5 of the best features to look forward to in Android N

Google recently unveiled the developer preview for Android N, the next version of Android. The best part? It’s available now. Read on below for the scoop on its very best features. 

Multi-window apps

The headlining feature in Android N is multi-window support, which lets you run multiple apps side-by-side in the same view. Google hasn’t specified how this will work just yet, but the interface looks similar to Microsoft’s split-screen feature, which was introduced in Windows 8.1. With this feature, apps can take up a portion of one side of the screen, and the interface will adapt based on how much room on the screen it’s given. On tablets, the split will be left-to-right, but on phones it will be top-to-bottom, unless you rotate the phone into landscape mode.

Better battery life

When Google introduced Android Marshmallow, the new battery-saving feature called Doze came along with it, and in Android N, it works better than ever. Doze now works whenever the screen is off, not just when the device is stationary, so your device’s battery will last even longer when it’s in standby mode. According to Google, it’s also improved the way memory sources are used in the background of the mobile OS.

Notification improvements

Since many people rely on smartphones daily, these devices must be able to handle floods of notifications, and Android N has improvements in this area. Developers can choose to bunch together alerts from the same app, enabling users to see them as a bundle and expand them individually when necessary.

Notifications now also support a direct reply feature so you can respond to a text, tweet, WhatsApp, or anything else right from the notification pane without having to launch the appropriate app.

Picture-in-picture mode

Google specifically called out its picture-in-picture mode, which gives developers the option to put activities such as videos in an overlay that runs on top of the rest of Android. What this means is if you’re watching a movie and need to check your email, or using an Android-based TV device like Mohu Channels, you’ll be able to minimize a video while you go back to the channel guide, or keep watching while you select something else. 

According to Google, this feature is useful for TV devices, meaning it’s likely meant for Android TV more than anything else. It’s unclear if the company will allow this feature to be used on phones and tablets as well.

Night Mode

Night Mode is back in Android N, making your smartphone or tablet display easier on the eyes in a dark room. Better yet, it can be linked to daylight times in your location. 

Like third-party apps that do the same, Night Mode changes the color scheme and tint of the display to reduce the amount of blue light and ease eye strain at night.  

Sources: Google, Gizmag