Yesterday Google announced redesigned Android L version which contains a lot of new changes. Though the public and final build would be rolled out later this fall through both OTA updates and as standalone downloads for compatible android phones but the developer previews of L version has been made available for those developers who want to check the new features and for those who want to update their apps prior to public release.
At this time only two devices are supported for android L and that are Nexus 5 smartphone and Nexus 7 tablet. Out of Nexus 7 models only WiFi version is compatible with it.
As the developer preview of Android L is now available to download for specific devices, it doesn’t mean it can’t be ported out to other non-supported devices. However, if you don’t know how to do this, don’t try it yourself. Though there might be delay in full port-outs, but we can expect the extraction of some of the good features and apps from it very soon.
The important features of android L include improved notifications, new and smart keyboard, cards-like recent applications, and the all-new dialer. Notifications can now be accessed from the lock screen. There are also some new security settings which allow the users to set which notifications to show in the lockscreen and which ones to hide. The notification center also contains quick toggles for functions like WiFi, Bluetooth, Air Plane mode, Silent Mode etc. These toggles appears when you swipe the Notifications futher down.
iOS like “Do Not Disturb” feature is also bundled with new notifications. You can mute the notifications for / to certain time period.
Download Android L Developer Preview Direct Links:
The SDK of Android L is available from android developers website. At this time this early build can be buggy and may not function properly. However, it is noted that many new features work smoothly and even some third party applications also work on the devices running on android L.
The complete set up guide and step by step method can be found on Android Developers.
If you don’t have Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 devices, you can also set up Android Virtual Device and use the emulator to install the L preview to test and develop applictions.
Direct Download links for Android L
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