The First Android P Developer Preview Is Here, Comes With Support for the Notch
Google is releasing the first developer preview of the next major Android update, called Android P, today. The first developer preview of Android P introduces a couple of new features, but there isn’t a lot to get excited about just yet.
As expected, Google is bringing support for the notch with Android P. The new version of Android includes a couple of new APIs that will help developers adapt their app to display cutouts in devices, and the developer preview also lets users simulate a notch of their device. Support for display cutouts is arguably important — we have seen a couple of new iPhone X-clones powered by Android at MWC last month, most of which don’t really work very well with the display cutout. But these new APIs could help hardware makers and app developers better work with these display cutouts going forward, we shall see.
The first preview of Android P also comes with some other important new additions. Messaging apps can now show some of the most recent messages from a conversation within notifications, and they can also now display smart replies right within the notifications. Android P is introducing a new multi-camera API that will let developers use multiple cameras on a device that’s packed with more than one camera. But more importantly, Google is finally preventing idle apps from accessing your camera and microphone with Android P.
There are a couple of other new things in the first developer preview of Android P, including support for HEIF and new indoor positioning features. If you own any of the Pixel phones, you can get the system images and give Android P a go here.