Grow your business on Google Play with help from the new Playbook for Developers app

Grow your business on Google Play with help from the new Playbook for Developers app 

Source : http://android-developers.blogspot.in/2016/06/grow-your-business-on-google-play-with.html

Today, the Playbook for Developers mobile app is now generally available for Android devices. The app helps you stay up-to-date with the features and best practices to grow your business on Google Play. Here’s how you read and watch content in the Playbook for Developers app: Choose topics relating to your business interests to personalize My Playbook with curated articles and videos from Google and experts across the web. Explore the in-depth guide to Google’s developer products, with articles grouped by what you’re trying to do: develop, launch, engage, grow, and earn. Take actions on items – complete, share, save, or dismiss them – and read your Saved articles later, including offline if they’re written in the app. A data connection will be needed to read articles and videos from across the web.

The app supports Android 5.0 and above. We will be adding and updating content in the app to help you stay up-to-date and grow your business. Get the Playbook for Developers app today and then give us your feedback.

This is the second app we’ve released for Google Play developers. Get the Google Play Developer Console app to review your app's performance statistics and financial data, get notified about your app's status and publishing changes, and read and reply to user reviews on the go.

Thanks to Dom Elliott, the Google Play team

Android N APIs are now final, get your apps ready for Android N!

Android N APIs are now final, get your apps ready for Android N! 

Source : http://android-developers.blogspot.in/2016/06/android-n-apis-are-now-final.html

As we put the finishing touches on the next release of Android, which will begin to roll out to consumers later this summer, we’re releasing the 4th Developer Preview of Android N, including the Android N final SDK. And thanks to your continued feedback over the last three releases, all of the APIs are now final as well. If you’ve already enrolled your device in the Android Beta Program, (available at android.com/beta) you will receive an update to this Developer Preview shortly.

Get your apps ready for Android N

The final SDK for Android N is now available for download through the SDK Manager in Android Studio. It gives you everything you need to develop and test against the official APIs in the Android N platform. Once you’ve installed the final SDK, you can update your project’s compileSdkVersion to API 24 to develop with the Android N APIs and build and test on the new platform, for new features such as Multi-window support, direct-reply notifications, and others. We also recommend updating your app’s targetSdkVersion to API 24 to opt-in and test your app with Android N specific behavior changes. For details on how to setup your app with the final SDK, see Set up the Preview. For details on API level 24 check out the API diffs and the updated API reference, now hosted online.
Along with the Android N final SDK, we’ve also updated the Android Support Library to 24.0.0. This allows you to use multi-window and picture-in-picture callbacks, new notification features, methods for supporting Direct Boot, and new MediaBrowser APIs in a backward compatible manner.

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

Now that you have a final set of APIs, you can publish updates compiling with, and optionally targeting, API 24 to Google Play. You can now publish app updates that use API 24 to your alpha, beta, or even production channels in the Google Play Developer Console. In this way, you can test your app’s backward-compatibility and push updates to users whose devices are running Developer Preview 4.
To make sure that your updated app runs well on Android N, as well as older versions, a common strategy is to use Google Play’s beta testing feature to get early feedback from a small group of users -- including developer preview users — and then do a staged rollout as you release the updated app to all users.

How to Get Developer Preview 4

Developer Preview 4 includes updated system images for all supported Preview devices as well as for the Android emulator. If you are already enrolled in the Android Beta program, your devices will get the Developer Preview 4 update right away, no action is needed on your part. If you aren’t yet enrolled in Android Beta, 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 (and later) preview updates over-the-air. As always, you can also download and flash this update manually. The N Developer Preview is available for Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, and Pixel C devices, as well as General Mobile 4G [Android One] devices and the Sony Xperia Z3.
Thanks so much for all of your feedback so far. Please continue to share feedback or requests either in the N Developer Preview issue tracker, N Preview Developer community, or Android Beta community as we work towards the consumer release later this summer. We’re looking forward to seeing your apps on Android N!


Thanks to Dave Burke, VP of Engineering.

Android version history

              The version history of the Android mobile operating system began with the release of the Android alpha in November 2007. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008. Android is continually developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), and has seen a number of updates to its base operating system since the initial release.

              Versions 1.0 and 1.1 were not released under specific code names, but since April 2009's Android 1.5 "Cupcake", Android versions have had confectionery-themed code names. Each is in alphabetical order, with the most recent being Android 6.0 "Marshmallow", released in October 2015.

              Currently Android N is Out for Developer Preview 4. As for a public release date, expect to be downloading it for certain phones come October 2016.

Feature of Android N

• Multi-Window. 
• Direct reply notifications and bundled notifications. 
• Projects Doze and Svelte. More Info.. 
• Android For Work. More info.. 
• Data saver.  
• Direct Boot. For More info..
• Scoped directories tighten access to storage. More Info..  
• Picture-in-picture and TV recording.
• Support Java 8.
• Faster reboots after updates.
• Smarter quick settings.

Code Name	Version number	Initial release date	API level
	1.0	September 23, 2008	1
	1.1	February 9, 2009	2
Cupcake	1.5	April 27, 2009	3
Donut	1.6	September 15, 2009	4
Eclair	2.0–2.1	October 26, 2009	5–7
Froyo	2.2–2.2.3	May 20, 2010	8
Gingerbread	2.3–2.3.7	December 6, 2010	9–10
Honeycomb	3.0–3.2.6	February 22, 2011	11–13
Ice Cream Sandwich	4.0–4.0.4	October 18, 2011	14–15
Jelly Bean	4.1–4.3.1	July 9, 2012	16–18
KitKat	4.4–4.4.4, 4.4W–4.4W.2	October 31, 2013	19–20
Lollipop	5.0–5.1.1	November 12, 2014	21–22
Marshmallow	6.0–6.0.1	October 5, 2015	23
N	Developer Preview 4

What is android?

              Android is a mobile operating system (OS) currently developed by Google, based on the Linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It has been the best-selling OS on tablets and on smartphones since 2013, and has the largest installed base.

              Android's user interface is mainly based on direct manipulation, using touch gestures that loosely correspond to real-world actions, such as swiping, tapping and pinching, to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard for text input. The operating system's current design language is Google's Material Design. Android's primary app store is Google Play, with over one million Android applications ("apps") published and 50 billion downloads as of July 2013. In addition to touchscreen devices, Google has further developed Android for television, cars, and wristwatches, each with a specialized yet similar interface. Variants and forked versions of Android are also used on notebooks, game consoles, digital cameras, and other electronics.

Features in Android

General

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Messaging

SMS and MMS are available forms of messaging, including threaded text messaging and Android Cloud To Device Messaging (C2DM) and now enhanced version of C2DM, Android Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) is also a part of Android Push Messaging services.

Web browser

The web browser available in Android is based on the open-source Blink (previously WebKit) layout engine, coupled with Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine. Then the WebKit-using Android Browser scored 100/100 on the Acid3 test on Android 4.0 ICS; the Blink-based browser currently has better standards support. The browser is variably known as 'Android Browser', 'AOSP browser', 'stock browser', 'native browser', and 'default browser'. Starting with Android 4.4 KitKat, Google has mandated that the default browser for Android proper be Google Chrome. Since Android 5.0 Lollipop, the WebView browser that apps can use to display web content without leaving the app has been separated from the rest of the Android firmware in order to facilitate separate security updates by Google.

Voice-based features

Google search through voice has been available since initial release. Voice actions for calling, texting, navigation, etc. are supported on Android 2.2 onwards. As of Android 4.1, Google has expanded Voice Actions with ability to talk back and read answers from Google's Knowledge Graph when queried with specific commands. The ability to control hardware has not yet been implemented.

Multi-touch

 

Android has native support for multi-touch which was initially made available in handsets such as the HTC Hero. The feature was originally disabled at the kernel level (possibly to avoid infringing Apple's patents on touch-screen technology at the time). Google has since released an update for the Nexus One and the Motorola Droid which enables multi-touch natively.

Multitasking

 

Multitasking of applications, with unique handling of memory allocation, is available.

Screen capture

 

Android supports capturing a screenshot by pressing the power and home-screen buttons at the same time. Prior to Android 4.0, the only methods of capturing a screenshot were through manufacturer and third-party customizations (apps), or otherwise by using a PC connection (DDMS developer's tool). These alternative methods are still available with the latest Android.

TV recording

 

Android TV supports capturing video and replay it.

Video calling

 

Android does not support native video calling, but some handsets have a customized version of the operating system that supports it, either via the UMTS network (like the Samsung Galaxy S) or over IP. Video calling through Google Talk is available in Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) and later. Gingerbread allows Nexus S to place Internet calls with a SIP account. This allows for enhanced VoIP dialing to other SIP accounts and even phone numbers. Skype 2.1 offers video calling in Android 2.3, including front camera support. Users with the Google+ Android app can video chat with other Google+ users through Hangouts.

Multiple language support

 

Android supports multiple languages.

Accessibility

 

Built-in text-to-speech is provided by TalkBack for people with low or no vision. Enhancements for people with hearing difficulties are available, as are other aids.

Connectivity

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Connectivity

 

Android supports connectivity technologies including GSM/EDGE, Bluetooth, LTE, CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, NFC, IDEN and WiMAX.

Bluetooth

 

Supports voice dialing and sending contacts between phones, playing music, sending files (OPP), accessing the phone book (PBAP), A2DP and AVRCP. Keyboard, mouse and joystick (HID) support is available in Android 3.1+, and in earlier versions through manufacturer customization's and third-party applications.

Tethering

 

Android supports tethering, which allows a phone to be used as a wireless/wired Wi-Fi hotspot. Before Android 2.2 this was supported by third-party applications or manufacturer customization's.

Media

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Streaming media support

 

RTP/RTSP streaming (3GPP PSS, ISMA), HTML progressive download (HTML5 <video> tag). Adobe Flash Streaming (RTMP) and HTTP Dynamic Streaming are supported by the Flash plugin. Apple HTTP Live Streaming is supported by RealPlayer for Android, and by the operating system since Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).

Media support

 

Android supports the following audio/video/still media formats: WebM, H.263, H.264, AAC, HE-AAC (in 3GP or MP4 container), MPEG-4 SP, AMR, AMR-WB (in 3GP container), MP3, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, and WebP.

External storage

 

Most Android devices include microSD card slots and can read microSD cards formatted with the FAT32, Ext3 or Ext4 file systems. To allow use of external storage media such as USB flash drives and USB HDDs, some Android devices are packaged with USB-OTG cables. Storage formatted with FAT32 is handled by the Linux Kernel vFAT driver, while 3rd party solutions are required to handle some other file systems such as NTFS, HFS Plus and exFAT.

Hardware support

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Android devices can include still/video cameras, touchscreens, GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, barometers, magnetometers, dedicated gaming controls, proximity and pressure sensors, thermometers, accelerated 2D bit blits (with hardware orientation, scaling, pixel format conversion) and accelerated 3D graphics.

Other

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Java support

 

While most Android applications are written in Java, there is no Java Virtual Machine in the platform and Java byte code is not executed. Java classes are compiled into Dalvik executables and run on using Android Runtime or in Dalvik in older versions, a specialized virtual machine designed specifically for Android and optimized for battery-powered mobile devices with limited memory and CPU. J2ME support can be provided via third-party applications.

Handset layouts

 

The platform works for various screen sizes from smartphone sizes and to tablet size, and can potentially connect to an external screen, e.g. through HDMI, or wirelessly with Miracast. Portrait and landscape orientations are supported and usually switching between by turning. A 2D graphics library, 3D graphics library based on OpenGL ES 2.0 specifications is used.

Storage

 

SQLite, a lightweight relational database, is used for data storage purposes.

Native Apps 

 

Android apps are also written in HTML.