Android Wear 2.0 brings standalone apps, tiny keyboard, refreshed UI

Besides detailing new Android N features, Google announced its biggest update to Android Wear platform. Version 2.0 adds material design-themed UI, new touchscreen keyboard, ability for apps to work standalone and more.

The main addition to Android Wear 2.0 is the ability for apps to access internet over Bluetooth, WiFi or built-in LTE. This means you can download apps directly to the smartwatch, reply to texts, make calls, even if your phone is turned off or far away.

As for design changes, notification cards now shows up as light text on a dark background, which is designed to conserve battery life on watches with OLED screens. You will also see a progress bar on the display, when you are swiping notification, as well as swipe through apps by circling the edge of the display.

Android Wear 2.0 comes with a new feature called 'complication' that enable data from any app to be displayed as watch face or widget. It will also let apps better understand your activities. For example, when you work out, the watch should be able to detect you are exercising and automatically launch the dedicated app.After your work out, the fitness stats will be collected by Google Fit and synced with other health app on your device.

There is also a new tiny keyboard, which is swipe-friendly and comes with smart reply and gesture inputs. It also recognizes handwriting as well, when you trace a character. Lastly, Android Wear apps can take advantage of Android N Feature like Data Saver, emojis and Java 8 Lambda support.

Android Wear 2.0 will be available to developer this week, and will roll out to users this fall. 

Via : Ars Technicia

Android N Developer Preview 3 includes VR mode, background updates, new multi-tasking features and more

Google at it I/O 2016 conference revealed several new feature to the Android N version, that will be available in the new Developer Preview 3, as well as new features that will be available later. Google said that the Android N Developer Preview 3 is the first beta-quality candidate that can be tested on your primary smartphones.

Starting with performance, Android N Developer Preview 3 brings improved graphics and run-time performance. With the addition of Vulkan API, Google promises for better graphic performance in Android N. Also the JTI compiler in the update is said to work faster to improve software performance.

To make Android more productive, Android N now features a much easier multi-tasking including quick-switching between apps, multi-windows support and better notifications. Quick Switch feature works by double-tapping the recent app buttons, while you can now launch multi-window by long-pressing recent buttons. Google has added a 'Clear all' icon to the task switched button, which will automatically remove the apps from recent apps. There will also be a picture-in-picture mode (PIP) that will be limited to Android TVs only.

As for security, the enhancements include file-based encryption and seamless updates, which means devices running Android N can install system updates in the background.

VR will also be a big part of Android N. The main highlight for this is a hardware and software platform called Daydream. Android N will also include a special VR mode as well. Phones that are VR-ready will let VR contents including app and games access the mode directly.

Other Android N Developer Preview 3 features include Launcher Shortcuts, which will be released in summer; Android Pay; all-new Google Keyboard Themes; new power notification control; manual exposure added to camera app and as expected bring new system wallpapers. Google has also removed 'Night Mode' option from System UI Tuner. Also included in the update is actionable notification, which lets users to reply directly from chat notification.

Android N Developer Preview 3 is now available for Nexus 6, Nexus 9, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G on the Android developer website. You can also get it through Android Beta Program. The Android N final build will release in Q3 2016. 

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