We have been tracking the development and release of Android 14 since its first developer preview. Today, the second Developer Preview of Android 14 gets released, building on the work of the first developer preview of Android 14 from last month with additional enhancements to privacy, security, performance, developer productivity, and user customization while continuing to refine the large-screen device experience on tablets, foldables, and more.
Android 14 – Upside Down Cake (unofficially named as Google has now moved away from naming Android based on confectionaries) is the next major release of Android. Android delivers enhancements and new features year-round and the reviews and feedback shared as part of the developer previews and Quarterly Platform Relase (QPR) Beta Programs get deliberated upon and integrated into the upcoming releases.
Support for all form factors
The biggest part of Android 14 is going to remain support for tablets and foldable form factors. With smartphone manufacturers going all in to see foldables as the next novel offering in the market, Android having built in support for the same only makes most sense.
Privacy and security
Privacy and security have always been a core part of Android’s mission. The new features included as part of Android 14 are Selected photos access, Credential manager and Safer implicit intents
Improved App Store Experiences
Android 14 introduces several new PackageInstaller APIs which allow app stores to improve their user experience, including the requestUserPreapproval() method that allows the download of APKs to be deferred until after the installation has been approved, the setRequestUpdateOwnership() method that allows an installer to indicate that it is responsible for future updates to an app it is installing, and the setDontKillApp() method that can seamlessly install optional features of an app through split APKs while the app is in use.
Personalization
Regional preferences enable users to personalize temperature units, the first day of the week, and numbering systems. A European living in the United States might prefer temperature units to be in Celsius rather than Fahrenheit and for apps to treat Monday as the beginning of the week instead of the US default of Sunday.
App compatibility
As with every major OS release, there would be some new features while there would also be some features/APIs that get deprecated. In Android 14 you now have a choice to opt-in to give you more time to make any necessary app changes.
The final developer preview or the most stable release for developers would now be expected sometime in June 2023.
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