Introduction
Android Pie is the ninth major release and 16th version of Android mobile operating system. It was first released as developer preview on March 7, 2018 and then released publically on August 6, 2018. As of May 2019, 10.4% of Android devices checking in with Google Play runs Android Pie.
New Features
- Indoor Positioning
With Android Wifi RTT APIs support is provided for measuring distance from nearest access points (Aps)
- Display Cutouts
Support for the latest edge-to-edge screens with display cutout for camera and speaker is offered
- Enhanced Messaging Experience
In Android P, enhancement in message notifications include
- Images support
- Identifying group conversations
- Support for conversation participants
- Saving replies as drafts
- Android P introduces many enhancement
- Set the semantic action for an intent
- Smart Reply
- Multicamera support and Camera updates
Android P introduces streams from two or more cameras simultaneously, includes session parameters, supports monochrome camera and also supports external USB/UVC cameras
- ImageDecoder for drawables and bitmaps
Android P introduces the ImageDecoderclass, which provides a modernized approach for decoding images.
- ImageDecoder lets you create a Drawable or a Bitmap from a byte buffer, a file, or a URI.
- ImageDecoder also lets you add customized and complicated effects to an image such as rounded corners or circle masks.
Use this class instead of the BitmapFactory and BitmapFactory.Options API.
- Animation
Android P introduces AnimatedImageDrawableclass for drawing and displaying GIF and WebP animated images.
- HDR VP9 Video, HEIF image compression
Android P adds built-in support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) VP9 Profile 2, and HEIF images encoding.
- Rotation
Android P provides a new mode that pins the current orientation even if the device position changes.
- App Standby buckets
Android P introduces app standby buckets. With this, app can be restricted to access the device resources.
- Restricted to access phone numbers
With Android P, access to phone numbers or phone state is restricted. If the app intends to get any of these, then READ_CALL_LOG permission will be needed.
- TLS Implementation changes
If an instance of SSLSocket fails to connect at creation time, the system will throw an IOException instead of a NullPointerException.
- FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK requirement is now enforced
With Android P, you cannot start an activity from a non-activity context unless you pass the intent flag FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK.
- Web-based data directories separated by process
Apps targeting android P can no longer share a single WebView data directory among multiple processes.
- Notifications from suspended apps
Prior to Android 9, notifications from suspended apps were canceled. With Android 9, notifications from suspended apps are hidden until the app is resumed.
- Foreground Services
Apps that target Android 9 or higher and use foreground services must request the FOREGROUND_SERVICE permission.
New Navigation View
Digital Well Being
Summary
Android Pie has a lot more exciting features to offer. All you have to do is to check if your phone is compatible with Android P. If yes, then don’t wait and update your OS right away. It’s user friendly, hardware friendly and last but not the least, providing amazing features for developers.