The second Android 14 Developer Preview (opens in new tab) simply landed, and we’re seeing a whole lot of essential up to date centered round bettering safety and battery life.
To checklist a number of, there’s a brand new API to help a passwordless sign-in, streamlined app efficiency, and larger management over information that you simply share with particular person apps. Let’s break down the massive issues coming down the pipeline.
Beefing up safety
Working off the privateness platform established throughout Android 12 and 13, Android 14 provides a number of extra helpful options to safe no matter information must be shielded from potential prying eyes.
Past the trivia, similar to UI styling updates to the credential supervisor and elevated restrictions on apps launching actions within the background, listed here are the 2 most notable options:
- Picture Picker: With this new function, anytime you see the “Enable *insert app title right here* to entry images” dialog field, you get an extra possibility of “Choose images.” With this, you’ll be able to choose particular person images and movies to be made quickly obtainable to stated app.
- Safer implicit intents: In non-developer communicate, which means Android 14 will cease any sudden code from being activated by requiring app makers to make makes an attempt to run any code specific. Something that nefarious builders attempt to sneak by way of the backdoor ought to be stopped in its tracks.
Optimising battery life
With each new model of Android comes a slew of optimizations to squeeze slightly extra battery life out of your telephone and enhance system well being. This time spherical, there are two essential updates:
- Background optimizations: Android’s reminiscence administration system is getting an improve — higher managing system assets and boosting battery life by freezing most app processes when multitasking.
- Slicing again on non-dismissible notifications: Ever thought app builders make it awkward so that you can dismiss notifications rapidly? Google agrees, so that you’ll be capable of swipe them away faster when your telephone is unlocked (relatively than having to make use of the “dismiss” button in your notifications tray.
Outlook
If you happen to’re feeling courageous, you’ll be able to obtain the beta on any appropriate Google Pixel telephone. However that is solely the second developer preview, so anticipate a good few bugs.
For the remainder of us ready for the total launch, there’s so much to get enthusiastic about in Android 14 — small tweaks to enhance the general expertise relatively than any massive sweeping modifications. That’s crucial for persevering with to iterate on Google’s juggernaut cell OS.
