Posted yesteryear Dave Burke, VP of Engineering
Today we're rolling out Beta three of Android P, our side yesteryear side milestone inwards this year's Android P developer preview. With the developer APIs already finalized inwards the previous update, Beta three directly takes us rattling simply about what you'll view inwards the concluding version of Android P, due afterward this summer.
Android P Beta three includes the latest põrnikas fixes together with optimizations for stability together with polish, together alongside the July 2018 safety updates. It's a neat agency to exam your apps directly to brand certain they are ready earlier the concluding release. Give Beta three a endeavour together with let us know what y'all think!
You tin acquire Android P Beta three on Pixel devices yesteryear enrolling here. If you're already enrolled together with received the Android P Beta two on your Pixel device, you'll automatically acquire the update to Beta 3. Partners who are participating inwards the Android P Beta program volition also live on updating their devices to Beta three over the coming weeks.
What's inwards this update?
Today's preview update includes the Beta three organisation images for Pixel devices together with the D8 every bit an independent tool. Beta three is an early on unloose candidate create of Android alongside near-final organisation behaviors together with the official Android P APIs (API degree 28).
With the Beta three organisation images together with updated create tools, you've got everything y'all take away to exam your apps or extend them alongside Android P features similar multi-camera support, display cutout, enhanced notifications, ImageDecoder, TextClassifier, together with many others. In your testing, brand certain to trouble concern human relationship for App standby buckets, privacy restrictions, together with restrictions on non-SDK interfaces.
Get started inwards a few elementary steps
First, make your app compatible together with give your users a seamless transition to Android P. Just install your electrical flow app from Google Play on an Android P Beta device or emulator together with exam -- the app should run together with hold off great, together with handgrip the Android P behavior changes properly. After you've made whatever necessary updates, nosotros recommend publishing to Google Play correct away without changing the app's platform targeting.
If y'all don't cause got a supported device, recollect that y'all tin instead set upward an Android Virtual Device on the Android Emulator for your exam environment. If y'all haven't tried the emulator recently, you'll bring out that it's incredibly fast, boots inwards nether half-dozen seconds, together with fifty-fifty lets y'all model next-gen screens -- such every bit long screens together with screens alongside a display cutout.
Next, update your app's targetSdkVersion to 28 every bit shortly every bit possible, thence Android P users of your app tin exercise goodness from the platform's latest security, performance, together with stability features. If your app is already targeting API 26+ inwards delineate alongside Google Play's upcoming policies, thence changing to target API 28 should live on a small-scale jump. When y'all alter your targeting, brand certain your app supports all of the applicable behavior changes.
It's also of import to test your apps for uses of non-SDK interfaces together with cut back your reliance on them. As noted recently, Android P restricts access to selected non-SDK interfaces. Watch for logcat warnings that highlight straight uses of restricted non-SDK interfaces together with endeavour the novel StrictMode method detectNonSdkApiUsage() to grab accesses programmatically. Where possible, y'all should deed to using populace equivalents from the Android SDK or NDK. If there's no populace API that meets your use-case, delight let us know.
When you're ready, dive into Android P together with acquire nigh the new features together with APIs that y'all tin role inwards your apps. To create alongside the novel APIs, simply download the official API 28 SDK together with tools into Android Studio 3.1, or role the latest version of Android Studio 3.2. Then update your project's compileSdkVersion together with targetSdkVersion to API 28.
Visit the Developer Preview site for details together with documentation. Also cheque out this video together with the Google I/O Android playlist for to a greater extent than on what's novel inwards Android P for developers.
Publish to Google Play alpha, beta, or production channels
As shortly every bit you're ready, publish your APK updates that are compiled against, or optionally targeting, API 28. Publishing an update to Google Play during the preview lets y'all force updates to existing users to exam compatibility on their devices.
To brand certain that your updated app runs good on Android P every bit good every bit older versions, a mutual strategy is to role Google Play's beta testing feature. With beta testing y'all tin acquire early on feedback from a small-scale grouping of users -- including Beta three users — together with thence exercise a staged rollout to production.
What's next?
Thanks for all of your feedback thence far. Please maintain to percentage feedback or requests every bit nosotros function towards the consumer unloose afterward this summer. Feel gratis to role our hotlists for platform issues, app compatibility issues, together with third-party SDK issues.
Also, the Android applied scientific discipline squad volition host a Reddit AMA on r/androiddev to respond your technical questions nigh Android P on July xix from 11:30-1 PM (Pacific Time). Look out for an proclamation on r/androiddev inwards the coming weeks. We hold off frontwards to addressing your questions!
