Google has released Beta 1 of Android Q for early adopters & a preview SDK for developers.
Here’s the announcement:
You can get started with Beta 1 today by enrolling any Pixel device (including the original Pixel and Pixel XL, which we’ve extended support for by popular demand!) Please let us know what you think! Read on for a taste of what’s in Android Q, and we’ll see you at Google I/O in May when we’ll have even more to share.
Building on top of privacy protections in Android
Android was designed with security and privacy at the center. As Android has matured, we’ve added a wide range of features to protect users, like file-based encryption, OS controls requiring apps to request permission before accessing sensitive resources, locking down camera/mic background access, lockdown mode, encrypted backups, Google Play Protect(which scans over 50 billion apps a day to identify potentially harmful apps and remove them), and much more. In Android Q, we’ve made even more enhancements to protect our users. Many of these enhancements are part of our work in Project Strobe.
Giving users more control over location
With Android Q, the OS helps users have more control over when apps can get location. As in prior versions of the OS, apps can only get location once the app has asked you for permission, and you have granted it.
One thing that’s particularly sensitive is apps’ access to location while the app is not in use (in the background). Android Q enables users to give apps permission to see their location never, only when the app is in use (running), or all the time (when in the background).
For example, an app asking for a user’s location for food delivery makes sense and the user may want to grant it the ability to do that. But since the app may not need location outside of when it’s currently in use, the user may not want to grant that access. Android Q now offers this greater level of control. Read the developer guide for details on how to adapt your app for this new control. Look for more user-centric improvements to come in upcoming Betas. At the same time, our goal is to be very sensitive to always give developers as much notice and support as possible with these changes.
More privacy protections in Android Q
Beyond changes to location, we’re making further updates to ensure transparency, give users control, and secure personal data.
In Android Q, the OS gives users even more control over apps, controlling access to shared files. Users will be able to control apps’ access to the Photos and Videos or the Audio collections via new runtime permissions. For Downloads, apps must use the system file picker, which allows the user to decide which Download files the app can access. For developers, there are changes to how your apps can use shared areas on external storage. Make sure to read the Scoped Storage changes for details.
We’ve also seen that users (and developers!) get upset when an app unexpectedly jumps into the foreground and takes over focus. To reduce these interruptions, Android Q will prevent apps from launching an Activity while in the background. If your app is in the background and needs to get the user’s attention quickly — such as for incoming calls or alarms — you can use a high-priority notification and provide a full-screen intent. See the documentation for more information.
We’re limiting access to non-resettable device identifiers, including device IMEI, serial number, and similar identifiers. Read the best practices to help you choose the right identifiers for your use case, and see the details here. We’re also randomizing the device’s MAC address when connected to different Wi-Fi networks by default — a setting that was optional in Android 9 Pie.
We are bringing these changes to you early, so you can have as much time as possible to prepare. We’ve also worked hard to provide developers detailed information up front, we recommend reviewing the detailed docs on the privacy changes and getting started with testing right away.
New ways to engage users
In Android Q, we’re enabling new ways to bring users into your apps and streamlining the experience as they transition from other apps.
Foldables and innovative new screens
Foldable devices have opened up some innovative experiences and use-cases. To help your apps to take advantage of these and other large-screen devices, we’ve made a number of improvements in Android Q, including changes to onResume and onPause to support multi-resume and notify your app when it has focus. We’ve also changed how the resizeableActivity manifest attribute works, to help you manage how your app is displayed on foldable and large screens. To you get started building and testing on these new devices, we’ve been hard at work updating the Android Emulator to support multiple-display type switching — more details coming soon!
Click here to read the rest.
