Since releasing Android 15 in September, the Android growth crew has been exhausting at work on the following main launch, and at this time it’s saying the primary developer preview for Android 16.
In accordance with the crew, this launch marks the beginning of a quicker launch cycle for Android APIs. Beforehand, the key API launch would occur in Q3, however subsequent 12 months it should occur in Q2. This higher aligns with the gadget launch schedule and can enable extra units to get the Android launch sooner, the crew defined.
As a result of API being launched earlier, the Android crew recommends builders do compatibility testing a couple of months earlier to make sure apps are prepared in time.
After the Q2 launch, there shall be one other main API launch in This autumn that can embody developer APIs and have updates, optimizations, and bug fixes, however gained’t embody new conduct adjustments that might have an effect on apps.
Moreover, there’ll nonetheless be quarterly Android releases, and the Q1 and Q3 updates that come between the API releases will embody incremental updates, the Android crew defined.
By way of new options within the working system itself, new additions to Android on this developer preview embody:
- The flexibility to embed the picture picker into an app’s view hierarchy, in order that customers can choose media with no need to offer an app with overly broad permissions
- Help for well being data in Well being Join
- The most recent model of the Privateness Sandbox on Android
The Android growth crew additionally shared that it hopes to attain platform stability by March 2025 to present app builders loads of time to check their apps earlier than the ultimate launch, usually in late summer season or early fall.