With the release of Developer Preview 4, Android N draws nearer

By Julian Chokkattu Published June 15, 2016

We’re one step closer to the final release of Android’s latest version: Google is rolling out the fourth developer preview of Android N.

There will be five developer previews in total, with the previous one arriving on May 18, the first day of Google’s developer conference. The search giant changed things up this year when it released the first developer preview for Android N in March, much earlier than usual. The hope is that the final version of N will roll out to carriers and manufacturers in the summer, allowing for more devices to be updated when Google officially launches Android N.

Recommended Videos

You need to enroll in the Android Beta Program to be able to get the preview on compatible devices, like Google’s Nexus line. If you’re impatient, you can also download the factory images right now. The update is still rolling out, and we’ll revise our hands-on post when we’ve tried it out.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at what’s new based on the post on the Android developer website.

What’s new in Developer Preview 4

There’s not a lot of exciting changes in developer preview 4 — mostly improvements to how the overall operating system runs and app updates.

Interestingly, the final Application Program Interfaces (APIs) have been included in preview 4 — that means developers can begin compiling their apps and publish them in the Google Play Store, making them ready and compatible with the final version of Android N.

Launcher Shortcuts, a 3D Touch-like feature, was pulled in the last version of the preview — Google said it wasn’t ready yet, but it would make its way into another release. It looks like we may have to wait until Android O, however, because the Launcher Shortcuts APIs have been completely removed from preview 4.

Reports indicate that the Demo Mode for Android N has the clock resting at 7:00 — it’s usually an indicator of the version number, meaning Android N will likely make the jump from Android 6.0.1 to Android 7.0.

Of course, it’s still a developer preview, so you may encounter some bugs. We recommend backing up your phone before downloading the new preview, and if you want to check out the full list of improvements, bug fixes, and known issues, take a look here.

Topics

Julian Chokkattu

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…

Mobile

The latest Android 16 beta is hiding a significant UI overhaul

Google has been releasing various beta versions of Android 16 for a while now, but the juicy stuff is often hidden away. We have confirmation that Google is going to show us new design changes at I/O this month, and some of those changes can already be seen in the latest and final beta release.

Android Authority has done the work to enable the hidden design features in Beta 4, showcasing a range of subtle and not-so-subtle changes to the UI. Because these changes are still "off" even in the final beta, it's likely that they won't be included in the first stable release of Android 16. Instead, Google might activate them in a quarterly update sometime down the line. With any luck, they'll give us some more information during the upcoming developer conference.

Android

Android 16 is finally expanding beyond Google Pixel phones

The next major build of Android has reached a handful of new milestones, ahead of its public release. Google has just started the rollout of Android 16’s fourth beta update, reaching the second platform stability.

Developers who have optimized their apps to target Android 16 can now ship their updates via the Google Play Store. The latest beta update is also the near-final version, as all the app behaviours and background functionalities have been finalized.

Mobile

Gemini’s most interesting feature is now free for all Android users

Gemini Live App on the Galaxy S25 Ultra broadcast to a TV showing the Gemini app with the camera feature open

Of all the features that Google's much-anticipated Gemini AI offers, one of the most exciting has been screen sharing and camera access for brainstorming and object identification. Previously that had been for Pixel devices only, but today Google announced that the feature is coming to all Android users for free via the Gemini app.

Our team tested out the camera abilities of Gemini and found them "shocking" -- you can point your camera at an object or scene, enable Gemini to access your camera, then get information about what you're looking at from your assistant. Point your camera at a painting, and Gemini will tell you about it via text or voice. Show it a page from a book and it'll recognize the text and tell give you an overview of the book's key points. Snap a photo of a sketch you've created, and it'll help with guidance and advice.