Android 14 To Have THESE New Features As Google Announces 'Developer Preview 2' | Details Inside

IT’S that time of the year when Google brings fresh nuggets of features with a new Android version for developers. In a series of attempts at allowing early access to fresh Android features, the California-based tech giant announced the Developer Preview 2 of Android 14 on Wednesday. The company released the first Developer Preview in February.

The latest enhancements include improvements in battery life, performance, security and privacy, the Google Developers Blog mentions. Developer Preview 2 caters to app testers.

Android 14 Developer Preview 2 New Features

Release notes of the build state the new feature set in Developer Preview 2. The new update allows the tester to give partial media access to apps. This will give access to select photos and videos of the device. A privacy-preserving screenshot detection API is bundled in the release for apps to detect when a user takes a screenshot in the app interface.

A user will be able to dismiss foreground notification which is otherwise non-dismissable. Users can “personalize temperature units, the first day of the week, and numbering systems,” via regional preferences. For low-vision users, the preview will support blowing up the font up to 200 per cent. Plus, allowing apps to kill their background processes, restrictions on background activity of apps and app store changes are mentioned in the release notes.

Android 14 Developer Preview 2 Supported Devices

The latest build version can be installed on the Pixel 4a(5G), 5, 5a, 6, 6 Pro, 6a, 7 and 7 Pro or a virtual device via Android Emulator. Developers already testing a previous release will receive it via an OTA update. Google recommends updated SDK and Android Emulator before trying the build.

Since it is a pre-release build, a tester may face minor to significant issues. Although most applications will work fine, a few exceptions are expected to prevail. Plus, the release may have stability and battery problems, the company states.

Android 14 Release Timeline

The final release of the stable version is set to release after July, according to the timeline provided by Google. Android 14 beta will be available for users from April on selected devices.