Get a View of Wear 2.0's Upcoming Standalone Apps

Google announced that it releases Android Wear 2.0 developer preview 4. A key part of Android Wear 2.0 is letting watch apps work as standalone apps, so users can respond to messages, track their fitness, and use their favorite apps, even when their phone isn't around. Users will be able to search, install, and use apps without ever leaving their device. The standalone nature of the Android Wear 2.0 app will offer a big boost in search performance and app responsiveness.

Here is the view how other developers are enhancing their user experience with standalone apps.

Glide

Glide is the fastest live video messenger app on the planet. Using the Wear Complications API, Glide is now able to live broadcast directly from the watch face. By tapping contact shortcuts from the watch face, you can now launch directly into a conversation. This makes wrist-based communication more accessible and effortless.

Foursquare

Foursquare City Guide will lead you to the perfect spot anywhere in the world. With these app travelers around the world use Foursquare's Android Wear app to discover hidden gems and be in the know about the best places to eat, drink and explore. With their upcoming 2.0 app, the team has a clean new canvas for rich notifications giving users an immersive experience with Foursquare content.

Lifesum

Lifesum helps you make better food choices, improve your exercise, and reach your health goals. Your personalized health and lifestyle guide. The upcoming 2.0 experience complements the existing Lifesum mobile app and as a standalone app, it will allow users to more easily track water and meals throughout the day.

Check out https://goo.gl/qM7Fym for the updates about Android Wear Developer Preview 4.

Source: Android Developers Blog

Google Releases Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview 4

Developer Preview 4 includes a number of new APIs that will help you build more powerful standalone apps. Get ready for the next version of Android Wear! Support stand-alone Wear devices and apps. Create enhanced user interaction and glanceable experiences. Test your apps on Wear devices.

A key part of Android Wear 2.0 is letting watch apps work as standalone apps, so users can respond to messages, track their fitness, and use their favorite apps, even when their phone isn't around. The developer preview includes everything you need to test your existing apps on a variety of hardware configurations. The fourth developer preview became available on 13th Dec 2016 and it comes with some big changes that suggest the wear team is putting the extra time to good use.

Reintroduction of Swipe-to-dismiss

The most significant change in this release is the return of "swipe-to-dismiss" – the navigation model where users swipe right across the screen to return to a previous screen or exit an app. This was the navigation model of Android Wear 1.0, but it was swapped out with the first 2.0 developer preview in favor of using the physical power button as a Back button. Many users given the feedback that the swipe-to-dismiss gesture from Android Wear 1.0 is an intuitive time-saver.

• Swiping an activity from left to right will result in it being dismissed and the app will navigate down the back stack.
• Developers can wrap the containing views of a Fragment or Views in general in the new SwipeDismissFrameLayout to implement custom actions such as going down the back stack when the user swipes rather than exiting the activity.
• Hardware button now maps to "power" instead of "back" which means it can no longer be intercepted by apps.

This change may actually re-open the door for watches that don't have hardware buttons. Whether people want that or not may be up for debate, but a mandatory hardware button for navigation had been a topic of some discussion after the first developer preview was released.

Compatibility with Android Wear 1.0 Apps

Also making a return from Android Wear 1.0 is support for apps packaged inside of apps. The third developer preview added a miniature version of the Play Store to handle apps for the watch, but in doing so, Google disabled support for the older method of packaging apks for Wear inside of apks for phones. This particular piece of information wasn't widely communicated, so there was a great deal of confusion about apps that didn't appear to be installing properly. Both types of installations should now work with DP4, but Google is still strongly encouraging developers to use the standalone model since it gives more choices to users and improves usability through the Play Store.

Seamless Authentication

Google's final major addition follows along with the theme of simplifying actions on a watch using a paired phone. To make authentication a seamless experience for both Android phone and iPhone users, Google has created new APIs for OAuth and added support for one-click Google Sign-in. Developers can now call an API on a watch that opens up a sign-in prompt on a paired phones. This will allow users to choose accounts and read details about permissions on a more appropriately sized screen.

In-App Billing

A new feature called In-app billing support added along with paid apps, this gives you another way to monetize android wear app or watch face. A developer can now add in-app purchases to Wear apps without relying on paired apps or workarounds. Authorization for purchases is still protected by a 4-digit PIN.

Source : Android Developers Blog 

Google Announcing updates to its Internet of Things Platform : Android Things and Weave

With each new generation of Android devices, most companies push incremental changes to their hardware line-up. One innovation that has captured the minds of generations of consumers since the days of The Jetsons is known as the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Internet of Things (IoT) will bring computing to a whole new range of devices. Two important updates for IoT developer platform announced by Google to make it faster and easier. Today Google announced it is releasing a Developer Preview of Android Things, a comprehensive way to build IoT products with the power of Android, one of the world's most supported operating systems. Now any Android developer can quickly build a smart device using Android APIs and Google services while staying highly secure with updates direct from Google.

Image Credit : Android Developers Blog

Furthermore, Google is incorporating several familiar Android development related tools to work with Android Things such as Android Studio, the Android SDK, Google Play Services, and Google Cloud Platform. In conjunction with these updated tools, Google is also updating the Weave communication layer to allow for easier access to cloud content and to even allow for interaction with services like Google Assistant. Eventually, Google will merge its Weave with Nest Weave to take advantage of the existing integrations available through the popular Nest home products and to ease the development transition of existing products.

Google mentions that several popular smart home devices such as the Philips Hue light bulbs and Samsung’s SmartThings already implement Weave, so developing for the platform should be a no-brainer. The Weave Device SDK already supports cloud communication layer code for devices such as the aforementioned light bulbs, switches, and thermostats but will be updated in the future with support for additional appliance types. In addition, the company will provide a mobile application API available for Android and iOS developers – so even smartphones and smartwatches will be able to interact with smart home devices.

Source : Android Developers Blog

Android 7.1.1 Nougat Update Released

Last month the news leaked about the Release date of the Android 7.1.1 update for Google's pixel and Nexus devices. Now Google has published that Android 7.1.1 Nougat update released as of 5th Dec 2016 in Android developers blog.  Android 7.1.1 release is for Pixel and Pixel XL devices and the full lineup of supported Nexus devices. Device makers can get their hands on the latest version of android source code at Android Open Source Project (AOSP) 

Android 7.1.1 Nougat

Android 7.1.1 is an incremental release that builds on the features already available on Pixel and Pixel XL devices, adding a handful of new features for consumers as well as optimizations and bug fixes on top of the base Android 7.1 platform API level 25.

Android 7.1.1 factory images and over-the-air (OTA zip files) update are available for the Pixel and Pixel XL devices, as well as Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G (Android One) devices. The user can also download and flash this update manually. The latest version of the support library 25.0.1 is also available for a user to add image keyboard support, bottom navigation and other features for devices running API Level 25 or earlier. With this update, developers can optimize their app by providing round icons and adding app shortcuts. 

What is Next?

Google Said " We'll soon be closing open bugs logged against Developer Preview builds, but please keep the feedback coming! If you still see an issue that you filed in the preview tracker, just file a new issue against Android 7.1 in the AOSP issue tracker. You can also continue to give us feedback or ask questions in the developer community.

As mentioned back in August, we've moved Android Nougat into a regular maintenance cycle and we're already started work on refinements and bug fixes for the next incremental update. If you have an eligible device that's currently enrolled in the Android Beta Program, your device will automatically receive preview updates of upcoming Android Nougat releases as soon as they are available".

Source : Android Developers Blog

Google Play service to drop support for Android Gingerbread, Honeycomb in early 2017

In an Android Developers blog - post-Google announced that Google play services and firebase for Android will support API level 14 at a minimum. Version 10.0.0 of the Google Play services client libraries, as well as the Firebase client libraries for Android, will be the last version of these libraries that support Android API level 9 (Android 2.3, Gingerbread). The next scheduled release of these libraries, version 10.2.0, will increase the minimum supported API level from 9 to 14 (Android 4.0.1, Ice Cream Sandwich) and will be released by early 2017. In other words, for the new version play services to work, smartphones will require a minimum of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and above. As a result, the lower version Android 2.3 Gingerbread and Android 3.0/3.1/3.2 Honeycomb will be dropped by next year.

The Gingerbread platform is almost 6 years old. Introduced first in 2012, Google Play services are Google’s background service and API package for Android. It’s the company’s way of delivering updates and improvements for its services and apps to Android users without actually upgrading the whole operating system. Google explains that one of the reasons for discontinuing support for Gingerbread is that many Android developers have already discontinued support for Gingerbread in their apps. This helps developers build better apps by making use of newer capabilities of the Android platform. And it works similarly for Google as well. By making this change, Google will be able to provide a more robust collection of tools for Android developers with greater speed.

As for the users who are still on the older version, you may use version 10.0.0 of Google Play services and Firebase as you are currently. Developers are being asked to use a minimum of API level 14, and those opting to follow these guidelines will no longer be able to deliver updates to older devices. However, users will still be able to download the most recently published version of the app that does target their device.

Looking how the Android distribution stands right now, a very little percentage of users are still working with these versions of Android OS. According to the Android distribution numbers for the first week of November, Gingerbread (2.3.3 and 2.3.7 combined) has reduced its presence from 1.5 percent to 1.3 percent. Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.3 and 4.0.4 combined) joins Gingerbread with 1.3 percent, a decrease from the previous 1.4 percent. This is in comparison to the new version, where Marshmallow runs on 24 percent devices, while Lollipop (5.0 and 5.1 combined) leads the charts with 34.1 percent market share, followed by KitKat with 25.2 percent. Jelly Bean (4.1.x and 4.2.x combined) comes third with 13.7 percent.

To be clear, developers can continue to use version 10.0.0 of Google Play services and Firebase with Gingerbread and Honeycomb devices. Once you upgrade to version 10.2.0 or above, however, you will have to either target API level 14 as the minimum supported version or build multiple APKs to support devices with an API level less than 14. Given that Gingerbread and Honeycomb will continue to be slowly but surely phased out, the former is your best option.

Final update to Android 7.1 Developer Preview

Android 7.1.1 includes the developer features already available on Pixel and Pixel XL devices and adds optimizations and bug fixes on top of the base Android 7.1 platform. With Developer Preview 2, you can make sure your apps are ready for Android 7.1.1 and the consumers that will soon be running it on their devices said by android developers on 22nd November - update to the  Android 7.1 Developer Preview. This developer preview expanded to the range of devices such as Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, and Pixel C. 

What's in this update?

 

Developer Preview 2 is a release candidate for Android 7.1.1 that you can use to complete your app development and testing in preparation for the upcoming final release. In includes near-final system behaviors and UI, along with the latest bug fixes and optimizations across the system and Google apps.

It also includes the developer features and APIs (API level 25) already introduced in Developer Preview 1. With Developer Preview 2, Android is also updating the SDK build and platform tools in Android Studio, the Android 7.1.1 platform, and the API Level 25 emulator system images. The latest version of the support library (25.0.1) is also available for you to add image keyboard support, bottom navigation and other features for devices running API Level 25 or earlier.

Google suggested If you have a supported device that's enrolled in the Android Beta Program, you'll receive an update to Developer Preview 2 over the coming week. If you haven't enrolled your device yet, just visit the site to enroll your device and get the update. In early December, Android 7.1.1 is going to roll out to the full lineup of supported devices as well as Pixel and Pixel XL devices.

How to Get started ?

 

Now is the time to optimize your apps to look their best on Android 7.1.1. To get started, an update to Android Studio 2.2.2 and then download the API Level 25 platform, emulator system images, and tools through the SDK Manager in Android Studio.

After installing the API Level 25 SDK, you can update your project's compileSdkVersion to 25 to build and test against the new APIs. If you're doing compatibility testing, we recommend updating your app's targetSdkVersion to 25 to test your app with compatibility behaviors disabled.

If you're adding app shortcuts or circular launcher icons to your app, you can use Android Studio's built-in Image Asset Studio to quickly help you create icons of different sizes that meet the material design guidelines. You can test your round icons on the Google APIs emulator for API Level 25, which includes support for round icons and the new Google Pixel Launcher.

If you're adding image keyboard support, you can use the Messenger and Google Keyboard apps included in the preview system images for testing as they include support for this new API.

 

Android Studio and the Google APIs emulator let you quickly create and test your round icon assets.

Scale your tests

 

To help scale your testing, make sure to take advantage of Firebase Test Lab for Android and run your tests in the cloud at no charge during the preview period on all virtual devices including the Developer Preview 2 (API 25). You can use the automated crawler (Robo Test) to test your app without having to write any test scripts, or you can upload your own instrumentation (e.g. Espresso) tests. 

Publish your apps to alpha, beta or production channels in Google Play

 

After you've finished final testing, you can publish your updates compiled against, and optionally targeting, API 25 to Google Play. You can publish to your alpha, beta, or even production channels in the Google Play Developer Console. In this way, push your app updates to users whose devices are running Android 7.1, such as Pixel and Android Beta devices.

Get Developer Preview 2 on Your Eligible Device

If you have an eligible device that's already enrolled in the Android Beta Program, the device will get the Developer Preview 2 update over the coming week. No action is needed on your part. If you aren't yet enrolled in the program, the easiest way to get started is by visiting android.com/beta and opt-in your eligible Android phone or tablet -- you'll soon receive this preview update over-the-air. As mentioned above, this Developer Preview update is available for Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, and Pixel C devices.

Source : https://developer.android.com/