Download the Android Nougat 7.1 Update Beta

It was only at the end of August this year that Android launched their latest OS version 7.0 Nougat to all devices, however the OS tech giant have already started to roll out the 7.1 upgrade for the Nougat system.

While the 7.1 early look Beta is intended for app makers only under their Developer Preview program, the enrolment to the Android Beta site is open to all.

So what can we expect from the 7.1 update?

New Capabilities for developers to help you drive engagement in your app include:

  • App shortcuts API — lets you surface key actions directly in the launcher and take your users deep into your app instantly. You can create up to 5 shortcuts, either statically or dynamically.
  • Enhanced live wallpaper metadata — providing metadata about your live wallpapers to any picker displaying the wallpapers as a preview. You can show existing metadata such as label, description, and author, as well as a new context URL and title to link to more information.
  • Circular app icons support — provides a great-looking rounded icon resources that match the look of Pixel and other launchers.

Android Nougat 7.1 beta

Plus the addition of these must requested developer features to the platform:

  • Image keyboard support — expands the types of content that users can enter from their keyboards, letting them express themselves through custom stickers, animated gifs, and more. Apps can tell the keyboard what types of content they accept, and keyboards can deliver all of the images and other content that they offer to the user. For broad compatibility, this API will also be available in the support library.
  • Storage manager Intent — lets an app take the user directly to a new Settings screen to clear unused files and free up storage space on the device.

The Android developers blogspot confirmed that they were working to bring:

“Android 7.1 to devices in the ecosystem over the months ahead, so we recommend downloading the Android 7.1 Developer Preview as soon as it’s available. Test your apps for compatibility and optimize them to look their best, such as by providing circular app icons and adding app shortcuts.’

Confirming that there wasn’t a solid date for the version’s full release, but we expect it will come out by the end of October for the Nexus 5X and 6P phones.

In the mean time check out the latest Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL for some extraordinary Android Nougat 7.0 experiences.

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