Android 14 has been underneath improvement for a number of months, and at last the supply code is being pushed to the Android Open Supply Challenge (AOSP), which is the repository the place official Android code is saved and the place producers can go to seize the supply code and create their very own variants.
Lots of the updates in Android give attention to efficiency and effectivity. For instance, now cached purposes shall be frozen after a time frame, and updates have been additionally made to how cached apps obtain “context-registered” broadcasts in an effort to assist hold them frozen longer.
A results of the caching updates is that they have been capable of scale back the variety of chilly app begins, or beginning up completely from scratch. Lowering this quantity improves energy utilization and app startup time.
The Android Runtime additionally was optimized in a number of methods, leading to code measurement reductions of 9.3% on common.
This OS model additionally contains a number of ways in which customers can customise their expertise. They’ll now scale font sizes as much as 200% (up from 130% as the utmost), add language preferences on an app-by-app foundation, set regional preferences like temperature models or the primary day of the week, and higher voice help for customers with an accent through the Grammatical Inflection API.
There are a lot of media and graphics enhancements in Android 14: help for 10-bit HDR photos, upgrades in Digital camera Extensions, help for lossless audio codecs, help for customized meshes, and a {hardware} buffer renderer within the Canvas API.
Android 14 introduces many options designed to assist shield consumer privateness. There’s a new permission for sharing location knowledge with third events, the power to grant solely partial entry to photographs and movies in an app, larger restrictions on the variety of background companies an app can launch, blocking set up of apps that focus on older SDK variations, and extra.
Transferring from consumer to builders, there are numerous new options Android builders will be capable to leverage. These embody help for OpenJDK 17, help for Credential Supervisor and passkeys, Well being Join, up to date system sharesheets, and extra constant and dependable foreground companies.
As typical, the primary gadgets to get the replace shall be Pixels, and that roll out will begin as we speak. Later this 12 months will probably be out there on different gadgets, corresponding to these from Samsung Galaxy, iQOO, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo and Xiaomi.
Along with saying Android 14, Google additionally unveiled the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Professional, which it describes as being “constructed with AI on the middle for a extra useful and private expertise.” Extra details about the brand new telephones is accessible on this weblog publish.