Google just launched the newest iteration of its Android mobile operating system this week. But wait -- the release is actually an unpolished edition specifically intended for software developers to study and explore. Because Google has not decided on an official name yet for this latest Android version, it is called Android N for now. For those still not in the know, the tech giant has a fondness for naming versions of its Android OS after sweets. Before Android N, we had Android Marshmallow, and then Android Lollipop before that.
And now on to the features. The Android N Preview comes with a split screen functionality that would allow users to run more than one mobile app on the screen of Android device. The latest version of Android also now gives mobile users the ability to respond directly whenever they get notifications. This capability is actually already present in Android Wear, the mobile operating system Google developed specifically for wearable devices, and in a number of Google mobile apps (e.g. Gmail).
Other enhancements include better battery efficiency via Doze (which saves power when the Android handset is stationary), and improved support for Oracle’s Java 8 programming language.
Powering over 80 percent of all smartphone and tablet devices, Android is considered the most popular mobile operating system in the planet right now. But that does not mean it is not aware of the competition. Apple’s iOS mobile operating system is a giant in its own right, especially with how popular iPhone and iPad devices have become over the last decade.
Many may observe that some of the features present in Android N are actually existing in Apple’s iOS platform. For instance, the ability to respond directly to notifications has been present in iOS for a while, and the split screen functionality has been made available already in the iPad Pro, the tablet offering that Apple launched in November of last year.
Also worth noting is the timing of the release of Android N, although it is in preview form only. Google usually announces a new version of its Android mobile operating system in the month of May, typically during its yearly I/O conference for software developers. The tech giant is surely looking to let developers have a go at the latest Android iteration at the earliest opportunity, and then get their feedback as soon as possible. Doing so may allow Google’s crew to polish Android N faster and maybe even roll it out to mobile users earlier than expected.
But here is the tricky thing -- Android Marshmallow, the predecessor of Android N, is only currently on 2 percent of all Android powered devices. The most widely used version is Android Lollipop, released in 2014. At this rate, we can probably expect slow adoption for Android N too, that is once it is released.
