Category: Android P

Android P Developer Preview 4 (Beta 3) Released for Beta Testers

The fourth Developer Preview and 3rd beta of Android P has been released to those in the Android Beta Program today.  The update is a few days later than expected.  According to the timeline Google published when Android P was announced, Developer Preview 4 was slated for a late June release.

The update is just under 300 MB and is already rolling out to those who have devices registered in the Beta Program.  I currently have my Google Pixel XL in the program and the OTA update has already been received and installed.  As far as new things are concerned, you won’t find much.  There are a tweaks here and there throughout the build but no major feature changes.

Older Chrome OS Devices Likely Not to Get Updated to Android P Framework

A new comment in Chrome OS Gerrit suggests that some older Chromebooks will not be getting updated to the Android P framework, including the 2015 Google Chromebook Pixel.  It isn’t entirely surprising, and not entirely confirmed for that matter, that Google would begin to pear back updates for the framework.

For those who aren’t familiar, the Android Framework is more-or-less the underpinnings that allows Chrome OS to install and run Android apps.  Right now that framework is based on Android Oreo but testing has long been in progress with Android P.  But, like some phones, there comes a point where the devices themselves can’t support the new framework or it causes performance issues.  While not confirmed, that’s likely the case for some older Chromebooks that can run Android apps.

Developer Preview 3 for Android P Released

As expected based on the timelines provided by Google, Developer Preview 3 of Android P has been released for those in the Android Beta Program.  The release of this second public beta is an important milestone for the next version of Android as it finalizes the API set for the build so developers can begin in earnest testing and updating their apps to be compatible with them.

There are not a significant number of changes between the first beta build and this one overall.  Most of the updates are fixes behind the scenes as well as updating some security permissions, particularly how the phone call log is accessed.  There are also 157 new emoji in this build.

New Commit Suggest Face Authentication to be a System Level Part of Android

A new commit in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) repository suggests that facial authentication is coming to Android as a system level API.  It could mean that from system point of view, Android P could well allow for facial authentication on devices, assuming of course that the hardware to do so is built into the device.

Currently, for manufactures to support facial authentication (like OnePlus for example), they have to build their own app and leverage existing APIs, mostly around the fingerprint authentication.  That works, obviously, but it isn’t as optimized as it could be and it is dependent upon OEMs to build the supporting software & hardware to make it happen.  This commit would more-or-less standardize things for Android.

Download the Android P Developer Preview 2 Default Wallpaper

With the release of Developer Preview 2 for Android P yesterday, there was also a new wallpaper amongst all the new features of the build.  The thing is, if you upgraded your phone to DP2 from the Android Beta Program, you didn’t get the new wallpaper… until now.

Thanks to Semih Celik, it is now available for everyone.  Semih posted it on his G+ page yesterday and I have no added it to the wallpaper page here on the site as well as to this post after the break.

Android P Public Beta Opens With Expanded Device Support

As expected, Google has announced that Developer Preview 2 and the first public beta of Android P, the next major version of the mobile platform, is now available.  The announcement came at Google I/O today along with a slew of new features that will be coming to Android P.  Perhaps more exciting is that for the first time, Google will be opening up the public beta to non-Google devices.  Those devices, beyond the Google Pixel lineup, include the Sony Xperia XZ2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Nokia 7 Plus, Oppo R15 Pro, Vivo X21, OnePlus 6, and Essential PH‑1.

As for Android P itself, there are a lot of new features.  First, the UI has moved to a more gesture driven experience with the ability to enable swipes around the UI to open up the app tray and a new app system navigation view.

How to Stream The Google I/O 2018 Keynote Today

Today in Mountain View, California, the home of Google, the tech giant will be kicking off their annual developers conference.  Google I/O is one of the more important events and is the second developer conference going on this week behind Microsoft’s Build conference.

The event kicks off this morning at 10:00 am Pacific (1:00 pm Eastern) with the keynote address from Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai.  You can watch the streaming of his keynote on the Google I/O site, https://google.com/io for free.

Android Popsicle?  Or is Google Trolling Everyone With a Wallpaper

Ah, the fun of trying to read between the lines… or in this case, a wallpaper.  Google released a set of wallpapers yesterday on their Instagram account for Spring 2018.  That in itself is not news.  The Mountain View company has released such seasonal wallpapers for several years now.  But what grabbed everyone’s attention was this one:

Google Spring 2018 Wallpapers 6

Google Spring 2018 Wallpapers 6

The Android faithful know the next major version of Android is currently referred to as Android P.  And Popsicle starts with P.  Is Google giving us a bold and clear hint?

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