging apps can now take advantage of new devices that have a wide-gamut color capable display. To display wide gamut images, apps will need to enable a flag in their manifest (per activity) and load bitmaps with an embedded wide color profile (AdobeRGB, Pro Photo RGB, DCI-P3, etc.).
08. Keyboard navigation:
With Chrome book supporting android application, google has introduced more reliable, predictable model for keyboard with arrow and tab navigation supports.
09. AAudio API for Pro Audio:
AAudio is a new native API that’s designed specifically for apps that require high-performance, low-latency audio. Apps using AAudio read and write data via streams.
10. WebView enhancements:
Android O provides several APIs to help you manage the WebView objects that display web content in your app. These APIs, which improve your app’s
stability and security, include the following:
Version API
Google SafeBrowsing API
Termination Handle API
Renderer Importance API
11. Wi-Fi Aware:
Android O adds support for Wi-Fi Aware, which is based on the Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) specification. On devices with the appropriate Wi-Fi Aware hardware, apps and nearby devices can discover and communicate over Wi-Fi without an Internet access point.
12. App categories:
Android O allows each app to declare a category that they fit into, when relevant. These categories are used to cluster together apps of similar purpose or function when presenting them to users, such as in Data Usage, Battery Usage, or Storage Usage. You can define a category for your app by setting the android:appCategory attribute in your <application> manifest tag.
13. Permissions:
Android O introduces a new permission, android.permission.ANSWER_PHONE_CALLS, which allows apps to answer incoming phone calls programmatically. This permission is classified as dangerous and is part of the PHONE permission group.
14. Cached data:
Android O gives better guidance and behaviors around cached data. Each app is now given a disk space quota for cached data, as returned by getCacheQuotaBytes(File).When the system needs to free up disk space, it will start by deleting cached files from apps that are the most over their allocated quota. Thus, if you keep your cached data under your allocated quota, your cached files will be some of the last on the system to be cleared when necessary. When the system is deciding what cached files to delete inside your app, it will consider the oldest files first (as determined by modified time).
15. Pinning shortcuts and widgets:
Android O introduces in-app pinning of shortcuts and widgets. In your app, you can create pinned shortcuts and widgets for supported launchers,
subject to user permission.