14 Issues to know for Android builders at Google I/O!

Posted by Matthew McCullough, Vice President, Product Administration, Android Developer

At present, at Google I/O 2023, you noticed how we’re ushering in necessary breakthroughs in AI throughout all of Google. For Android builders, we see this know-how serving to you out in your movement, saving you time so you’ll be able to concentrate on constructing participating new experiences in your customers. Time saving instruments are going to be much more necessary, as your customers are asking you to help their experiences throughout an increasing portfolio of screens, like massive screens and wearables particularly. Throughout the Google and Developer Keynotes, Android confirmed you quite a few methods to help you on this mission to assist construct nice experiences in your customers; learn on for our 14 new issues to know on the earth of Android Developer (and sure, we additionally confirmed you the newest Beta for Android 14!).

BRINGING AI INTO YOUR WORKFLOW

#1: Leverage AI in your improvement with Studio Bot

#2: Generate Play Retailer Listings with AI

Beginning right now, if you draft a retailer itemizing in English, you’ll be capable to use Google’s Generative-AI know-how that will help you get began. Simply open our AI helper in Google Play Console, enter a few prompts, like an viewers and a key theme, and it’ll generate a draft you’ll be able to edit, discard, or use. As a result of you’ll be able to at all times evaluation, you’re in full management of what you submit and publish on Google Play.

BUILDING FOR A MULTI-DEVICE WORLD

#3: Going huge on Android foldables & tablets

Google is all in on massive screens, with two new Android gadgets coming from Pixel – the Pixel Fold and the Pixel Pill – and 50+ Google apps optimized to look nice on the Android massive display ecosystem, alongside a variety of apps from builders world wide. It’s a nice time to speculate, with improved instruments and steering like the brand new Pixel Fold and Pixel Pill emulator configurations in Android Studio Hedgehog Canary 3, expanded Materials design updates, and inspiration for gaming and creativity apps. You can begin optimizing for these and different massive display gadgets by studying the do’s and don’ts of optimizing your Android app for giant screens and watching the Growing top quality apps for giant screens and foldables session.

#4: Put on OS: Watch faces, Put on OS 4, & Tiles animations

Put on OS energetic gadgets have grown 5x since launching Put on OS 3, so there’s extra purpose than ever to construct an important app expertise for the wrist. That can assist you in your means, we introduced the brand new Watch Face Format, a brand new declarative XML format in-built partnership with Samsung that will help you convey your nice concept to the watch face market. We’re additionally releasing new APIs to convey wealthy animations to tiles and serving to you prepare for the following technology of platform updates with the Put on OS 4 Developer Preview. Be taught extra about all the newest updates by trying out our weblog, watching the session, and looking on the model new Put on OS gallery.

#5: Android Well being: An interconnected well being expertise throughout apps and gadgets

With 50+ apps in our Well being Join ecosystem and 100+ apps built-in with Well being Providers, we’re enhancing Android Well being choices so extra builders can work collectively to convey distinctive well being and health experiences to customers. Well being Join is coming to Android 14 this fall, making it even simpler for customers to regulate how their well being knowledge is being shared throughout apps instantly from Settings on their gadget. Learn extra about what we introduced at I/O and take a look at our Well being Providers documentation, Well being Join documentation, and code samples to get began!

#6: Android for Automobiles: New apps & experiences

Our efforts in vehicles proceed to develop: Android Auto shall be obtainable in 200 million vehicles this yr and the variety of vehicles with Google built-in will double in the identical interval. It’s simpler than ever to port current Android apps to vehicles and produce totally new experiences to vehicles, like video and video games. To get began, take a look at the What’s New with Android for Automobiles session and take a look at the developer weblog.

#7: Android TV: Compose for TV and extra!

We proceed our dedication to bringing the most effective of the app ecosystem to Android TV OS. At present, we’re saying Compose for TV, the newest UI framework for creating lovely and useful apps for Android TV OS. To study extra, learn the weblog submit and take a look at the developer guides, design reference, our new codelab and pattern code. Additionally, please proceed to present us suggestions so we will proceed shaping Compose for TV to suit your wants.

#8: Assistant: Simplified voice experiences throughout Android

Constructing Google Assistant integrations inside acquainted Android improvement paths is even simpler than earlier than. With the brand new App Actions Check Library and the Google Assistant plugin for Android Studio–which is now additionally obtainable for Put on and Auto–it’s now simpler to code, simpler to emulate your consumer’s expertise to forecast consumer expectations, and simpler to deploy App Actions integrations throughout major and complementary Android gadgets. To get began, take a look at the session What’s new in Android improvement instruments and take a look at the developer documentation.

MODERN ANDROID DEVELOPMENT

#9: Construct UI with Compose throughout screens

Jetpack Compose, our fashionable UI toolkit for Android improvement has been steadily rising within the Android group: 24% of the highest 1000 apps on Google Play are utilizing Jetpack Compose, which has doubled from final yr. We’re bringing Compose to much more surfaces with Compose for TV in alpha, and homescreen widgets with Look, now in beta. Learn extra about what we introduced at Google I/O, and get began with Compose for constructing UI throughout screens.

#10: Use Kotlin all over the place, all through your app

The Kotlin programming language is on the core of our improvement platform, and we hold increasing the size of Kotlin help for Android apps. We’re collaborating with JetBrains on the brand new K2 compiler, and are actively engaged on integration into our instruments equivalent to Android Studio, Android Lint, KSP, Compose and so on and leveraging Google’s massive Kotlin codebases to confirm compatibility of the brand new compiler. We now suggest utilizing Kotlin DSL for construct scripts. Watch the What’s new in Kotlin for Android discuss to study extra.

#11: App High quality Insights now include Android Vitals stories

Android Studio’s App High quality Insights lets you entry Firebase Crashlytics problem stories instantly from the IDE, permitting you to navigate between stack hint and code with a click on, use filters to see solely a very powerful points, and see report particulars that will help you reproduce points. Within the newest launch of Android Studio, now you can view necessary crash stories from Android Vitals, all with out including any further SDKs or instrumentation to your app. Learn extra about Android Studio Hedgehog for updates in your favourite Android Studio options.

AND THE LATEST FROM ANDROID & PLAY

#12: What’s new in Play

Get the newest updates from Google Play, together with new methods to drive viewers development and monetization. Now you can create customized retailer listings for extra consumer segments together with inactive customers, and shortly for site visitors from particular Google Advertisements campaigns. New itemizing teams additionally make it simpler to create and keep a number of listings. Optimize your monetization technique with worth experiments for in-app merchandise and new subscription capabilities that can help you supply a number of costs per billing interval. Study these updates and extra in our weblog submit.

#13: Design lovely Android apps with the brand new Android UI Design Hub

To make it even simpler to construct compelling UI throughout kind elements, take a look at the brand new Android UI Design Hub. A complete useful resource to grasp create user-friendly interfaces for Android with steering – sharing takeaways, examples and do’s and don’ts, figma starter kits, UI code samples and inspirational galleries.

#14: And naturally, Android 14!

We simply launched Android 14 Beta 2, bringing enhancements to the platform round digicam and media, privateness and safety, system UI, and developer productiveness. Get enthusiastic about new options and adjustments together with Well being Join, extremely HDR for pictures, predictive again, and ML. ML Equipment is launching new APIs like face mesh and doc scanner, and Acceleration Service in customized ML stack is now in public beta so you’ll be able to ship extra fluid, decrease latency consumer experiences. Be taught extra about Beta 2 and get began by downloading the beta onto a supported gadget or testing your app within the Emulator.

This was only a small peek of a few of the new methods Android is right here to assist help you. Don’t overlook to take a look at the Android monitor at Google I/O, together with a few of our favourite talks like Cut back reliance on passwords in Android apps with passkey help and Constructing for the way forward for Android. The brand new Exercise embedding studying pathway can be now obtainable to allow you to distinguish your apps on tablets, foldables, and ChromeOS gadgets. Whether or not you’re becoming a member of us on-line or in-person at one of many occasions world wide, we hope you will have an important Google I/O – and we will’t wait to see the good experiences you construct with the updates which can be popping out right now!