What's new in Android N

The yearly cycle of Android upgrades has started early in 2016, with the first Android N Developer Preview dropping a full month and a half ahead of the annual Google I/O developer conference. That change in and of itself should be an indicator that big things are at work here, even if they're not entirely apparent at first.

And because this is Android we're talking about, it gets a little complicated. There are lots of things that go into a major new release. Open-source code drops. Device factory images. New APIs for developers. Minute features for a small subset of Android devices that, while important, will change once the mass market starts seeing updates many months from now.

There's an awful lot to take in here. This is our living document explaining it all. It will be updated as we get new releases ahead of the "final" (nothing is ever "final") public release of Android N

Alphabetically, "N" is next. We don't yet know what version number Android N will be — Android 7.x is a pretty good guess, but not certain, as Google is only predictable in its unpredictability.

And we also don't yet know what the nickname will be. Google chief Hiroshi Lockheimer teased that"We're nut tellin' you yet." Maybe that's leaning toward "Nutella" – which pretty much is the most tasty treat ever to be tasted — or maybe it's some other sort of "nut." Or a red herring. Point is, we don't have any idea just yet.

But Google's giving you a chance to name the next version of Android. You can submit your idea here. (Though Google still reserves the right to veto things.)

We do, however, have a fairly good idea for when we'll actually see Android N be released. We've been told to expect five preview builds in total, with the final public release (including the code push to the Android Open Source Project) to come in Q3 2016. That lines up with previous releases, between October and the end of the year.

That's all ancillary. What is Android N? It's a whole lot of change, from the looks of it.

Android Developer Beta

Until Android N, Developer Previews were a decidedly nerdy affair. They still are, in many respects, but they've also become much more accessible to a lot of people.

Android developer previews really have one goal: To give app developers (and to a different extent, hardware partners) an early look at upcoming features, and the code that powers them.

Google still keeps these previews relatively close to the vest. You have to have one of Google's "Nexus" devices to run the Developer Preview. Generally those have been limited to a scant handful of devices. This year, with Android N, we've got six. The Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P phones all can run the N preview, as can the Nexus 9 and Pixel C tablets. The Sony Xperia Z3 also is supported as well. The aging Nexus Player — Google's Intel-powered media player from 2015 — also can run the N preview and is important for a few media-specific (TV-specific, actually) reasons. (And, now, the Huawei Watch and LG Watch Urbane.)

The Android Developer Beta makes it far easier to play, however. Previously you'd have to manually flash factory restore images to the supported devices. That generally involves some command-line work and SDK-type stuff — not really anything a casual user wants or needs to get involved in. But the Android Developer Program allows anyone with a supported device to opt in and receive over-the-air updates for the Android N Developer Preview. All your app data remains as it was (unless and until you opt out, in which case you'll receive a downgrade over-the-air "update" and end up with a clean device.

That's good and bad. It makes it easier for anyone with a Nexus device (and for these purposes the Pixel C fits that bill) to enter the Android Developer Beta.

Android N will make updates easier on everyone

Update in Beta 1: We had an inkling that Google was about to shake things up when it comes to software updates, and at Google I/O we got the full lowdown. Android devices will be able to update much in the same way as Chromebooks do, with system updates installing in the background and applying themselves after a reboot.

Here's how Google puts it:

Android N also adds some important new features to help keep users safer and more secure. Inspired by how Chromebooks apply updates, we're introducing seamless updates, so that new Android devices built on N can install system updates in the background. This means that the next time a user powers up their device, new devices can automatically and seamlessly switch into the new updated system image.

So what's new in Android N?

If you had to boil what a major release of Android (or any operating system) means to just a single acronym, it'd be this: APIs. That's short for Application Program Interface, and it's what allows apps to do, well, anything. There are a ton of new ones coming in Android N, and we've only gotten a small taste thus far. More should be announced as we get new preview builds.

Some, however, are more anticipated than others.

Multi-window

This is the big one we've been waiting for. Multi-window support — that is, two apps running side by side on the same display — was hidden deep within the first Android M preview in 2015, before being unceremoniously removed in a subsequent build. It was never really meant for public consumption, nor was it ever really publicly mentioned.

That is, until Google released the Pixel C tablet in late 2015. It's a bit of an odd product with an odd 1√2 aspect ratio — the same as a standard sheet of paper. That lets you fold it in half and have thesame aspect ratio — perfect for running apps side by side.

Only, the Pixel C launched without that feature. So it was pretty clear then that we'd probably see multi-window with the N release in 2016. And we now have it. And not just on tablets — it works on phones as well. This is going to be one feature that developers need to take a look at very quickly.

Multi-window will be available for phones and tablets. On the Nexus Player, apps will run picture-in-picture. And Google says "manufacturers of larger devices" (note that it doesn't say tablets or TVs or what) will have access to a "freeform" mode that lets the user scale apps however they want in addition to side-by-side multi-window.

Direct reply notifications and bundled notifications

We've been able to interact with notifications for a good long while now. Not every app supports this, but look at Gmail as an early example. Pull down the notification, and archive an email without actually having to open it. Brilliant.

Google Hangouts took this a step further, allowing you to reply to messages right from the notification try, without having to open the app, or the message itself. It's slick.

You'll now be able to have bundled notifications. Or, rather, better bundled notifications. Think off it as more information in one place. Have a half-dozen emails come in through Gmail? You'll be able to see more subject lines at one time in the notification area.

Projects Doze and Svelte

Two major features from the past year are Doze and Svelte. The former has to do with all but shutting down your phone when it's not in use, allowing minimal communications to come through and maximizing battery life when the phone was at rest and not plugged. In Android N, it gets smarter, saving even more battery when the screen is merely off. That's a big deal.

Also a big deal is even better memory management and power consumption as part of Project Svelte. The short version here is that apps shouldn't wake up as often when a change in network connectivity occurs. If you've got a lot of apps that use the particular broadcast receiver in question (and you almost certainly do), then this will help a lot. The catch here is that the app has to be updated for these Android N features for them to work.

More widespread is that Google is reining in how apps interact with the camera. Instead of every app that hooks into the camera waking up any time the camera fires off for a picture or video, they'll stay dormant. That's a good fix, and it applies to any application, not just one that targets Android N.

                              

New accessibility features

Android N includes a new screen zoom feature as part of the accessibility suite. It appears to be pretty straightforward, making everything on the screen larger and easier to see. There are some behind the scenes things added in N to help with this.

Equally important is that you'll see accessibility features — specifically magnification gesture, font size, display size and TalkBack — available during the initial setup process. That's a really good change.

Data saver

Not everybody wants to churn through their data plan just as fast as possible. Android N adds a new tool in settings to help with this. When you turn the Data Saver feature on in settings, "the system blocks background data usage and signals apps to use less data in the foreground wherever possible." You'll be able to whitelist any apps you want to ignore the Data Saver setting.

But Data Saver only kicks in when you're on a "metered" connection, and your Android device generally is smart enough to tell when this is. A mobile network is the obvious example here, but there can be metered Wi-Fi networks as well (as set by the DHCP lease).

In addition to living the in settings, Data Saver gets a notification icon and can be toggled in quick-settings.

Language and locale

This one gets to be a little confusing for those of use who only do English, but Android N is making languages and locations a good bit smarter, particularly for app developers. Say your device is set to the Swiss version of French, but an app only contains a different regionalization of French. Previously it would fail over to, say, an English default — without actually knowing (or caring) if the user understands English.

Now it'll be smarter about things and look for similar regionalization before running back to the default language.

New emoji

Good news, everyone! You're getting new emoji in Android N. These will be based off Unicode 9, and will look more like people and less like yellow, muppety blobs. (This includes things like bacon, facepalms and different skin tones.)

The bad news? Stock Android devices (and their emoji) make up a small percentage of the total number of Android devices out in the world. So maybe you'll see these. And maybe you won't.