Google Names Android N as Nougat

It isn’t Nutella and certainly not Naan Khatai, but instead Google has named the next version of Android, “Nougat”.

For the very first time, Google had asked Android fan community to suggest names for the upcoming version.

Millions of people, including myself, submitted their favorite “sweet names” and many were confident that it will be called Nutella, considering Google’s partnership with KitKat in the past.

However Google decided to go with the sweet candy.

It is still unclear about the version number that Google will assign to Nougat, it could be 7.0 or just an increment to Android 6.0.

To make it official Google also unveiled the new Android Nougat statue at its headquarters in California.

Android Nougat will bring performance and security updates and is likely to be released in September this year along with a new Nexus device.

Google Android N Preview - with some cool features

Android N Developer Preview, an early beta of Google’s new mobile operating system that was expected to launch on Google I/O in mid-May, is unexpectedly launching right now.

Android N Developer Preview for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Pixel C Nexus 9, the Nexus Player and the General Mobile 4G, an Android One device has been made available as an over-the-air update by Google on Wednesday.

So, you can test out Android N Developer Preview on your smartphone and tablet right now from developer.android.com/preview.

The good news is that the Google Android team has brought meaningful features to your smartphone and tablet in just five months.

"As we look to the next release of Android, N, you’ll notice a few big changes aimed at you as developers: it’s earlier than ever, it’s easier to try and we’re expanding the ways for you to give us feedback," Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's SVP for Android writes. "We hope these changes will ensure that you are heard and reflected – that’s what makes Android stronger."

Here's what I like about the new Android Developer Preview so far.

1. Multi-Window API

Multi-window support is the feature users have long asked for – especially on tablets. The feature allows users to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.

So now you can type out a message while viewing a map, check the weather while watching videos, and so on. The screen can be split horizontally or vertically as you prefer.

2. Reply to Messages Directly Without Leaving an App

Among the new changes in Android N are improved notifications. Notifications support "direct reply" feature for app developers who can now allow their users to reply to incoming notifications of WhatsApp, Twitter or SMS messages straight from the notification panel without having to launch the app in question.

Developers can also choose to bundle notification alerts from the same app together, enabling users to see them as a bundle and expand individually if necessary.

3. Better Battery Life

This is the biggest relief for all Android users. With Android Marshmallow, Google introduced a new battery-saving feature called Doze that places an Android device into a deep power-savings mode when it is stationary for a while.

In Android N, Google is taking this feature a step further by allowing Doze to work whenever the screen is OFF, not just when the device is stationary. So your smartphone's battery will now last even longer when it's in standby mode.

4. Data Saver

Moreover, Google continues to work on making its Android OS less memory-hungry and making apps running in the background work more efficiently.

When turned ON, the Data Saver feature restricts the apps from using data connection as well as prevent pulling in embedded videos and images on web pages. You can also pick selected apps that may be allowed to use the data connection even when the feature is ON.

However, the Data Saver feature in Android N will be particularly helpful for those who are on prepaid or pay-on-the-go connections for data.

5. Picture-in-Picture Mode

Now you can view a YouTube video while reading through a report in Word on your Android device, thanks to Picture-in-picture feature in Android N.

"Picture-in-picture (PIP) mode lets apps run a video activity in the pinned window while another activity continues in the background. The PIP window lets users multitask while using your app, which helps users be more productive." Google describes.

The feature will be more useful for those with tablets or larger phones.

6. No Need to Flash Your Device (Direct Boot)

Yes, the most brilliant part is that you do not need to flash or tether your device to a PC in order to download and install the new Android N Developer Preview, as it can be downloaded straight to your device.

These are the things that are now known to us about the all new Android N Developer Preview, but one thing we definitely don’t know yet that what the ‘N’ will stand for. For me it’s Nutella.

What do you think the "N" will stand for? Hit the comments below and let us know.

Google's "Android N" won't use Oracle's Java API

Google appears to be no longer using Java application programming interfaces (APIs) from Oracle in future versions of its Android mobile operating system, and switching to an open source alternative instead.

Google will be making use of OpenJDK – an open source version of Oracle’s Java Development Kit (JDK) – for future Android builds.

This was first highlighted by a "mysterious Android codebase commit" submitted to Hacker News. However, Google confirmed to VentureBeat that the upcoming Android N will use OpenJDK, rather its own implementation of the Java APIs.

Google and Oracle have been fighting it out for years in a lawsuit, and it is hard to imagine that such a massive change is not related to the search engine giant's ongoing legal dispute with Oracle, however.

What Google and Oracle are Fighting About

The dispute started when Oracle sued Google for copyright in 2010, claiming that Google improperly used a part of its programming language called Java APIs and baked them into its Android mobile OS.

However, Google argued that the Java APIs in question were necessary for software innovation, allowing different applications to talk to each other, and, therefore, could not be copyrighted.

Google almost won the initial lawsuit in 2012, but a Federal court mostly reversed the decision in 2014 in Oracle's favor. Google reached out to the US Supreme Court to take the case, but Supreme Court declined to hear Google's appeal.

The final decision is yet to be made, but one possibility could be that the company will be prohibited from using the copyrighted APIs.

However, OpenJDK, the alternative to Java APIs, is still controlled by Oracle, but at least, Google is legally cleared to implement it.

As for how this new change in Android affects you and me, the new code should make it somewhat easier for Android N developers, perhaps resulting in better apps and quicker updates.