Posted by Diana Wong (Android Product Supervisor), Kseniia Shumelchyk (Developer Relations Engineer) and Sara Vickerman (Android Developer Advertising and marketing)
This week, Samsung launched the most recent units to return to the Android ecosystem at their Galaxy Unpacked occasion. If you happen to haven’t already, try their two new foldables, the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Z Flip4, and their new lineup of watches working on Put on OS, the Galaxy Watch5 collection. You possibly can be taught extra about their bulletins right here.
With the joy round these new units, there’s by no means been a greater time to put money into ensuring your app has a tremendous expertise for customers, on giant screens or Put on OS! Right here’s what it’s essential know to get began:
Get your apps prepared for foldables, just like the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Z Flip4
With their distinctive foldable expertise, the Galaxy Z Flip4 and Z Fold4 are nice examples of how Android units are available all sizes and styles. The Z Fold4 is the most recent in giant display units, a class that continues to see spectacular progress. Energetic giant display customers are approaching 270 million, making it a good time to optimize your apps for tablets, foldables and Chrome OS.
Final yr, we launched Android 12L, a characteristic drop designed to make Android 12 even higher on tablets and foldable units, and Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold4 would be the first gadget to run 12L out of the field! Android 12L consists of UI updates tailored for giant screens, enhancements to the multitasking expertise, and enhancements to compatibility mode so your app appears higher out of the field. Since 12L, we additionally launched Android 13, which incorporates all these giant display updates and extra.
Get began constructing for foldables by testing the documentation. The Z Fold4 and Z Flip4 can be utilized in a number of totally different folded states, like Samsung’s “flex mode” the place you’ll be able to go hands-free when doing something from watching a present to taking a photograph. To get your app trying nice nonetheless it’s folded, you need to use the Jetpack WindowManager library to make your app fold conscious and take a look at your app on foldables. And eventually, the massive display app high quality tips is a complete set of checklists to assist make your app one of the best it may be throughout an ever increasing ecosystem of enormous display units.
Builders who put on this work are beginning to see outcomes; eBay elevated their app score to 4.7 stars on Google Play after optimizing for giant screens. Chrome‘s multitasking utilization elevated 18x for giant screens with 12L.
Construct distinctive Put on OS apps
The Put on OS platform expanded this week with the brand new and improved Galaxy Watch5 collection. This lineup of units builds on Samsung’s dedication to the wearable platform, which we noticed final yr after they launched Put on OS Powered by Samsung on the Galaxy Watch4 collection.
If you happen to’re trying to get began constructing for the most recent Galaxy Watch 5 collection, or some other Put on OS gadget, now is a good time to take a look at model 1.0 of Compose for Put on OS. That is the primary secure launch of our trendy declarative UI toolkit designed to make constructing apps for Put on OS simpler, quicker, and extra intuitive. The toolkit brings one of the best of Jetpack Compose to Put on OS, accelerating the event course of so you’ll be able to create stunning apps with fewer traces of code.
The 1.0 launch streamlines UI growth by following the declarative strategy and providing highly effective Kotlin syntax. It additionally offers a wealthy set of UI elements optimized for the watch expertise and is accompanied by many highly effective instruments in Android Studio to streamline UI iteration. That’s why Compose for Put on OS is our advisable strategy for constructing person interfaces for Put on OS apps.
We’ve constructed a set of supplies that can assist you get began with Compose for Put on OS! Try our curated studying pathway for a step-by-step journey, documentation together with a fast begin information, the Compose for Put on OS codelab for hands-on expertise, and samples accessible on Github.
Equally to Compose for Put on OS, we’re constructing Put on OS Tile Elements to make it quicker and simpler to construct tiles. Tiles present Put on OS customers glanceable entry to the knowledge and actions they want with the intention to get issues finished shortly and they’re one of the vital used options on Put on OS. This replace brings materials elements and layouts so you’ll be able to create Tiles that embrace the most recent Materials design for Put on OS. Proper now that is in beta, however preserve a lookout for the launch announcement!
One other launch announcement to be careful for is Android Studio Dolphin, the most recent launch from Android Studio. Try these options designed to make wearable app growth simpler:
- Up to date Put on OS emulator toolbar which now consists of buttons and gestures accessible on Put on OS units, akin to palm and tilting and simulating two bodily buttons.
- Emulator pairing assistant to pair a number of Put on OS units with a single digital or bodily telephone. Android Studio remembers pairings after being closed and lets you see Put on units within the Machine Supervisor.
- Direct floor launch that lets you create run/debug configurations for Put on OS tiles, watch faces, and issues, and launch them instantly from Android Studio.
Between Jetpack Compose, Tile Elements and Android Studio Dolphin, we’re simplifying Put on OS app growth. And, with the addition of the Galaxy Watch5 collection to the Put on OS ecosystem, there are much more causes to construct an distinctive Put on OS app.
There’s by no means been a greater time to begin optimizing!
Kind elements are having a serious second this yr and Google is dedicated to serving to you optimize and construct throughout kind elements with new content material and instruments, together with classes and workshops from this yr’s Google I/O and new Android Studio options. Plus, we’ve Materials Design steering for giant screens and Put on OS that can assist you in your optimization journey.
From the Watch5 collection to the Z Fold4, Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked introduced us improvements throughout display sizes and kinds. Put together your app so it appears nice throughout all the Android gadget ecosystem!