Google’s Android Things, developer preview 8: First look

Production-focused console enhancements

There have been several changes made to the Android Things developer console with a focus on building and shipping production ready devices:

• Visual storage layout: This feature helps in configuring the device storage allocated to apps and data for each build, and helps in getting an overview of how much storage your apps require.
• Font/locale controls: These controls are a set of supported fonts and locales packaged into each build.
• Group sharing: Product sharing has been extended to include support for Google Groups.
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App library

This is a new feature added to the Android Things ecosystem, which allows developers to manage APKs more easily without the need to package them together in a separate zipped bundle. It helps you to track individual versions of your app, review permissions, and share your app with other console users. Take a look at the official documentation for more details on App Library.

Permissions

This feature is quite useful to developers as it gives them more control over the permissions used by apps on their devices. When working with mobile devices, apps request permissions at runtime and the end users grant them. The early releases of Android Things used to grant these permissions automatically while booting the device. But with Developer preview 8, these permissions will be granted with the help of a new user interface in the developer console.

These are just a select few of the myriad of updates available within the developer preview of Android Things. To read the entire list of changes please check out the release notes.

Getting Started with Android Things
Build your first Android app with Kotlin