Google on Wednesday released a developer preview of Android N, its next version of the Android mobile operating system.

Google publicly announced a number of new features for Android N, including support for split-screen and picture-in-picture viewing, an upgrade to Notifications, and Doze, Android’s battery-saving feature, among others.

While those are notable changes, there are many more updates and changes Google didn’t talk about. The good news is developers, users, and tech bloggers are installing Android N and uncovering a slew of new features, tweaks, and changes.

Below are some of the more notable Android N features being found.

Double-tap Recents button to switch to previous app

Instead of just letting you scroll through a list of open apps and Chrome tabs, the Recents button in Android N now lets you go back to the previous app you were using with a double-tap.

To go to further back than your last app or web page, you can repeatedly tap the Recents button to cycle through open apps or Chrome tabs.

You can see Android N’s new app switcher in action in Droid Life’s video here.

Add Emergency Contact and medical info directly to Lock screen

When you first set up Android N, you’ll be prompted to add emergency contact and medical info to your Lock screen. You can add personal details like Full name, Address, Date of Birth and medical info like Blood type, Allergies, Medications, and Medical conditions and notes. If you skip this at setup, you can add these details in the Settings app under Users > Lock screen settings.

All this information is easily accessible in an emergency by tapping on the Emergency button on the Lock screen and double-tapping the Emergency Info button.

Improved native file manager, renamed ‘Explorer’

Android Marshmallow contains a “secret” file manager (secret because it’s hard to find if you don’t know where to look) that lets you perform basic file management functions like browse, copy, cut, share, and sort.

In Android N, the file manager has been given and official name — Explorer,  accessible in Settings > Storage > Explore — and Google added some robust file management functions like moving files, renaming files and folders, and creating new folders. This should make it unnecessary to install any third-party file management apps.  

System-level number blocking

Android N has system-level number blocking. What this means is that once you’ve blocked a number, let’s say in your phone dialer app, the system will prevent that number from contacting you across all the apps on your device, including text message apps, IM apps, VoIP apps, et cetera. Voicemails from blocked numbers are also automatically deleted.

A really neat part of Android N’s number blocking feature is that blocked numbers are saved to your Google account so as long as you use the same Google account blocked numbers carry over to whatever handset you’re using or are right there if you ever have to wipe and reset your device.

Automatically override Do not disturb mode for ad-hoc early alarms

Do not disturb in Android Marshmallow gave you a bunch of options to customize when notifications could interrupt you, including blocking out specific times like when you’re sleeping.

In Android N, you can choose to automatically override Do not disturb when your alarm goes off. For example, if your phone is set to Do not disturb between 11 pm and 6 am (because that’s when you’re sleeping) and you need to get up at 5 am one morning you can toggle on the override option. Now you’ll automatically start getting notifications again without having to fiddle with your master Do not disturb settings.

Night Mode returns

Night Mode first appeared in developer editions for Android M, but was ultimately dropped from the final Android Marshmallow release.

It’s back in Android N and lets users switch to a dark theme as well as set color temperature and brightness. Let’s hope Night Mode make it into to final release this time.

Faster app installs and system updates

Google has made changes to how Android “optimizes apps” when they’re installed or when a system update is installed.

According to Droid Life, Google calls it “Quick path to app install.” Google claims, “Even large apps that required several minutes to optimize and install in Android 6.0 can now install in just a matter of seconds. System updates are also faster, since there’s no more optimizing step. [emphasis added]”

Improved Settings menu

Android N brings small improvements to how users navigate the Settings app. Each item on the main settings page now has a subtitle offering more info, and items in submenus have a hamburger menu button to access related menu items.

New Data Saver

For users on a limited data plan, Android N has a new Data Saver feature (found under Settings) that prevents apps from using data in the background when on a cellular connection and can also tell apps to use less data when you are actively using them.

If you want to try the Android N developer preview, sign up for the Android Beta Program and install Andorid N.

Sources: LifeHacker; Droid Life; Android Police  

Image credit: Lynn Wallenstein, Flickr