Yesterday, Google finally took the wraps off of Android 5.1 Lollipop. We’re learning more and more of what this update features as we go along. But Google has just published a page of all the new API’s that are in Android 5.1. The big ones are the Multiple SIM Card support, Deprecated HTTP Classes, and Carrier Services. The Multiple SIM Card support one should be pretty much self-explanatory, but let’s talk about it real quick. In Android 5.1, AOSP or Stock Android now has support for multiple SIM cards. Here in the US, that’s not a big deal since we mostly just use one SIM card. But in other countries, specifically developing countries, they use two SIM cards at the same time. In some areas one carrier has coverage and the other doesn’t. So users are able to switch between the two rather quickly. And now native Android has support for that.
Next is the Deprecated HTTP Classes. This is more on the developer level, but basically the org.apache.http classes and the AndroidHttpClient class have been deprecated in this new version of Android. And are no longer being maintained. Google also suggests that developers should go ahead and migrate any app code using those API’s to the URLConnection classes as soon as possible.
Finally we have Carrier Services. In Android 5.1, Google brought in support for telecommunication service providers to create apps that can perform carrier provisioning tasks. Such as connecting to the network and registering with your account. Google says, “These APIs provide a secure and flexible way for carrier-developed apps to perform these tasks and be distributed through Google Play.” Google also points out that these apps must be signed by a certificate that matches the device’s Universal Integrated Circuit Card or the UICC.
So that’s about it for new APIs in Android 5.1 Lollipop. There’s no doubt that we’ll be finding more and more in the next few days. So make sure you keep it locked to Android Headlines.