Google Inc. unexpectedly announced on Tuesday an early preview of its latest operating system, currently codenamed Android O.

Unlike the early previews of the current-generation Android Nougat, which were available for any eager consumers to try out through an over-the-air update, Android O is currently only available for developers. Once developers have tested the latest OS, Google will roll it out to consumers via Android Beta.

While plenty of new features will be unveiled during later previews, these enhancements are mainly focused on the developer. But one of the main features in this preview that will benefit consumers focuses on extending battery life.

This time, Google is aggressively managing what apps can do in the background. The automatic background limits are a significant change in Android, which could heavily affect developers that take a more liberal position toward what their apps are doing in the background — sucking battery all the while.

What Google does with Android goes a long way toward defining the mobile experience for many users, since according to Strategy Analytics, Android accounted for 88 percent of global smartphone shipments as of late last year.

On the other hand, because phone makers control which version of Android they use and are often slow to roll out new versions, how quickly the next consumer version of Android will have a significant impact on the user experience remains in doubt. After two Android Nougat releases, that OS is currently only installed on 2.8 percent of all Android devices, with many phone makers and users still using pre-6.0 releases. Once again, the first devices to come pre-installed with Android O will likely be Google’s own devices, such as its latest Pixel models.

Google will showcase Android O and provide further detail about all its features at its annual developer conference, Google I/O, scheduled to run May 17-19.

Here’s a look at how developers can get access and the features Google has unveiled so far in Android O:

How to get access to Android O Developer Preview

At this stage, the initial preview of Android O is only available for developers and will only be available through manual download and flash. Developers can read further instructions on the Android developer page for downloading a system image and flash to their device.  

The preview is supported in a desktop emulator or on one of the following devices: Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X and Nexus Player. Any issues discovered with Android O can be reported on the company’s Issue Tracker.

Android O features

Improving battery life with background limits

Android O introduces additional automatic limits on apps to prevent them running implicit broadcasts, background services and location updates in the background. These limits will allow developers to create apps that have minimal impact on a user’s device and battery.

Control over notifications

Android O introduces notification channels that will provide users with more control over notifications in an app. Users will have the control to block or change the behavior of each channel individually. The OS also adds new visuals and grouping to notifications.

Picture in picture display

PiP is now available on phones and tablets allowing users to watch a video while answering an email. Developers can specify the aspect ratio and a set of custom interactions for their app’s PiP mode.

Apps in Android O will also be able to use an app overlay window instead of the system alert window. The OS also provides multi-display support that allows an activity to be launched on a remote display.

Example of the Adaptive icons (via Google)

Adaptive icons

Android O introduces adaptive icons that the system can display in a variety of shapes across different device models and animate interactions with the icons. Adaptive icons are used in the launcher, shortcuts, Settings, sharing dialogs and in the overview screen.

Autofill APIs

Android O adds platform support for autofill. Via an autofill app, users will be able to store their data, including addresses, usernames and passwords. The new API will allow apps to implement an autofill service.

New connectivity features

Android O is introducing various connectivity features, including support for high-quality Bluetooth audio codecs such as LDAC codec.

The OS is also adding new Wi-Fi features like Wi-Fi Aware, previously known as Neighbor Awareness Networking. Wi-Fi Aware will allow apps and nearby devices to communicate over Wi-Fi without the need for an internet access point.  

Android O also extends the ConnectionService APIs to allow for the integration of third party calling apps with System UI and operate with other audio apps.

AAudio API

In the Android O Developer Preview, Google is releasing an early version of the AAudio API, which is designed for apps that require high-performance, low-latency audio.

Enhancements for WebView

Android Nougat last year introduced an optional multiprocess mode for WebView. This feature moved the handling of web content into an isolated process. In Android O the multiprocess mode is now enabled by default.

Android O also improves security and app stability by introducing an API that will allow apps to handle errors and crashes.

To provide users with a safer browsing experience, developers can configure their app’s WebView objects that will verify URLs using Google Safe Browsing. Users will be alerted if they try to navigate to a potentially unsafe website.

Additional features

Android O now supports font resources in XML and wide gamut color for apps. There is a new and improved model for keyboard navigation, which will make using Android apps on a Chromebook a little less frustrating.

Finally, Android O supports several new Java Language APIs and the Android Runtime is faster.

Image: John Voo/Flickr