Google actually launched Android N a bit early this year. With the first developer preview launching March. We got out second preview, which was classified as a second alpha release, in April. Today, we got our hands on the third developer preview, which is the first beta build for Android N. It may not yet be ready for your daily driver, but it is getting closer with each update.
There are a few things that are new in the third developer preview, of course there is likely much more that’s new that we haven’t actually found just yet. First up is Android Pay. In the first two developer previews, Android Pay did not work. However it is now working in the third preview. Android Pay and any app that needs extra security will work in the third developer preview. A great thing for those that want to use it as their daily driver.
The Google Keyboard is also getting some themes. This is a feature that SwiftKey and various other third-party keyboard apps on Android have had for quite a while, and it’s finally in the Google Keyboard. For now, there is a limited number of themes available, but that will likely change in the future. We also have a few new wallpapers included in this preview. Instead of just the one lonely Android N wallpaper that appeared in the first preview.
Launcher Shortcuts are also missing here. Last week it was rumored that these launcher shortcuts – including Google’s own 3D Touch – would be postponed. Currently there are still some of the API’s for these shortcuts included, but they will likely be removed before the next preview, and definitely gone before the final release in Q3.
We also have some new changes to multi-tasking. One is the ability to “Clear All” apps in recents. So that you can quickly clear everything without swiping each item individually. Google has also limited “Recents” to just 7 apps. They stated that they found most users didn’t scroll further than 7 apps deep in the recents menu. So they have cut that down, likely to save resources – which in turn means better battery life.
Obviously that is not all that is new in this developer preview, but we’ll be finding more in the next few days as we dig deeper into this new preview.
