Posted past times Dave Burke, VP of Engineering
After to a greater extent than than a yr of evolution as well as months of testing past times early on adopters, we're create to launch Android nine Pie, the latest liberate of Android, to the world.
Android nine harnesses the powerfulness of machine learning to brand your telephone smarter, simpler, as well as tailored to you. Read all most the novel consumer features here. For developers, Android nine includes many novel ways to heighten your apps as well as create novel experiences to drive engagement.
You've given us tons of feedback along the way--over a one one thousand bugs as well as characteristic requests--thank you! More than 140,000 of y'all tried our preview builds through the Android Beta program, as well as seven of our device maker partners also brought our Beta to their flagship devices, enabling users around the the world to give their feedback too.
Today we're pushing the source code to Android Open Source Project (AOSP), as well as starting the Android nine rollout to all Pixel users worldwide, alongside Android nine coming to many to a greater extent than devices inward the coming months.
We proceed to motility Android forwards equally the premier opened upward platform for developers worldwide to create their businesses. With Android nine -- together alongside the powerful novel capabilities inward Google Play for apps as well as games -- we're committed to helping y'all create corking experiences, equally good equally attain as well as engage the correct users safely as well as cost-effectively around the world.
What's inward Android 9?
A smarter smartphone, alongside machine learning at the core
Android nine helps your telephone larn equally y'all purpose it, past times picking upward on your preferences as well as adjusting automatically. Everything from helping users acquire the most out of their battery life to surfacing the best parts of the apps they purpose all the time, correct when they demand it most, Android nine keeps things running smoother, longer.
Adaptive Battery
We partnered alongside DeepMind on a characteristic called Adaptive Battery that uses machine learning to prioritize organization resources for the apps the user cares most most. If your app is optimized for Doze, App Standby, as well as Background Limits, Adaptive Battery should operate good for y'all correct out of the box. If y'all haven't yet taken optimized your app, brand certain to cheque out the details inward the power documentation to come across how it works.
Slices
Slices tin assist users perform tasks faster past times enabling engagement exterior of the fullscreen app experience. It does this past times using UI templates that tin display rich, dynamic, as well as interactive content from your app from inside the Google Search app as well as after inward other places similar the Google Assistant. You tin larn to a greater extent than most edifice Slices to heighten your app here.
App Actions
App Actions is a novel agency to lift the visibility of your app as well as drive engagement. Actions accept payoff of machine learning to surface your app to the user at just the correct time, based on your app's semantic intents as well as the user's context.
We'll live sharing to a greater extent than details inward the coming weeks on registering your app to grip i or to a greater extent than user intents, hence your apps tin live enabled for App Actions as well as surfaced across multiple Google as well as Android surfaces inward response to user queries.
Text Classifier as well as Smart Linkify
We've extended the ML models that seat entities inward content or text input to back upward to a greater extent than types similar Dates as well as Flight Numbers through the TextClassifier API. Smart Linkify lets y'all accept payoff of the TextClassifier models through the Linkify API, including enriched options for quick follow-on user actions. Smart Linkify also delivers pregnant improvements inward accuracy of detection equally good equally performance.
Neural Networks API 1.1
Android nine adds an updated version of the Neural networks API, to extend Android's back upward for accelerated on-device machine learning. Neural Networks 1.1 adds back upward for nine novel ops -- Pad, BatchToSpaceND, SpaceToBatchND, Transpose, Strided Slice, Mean, Div, Sub, as well as Squeeze. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 typical agency to accept payoff of the APIs is through TensorFlow Lite.
Getting the most from your telephone -- to a greater extent than easily
We're excited most making your smartphone to a greater extent than intelligent. But it's also of import that the technology fades to the dorsum for users. In Android 9, we've evolved Android's UI to live simpler as well as to a greater extent than approachable -- for developers, these changes assist improve the agency users find, use, as well as acquire by your apps.
New organization navigation
Android nine introduces a novel organization navigation that we've been working on for to a greater extent than than a year. The novel pattern helps brand Android's multitasking to a greater extent than approachable as well as makes discovering apps much easier. You tin swipe upward from anywhere to come across full-screen previews of latterly used apps as well as only tap to bound dorsum into i of them.
Display cutout
Now your app tin accept total payoff of the latest edge-to-edge screens through display cutout support inward Android 9. For most apps, supporting display cutout is seamless, alongside the organization managing condition bar tiptop to split your content from the cutout. If y'all create got immersive content, y'all tin purpose the display cutout APIs to cheque the seat as well as shape of the cutout as well as asking full-screen layout around it. To assist alongside evolution as well as testing, we've added a Developer Option that simulates several cutout shapes on whatever device.
Apps alongside immersive content tin display content fullscreen on devices alongside a display cutout.
Notifications as well as smart reply
Android nine makes notifications fifty-fifty to a greater extent than useful as well as to a greater extent than actionable. Messaging apps tin accept payoff of the novel MessagingStyle APIs to exhibit conversations, attach photos as well as stickers, as well as fifty-fifty advise smart replies. You'll before long live able to purpose ML Kit to generate smart respond suggestions for your app.
MessagingStyle notifications alongside conversations as well as smart replies [left], images as well as stickers [right].
Text Magnifier
In Android nine we've added a Magnifier widget to improve the user experience of selecting text. The Magnifier widget lets users just seat the cursor or the text choice handles past times viewing zoomed text through a draggable pane. You tin attach it to whatever sentiment that is attached to a window, hence y'all tin purpose it inward custom widgets or during custom text-rendering. The Magnifier widget tin also furnish a zoomed-in version of whatever sentiment or surface, non just text.
Check out our recent weblog post for to a greater extent than most this as well as other Text features, such equally PrecomputedText as well as line tiptop as well as baseline text alignment.
Security as well as privacy for users
Biometric prompt
With a make of biometric sensors inward purpose for authentication, we've made the experience to a greater extent than consistent across sensor types as well as apps. Android nine introduces a system-managed dialog to prompt the user for whatever supported type of biometric authentication. Apps no longer demand to create their ain dialog--instead they purpose the BiometricPrompt API to exhibit the measure organization dialog. In improver to Fingerprint (including in-display sensors), the API supports Face as well as Iris authentication.
If your app is drawing its ain fingerprint auth dialogs, y'all should switch to using the this post for to a greater extent than information.
Protected Confirmation
Android nine introduces Android Protected Confirmation, which uses the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) to guarantee that a given prompt string is shown as well as confirmed past times the user. Only after successful user confirmation volition the TEE hence sign the prompt string, which the app tin verify.
Stronger protection for somebody keys
We've added StrongBox equally a novel KeyStore type, providing API back upward for devices that furnish key storage inward tamper-resistant hardware alongside isolated CPU, RAM, as well as secure flash. You tin laid whether your keys should live protected past times a StrongBox safety chip inward your KeyGenParameterSpec.
DNS over TLS
Android nine adds built-in back upward for DNS over TLS, automatically upgrading DNS queries to TLS if a network's DNS server supports it. Users tin acquire by DNS over TLS conduct inward a novel Private DNS Mode inward Network & meshwork settings. Apps that perform their ain DNS queries tin purpose a novel API, this post.
HTTPS past times default
As business office of a larger seek to motility all network traffic away from cleartext (unencrypted HTTP) to websites secured alongside TLS (HTTPS), we're changing the defaults for here.
Compiler-based safety mitigations
In Android nine we've expanded our purpose of compiler-level mitigations to harden the platform through run-time detection of unsafe behavior. Control Flow Integrity (CFI) techniques assist to foreclose code-reuse attacks as well as arbitrary code execution. In Android nine we've greatly expanded CFI usage inside the media framework as well as other security-critical components, such equally NFC as well as Bluetooth. We've also introduced CFI centre back upward into the Android mutual centre when edifice alongside LLVM.
We've also expanded our purpose of Integer overflow sanitizers to mitigate memory-corruption as well as information-disclosure vulnerabilities. We've prioritized sanitizers inward libraries alongside past times vulnerabilities or where complex untrusted input is processed, such equally libui, libnl, libmediaplayerservice as well as others. See this post for details.
Privacy for users
Android nine safeguards privacy inward a number of novel ways. The organization at i time restricts access to mic, camera, as well as all SensorManager sensors from apps that are idle. While your app's UID is idle, the mic reports empty good as well as sensors halt reporting events. Cameras used past times your app are disconnected as well as volition generate an mistake if the app tries to purpose them. In most cases, these restrictions should non innovate novel issues for existing apps, but nosotros recommend removing these requests from your apps.
Android nine also gives the user command over access to the platform's build.serial identifier past times putting it behind the READ_PHONE_STATE permission. To access the build.serial identifier, y'all should purpose the Build.getSerial() method.
Read to a greater extent than most all of the privacy changes here.
New experiences inward camera, audio, as well as graphics
Multi-camera API as well as other photographic idiot box camera updates
With Android nine y'all tin at i time opened upward streams from two or to a greater extent than physical cameras simultaneously on devices that back upward the multi-camera API. On devices alongside either dual-front or dual-back cameras, y'all tin create innovative features non possible alongside just a unmarried camera, such equally seamless zoom, bokeh, as well as stereo vision. The API also lets y'all telephone phone a logical or fused photographic idiot box camera current that automatically switches betwixt 2 or to a greater extent than cameras.
Other improvements inward photographic idiot box camera include novel Session parameters that assist to trim down delays during initial capture, as well as Surface sharing that lets photographic idiot box camera clients grip diverse use-cases without the demand to halt as well as start photographic idiot box camera streaming. We've also added APIs for display-based flash support as well as access to OIS timestamps for app-level icon stabilization as well as special effects.
HDR VP9 Video as well as HEIF icon compression
Android nine adds built-in back upward for HDR VP9 Profile 2, hence y'all tin at i time deliver HDR-enabled movies to your users on HDR-capable devices.
We're excited to add together HEIF (heic) icon encoding to the platform. HEIF is a pop format for photos that improves compression to salvage on storage as well as network data. With platform back upward on Android nine devices, it's tardily to transportation as well as utilize HEIF images from your backend server. Once you've made certain that your app is compatible alongside this information format for sharing as well as display, give HEIF a seek equally an icon storage format inward your app. You tin do a jpeg-to-heic conversion using ImageDecoder or BitmapFactory to obtain a bitmap from jpeg, as well as y'all tin purpose HeifWriter inward the AndroidX library to write HEIF yet images from YUV byte buffer, Surface, or Bitmap.
Enhanced good alongside Dynamics Processing
The Dynamics Processing API lets y'all purpose a novel good trial to isolate specific frequencies as well as lower loud or increase soft sounds to heighten the acoustic character of your app. For example, y'all tin improve the good of someone who speaks quietly inward a loud, distant or otherwise acoustically challenging environment. The API gives y'all access to a multi-stage, multi-band dynamics processing trial that includes a pre-equalizer, a multi-band compressor, a post-equalizer as well as a linked limiter.
ImageDecoder for bitmaps as well as drawables
An ImageDecoder API gives y'all an easier agency to decode images to bitmaps or drawables. You tin create a bitmap or drawable from a byte buffer, file, or URI. The API offers several advantages over BitmapFactory, including back upward for exact scaling, single-step decoding to hardware memory, back upward for post-processing inward decode, as well as decoding of animated images. You tin read to a greater extent than here.
Connectivity as well as location
Wi-Fi RTT for indoor positioning
Android nine lets y'all create indoor positioning features into your apps through platform back upward for the IEEE 802.11mc Wi-Fi protocol -- also known equally Wi-Fi Round-Trip-Time (RTT). On Android nine devices alongside hardware support, location permission, as well as location enabled, your apps tin purpose RTT APIs to mensurate the distance to nearby Wi-Fi Access Points (APs). The device doesn't demand to connect to the APs to purpose RTT, as well as to maintain privacy, alone the telephone is able to decide the distance, non the APs.
Knowing the distance to three or to a greater extent than APs, y'all tin calculate the device seat alongside an accuracy of 1 to 2 meters. With this accuracy y'all tin back upward use-cases similar in-building navigation; fine-grained location-based services such equally disambiguated vox command (e.g. 'Turn on this light'); as well as location-based information (e.g. 'Are in that location special offers for this product?').
Data terms sensitivity inward JobScheduler
JobScheduler is Android's primal service to assist y'all acquire by scheduled tasks or operate across Doze, App Standby, as well as Background Limits. In Android 9, JobScheduler handles network-related jobs improve for the user, coordinating alongside network condition signals provided separately past times carriers. Jobs tin at i time declare their estimated information size, bespeak prefetching, as well as specify detailed network requirements—carriers tin study networks equally existence congested or unmetered. JobScheduler hence manages operate according to the network status. For example, when a network is congested, JobScheduler powerfulness defer large network requests. When unmetered, it tin run prefetch jobs to improve the user experience, such equally prefetching headlines.
Open Mobile API for NFC payments as well as secure transactions
Android nine adds an implementation of the GlobalPlatform Open Mobile API to Android. On supported devices, apps tin purpose the OMAPI API to access secure elements (SE) to enable smart-card payments as well as other secure services. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 hardware abstraction layer (HAL) provides the underlying API for enumerating the multifariousness of Secure Elements (eSE, UICC, as well as others) available.
Performance for apps
ART performance
Android nine brings surgery as well as efficiency improvements to all apps through the ART runtime. We've expanded ART's purpose of execution profiles to optimize apps as well as trim down the in-memory footprint of compiled app code. ART at i time uses profile information for on-device rewriting of DEX files, alongside reductions upward to 11% across a make of pop apps. We hold off these to correlate closely alongside reductions inward organization DEX retention usage as well as faster startup times for your apps.
Optimized for Kotlin
Kotlin is a first-class linguistic communication on Android, as well as if y'all haven't tried it yet, y'all should! We've made an enduring commitment to Kotlin inward Android as well as proceed to expand back upward including optimizing the surgery of Kotlin code. In Android 9, you'll come across the root results of this work--we've improved several compiler optimizations, particularly those that target loops, to extract improve performance. We're also continuing to operate inward partnership alongside JetBrains to optimize Kotlin's generated code. You tin acquire all of the latest Kotlin surgery improvements just past times keeping Android Studio's Kotlin plugin up-to-date.
Today, nosotros are also releasing an update to the Android nine - API 28 SDK (rev. 6), which contains nullability annotations inward some of the most oftentimes used APIs. We'll furnish to a greater extent than details most this inward an upcoming post.
Modern Android
As business office of Android nine nosotros are modernizing the foundations of Android as well as the apps that run on it, equally business office of our deep, sustained investments inward security, performance, as well as stability.
As nosotros announced last year, Google Play volition require all app updates to target Android Oreo (targetSdkVersion 26 or higher) past times Nov 2018. In line alongside that, if your app targets a platform before than Android 4.2 (API bird 17), users installing it volition come across a alert dialog the root fourth dimension your app is run. Here's a checklist of resources for assist as well as back upward equally y'all migrate -- we're looking forwards to seeing your apps getting the most from modern Android.
Get your apps create for Android 9!
With Android nine coming to Pixel users starting today, as well as to other devices inward the months ahead, it's of import to seek your app for compatibility equally before long equally possible. Just install your electrical current app from Google Play on a device or or emulator running Android 9. As y'all operate through the flows, brand certain your app runs as well as looks great, as well as that it handles the Android nine behavior changes properly.
Also spotter for uses of non-SDK interfaces inward your app. Android nine restricts access to selected non-SDK interfaces, hence y'all should trim down your reliance on them. See our recent post for details.
After you've made whatever necessary updates, nosotros recommend publishing to Google Play correct away. without changing the app's platform targeting. This lets y'all ensure a corking experience for Android nine users piece y'all operate on enhancing your app alongside Android nine APIs as well as targeting.
Enhance your app alongside Android nine features as well as APIs
When you're ready, dive into Android nine as well as create alongside the new features as well as APIs inward Android 9.
To acquire started, just download the official API 28 SDK as well as the latest tools as well as emulator images into Android Studio 3.1, or purpose the latest version of Android Studio 3.2. Then update your project's compileSdkVersion as well as targetSdkVersion to API 28. When y'all alter your targeting, brand certain your app supports all of the applicable behavior changes.
As before long equally you're ready, position out your APK updates to Google Play. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 mutual strategy is to purpose Google Play's beta testing feature to acquire early on feedback from a small-scale grouping of users as well as hence do a staged rollout to production.
Visit the Android nine site for details as well as developer documentation. Also cheque out this video as well as the Google I/O Android Playlist for to a greater extent than on what's novel inward Android nine for developers.
Coming to a device close you
Starting today, an over-the-air update to Android nine volition start out rolling out to Pixel phones. And devices that participated inward the Beta programme from Sony Mobile, Xiaomi, HMD Global, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, as well as Essential, equally good equally all qualifying Android One devices, volition have this update past times the cease of this fall! We are also working alongside a number of other partners to launch or upgrade devices to Android nine this year.
As always, the organization images for Pixel devices are available here for manual flash as well as download. If you're looking for the Android nine source, you'll discovery it here inward the Android Open Source Project repository nether the Android nine branches.
What's next?
Now that we've reached the official release, we're bringing the Developer Preview to a close. We'll before long live closing the Developer Preview number tracker to novel issues, hence if y'all create got feedback, experience costless to file a novel issue against Android nine inward the AOSP number tracker.
Thanks i time to a greater extent than to the many developers as well as early on adopters who participated inward the Android nine Developer Preview as well as world beta. Your contributions create got been critical to making the Android nine platform a corking i for developers as well as consumers.
