Source | marques brownlee, Android Authority
The Android N developer preview gives us a sneak peek into
what Android Nougat will look like when it officially arrives later this year.
Of course, developer previews quite often contain features that won’t make it
to the final release but there’s still plenty to get excited about, so let’s
dive right in. Here are all the Android 7.0 Nougat features from the latest
Android N preview updates as well as others we expect to see in future. Please
note that some features have been officially confirmed by Google, while others,
“confirmed” by the developer preview, could still disappear before Android 7.0.
Android Nougat release date
Rather than wait until Google I/O 2016, Google decided to
surprise us all by releasing the first Android N developer preview on March 9,
two full months earlier than expected. The Android N preview went live for the
Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 (Wi-Fi and LTE), Nexus Player and Pixel C
on the Android Developers site. The first beta release candidate appeared
during Google I/O on May 18, 2016.
Confirmed Android N features:
Project Tango and Daydream VR support
No surprises here either. Following the official
announcement of Daydream VR and updates on Project Tango at Google I/O 2016, we
now know that both platforms will be officially supported in Android 7.0. We’ll
just have to wait a little while longer to see exactly how they get
implemented.
New messaging app – Allo and Duo
Prior to Google I/O, multiple rumors circulated regarding a
new messaging app based on the Rich Communications Services (RCS) platform. RCS
allows for much more than just talk and text to be shuttled around, including
video chat, file sharing and instant messaging. During I/O, Google announced
Allo and Duo, companion messaging and video chat apps scheduled to arrive later
this year and ship with Android N. Allo will be the first home for the new
Google Assistant.
Rumored Android N features:
Stock stylus support
As we previously reported, Samsung may have hinted at stock
stylus support in Android N by planning to retire several of the main S Pen
features from its Look API. The Samsung developers page makes the notation that
these features “will be deprecated in Android N” – a term used to describe a
soon-to-be-obsolete feature. The natural assumption is that these stylus
features will appear in stock Android 7.0. The same thing happened with battery
saving in Lollipop and fingerprint support in Marshmallow.
Improved Smart Lock for Passwords
Android Marshmallow introduced Smart Lock for Passwords, a
basic Google password manager that can store your app passwords so that any
time you re-install an app you will be automatically logged in. Combined with
Android’s revitalised app backup, the idea is that the whole process of setting
up a new device is seamless. The only problem is that not that many apps
support Smart Lock for passwords yet so its value is still largely
underutilized. With any luck, Android N will see a lot more apps supporting the
feature.
No Android N app drawer
Prior to MWC 2016 we were told that Android N would ditch
the app drawer, one of Android’s most iconic features. Then, during the show,
the evidence started piling up, with the LG G5 and HTC One X9 arriving without
an app drawer and the Galaxy S7 having an option to remove it. While the new
Xperia X range does have an app drawer, Sony’s Marshmallow concept provides a
“classic” and “modern” view – with and without the app drawer.
We’re very happy to see the app drawer is present and
accounted for in the Android N developer preview, and while we can’t guarantee
it will stay there, at this stage it certainly looks like our worse fears have
been laid to rest. Now, we simply have to figure out why so many Android OEMs
seem to have it in for the feature in their current flagships?
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