Many expected the upcoming Google I/O 2016 to be the event that sees the Android N Developer Preview version come to life.
However, the search engine giant went for a surprise and instead rolled out the operating system months earlier than the expected date.
The Android N developer preview has been here since March and as of now, volumes of developers have been running tests on their devices that include Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus Player, Google Pixel C as well as all the latest Google Nexus smartphones and tablets. Google usually makes use of feedback from third-party developers and its in-house team to make incremental changes to the operating system.
The latest Android N Developer Preview comes in as the first major iteration of this beta version. As usual, expect this operating system to feature lots of fixes for bugs discovered in the initial version. In addition, Google has gone further to perfect some functions as well as include new features in the new developer preview.
Wi-Fi, multiwindow and other issues fixed
Users of the Android N Developer Preview 2 will enjoy fixes for some issues that have been bothering them. For instance, issues that meant connecting to concealed Wi-Fi networks was a problem have been taken care of in the new update. In addition, the problems associated with the multiwindow system have been solved. In fact, the new multiwindow system now lets users adjust the height and width of each open window.
Other than coming in with various bug fixes, this Android N Developer Preview 2 also brings a new Vulkan 3D rendering application programming interface (API) that lets developers of 3D apps gain direct access to the GPU. What this update ensures is that performance of apps with heavy graphics is drastically improved. In fact, the new Vulkan 3D API, when compared to the OpenGL ES, has the power to boost the performance by up to 10 times.
There are even better things coming in with the latest Android N Developer Preview 2. Users of this OS will now be able to customize app shortcuts as well as access new emoji.
As before, the new Android N Developer Preview 2 will only be available for a handful of Google Nexus devices including the Pixel C tablet. Those using the initial release of the operating system on the Nexus Player will have to wait a little bit longer before the OS shows up. You can find out more details from the Android developers page.