Google announced today that it has finalized Android “O” Developer Preview 3, offering developers their first peek at the final APIs for this release.

The firm says it now expects to deliver a 4th Developer Preview in July, alongside near-final system images for supported devices. And then it will release Android 0 to consumers “later this summer.”

But let’s stick with Developer Preview 3 for now.

As with previous releases, Android O Developer Preview 3 is designed to help developers update their apps for the new OS version. But this one is particularly important because it features the final (level 26) APIs for Android O, meaning that things won’t change for developers between now and the consumer release of the OS. (They did change between the previous two developer preview releases.)

And while there are no new features, Google is reminding developers about some of the new Android O features they should consider supporting.

“Notification channels and dots give you more ways to surface new content to users and bring them back into your app,” the firm notes. “Picture-in-picture keeps your app onscreen while users are multitasking, and autofill makes it simple for them to enter forms data and helps keep their data secure. Also check out adaptive icons, XML font resources, downloadable fonts and emoji, autosizing TextView, AAudio API, and many others. You’ll also want plan your support for background execution limits and other important changes in vital system behavior for O apps.”

Developers who are interested in supporting new Android O features should of course visit the Android O Developer Preview website.

And if you’re interested in testing this release, as I am, you will need a compatible device, as always. These include the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Nexus Player.

Tagged with Android O