Android L – which will bring a new version of Google? – PCLab.pl

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subsequent editions of the conference Google I / O is inextricably linked to presenting the latest version of Android. It was no different this time, and at a conference conducted by wyszukiwarkowego giant could preview what the future will bring to the holders of the most popular mobile operating system.

start a small explanation of the name Android L. As you probably noticed, new versions of the system have names beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Now we have a KitKat, so it’s natural, it’s time for something with an “L” on the front. On the internet you can find the information that the name of another “droid” is a lollipop, but this has not been officially confirmed yet, because of the ongoing conference Google I / O shows only the announcement and very early variety ‘elki “, developed primarily for developers (and this They get access to it tomorrow, if they have the Nexus 5 or Nexus 7). Its final version and full name will be published in the autumn of this year and then you will be able to seriously begin to wonder when the phone receives the appropriate package updates, and why so late.

Most changes in Android L is to take place” under the hood “. Perhaps the greatest of these is the complete transition from Dalvik runtime environment for runtime ART. The first time it was presented already in Android 4.4, where it can be incorporated into a menu of options for developers, because it was still early and not fully efficient phase. Why is it so important to change? First, developers will have to check whether their applications are fully compatible with the new and update it before Android L starts getting “serious” to another phone. Secondly, it has a yield increase performance and speed running programs. The program compiled by the developer is “processed” on the so-called byte code. This code during the installation of the application goes to the smartphone / tablet and there must be “translated” into machine code. If the system unit has an active old Dalvik runtime environment, this operation is always executed during startup and the result ends up in memory. However, in the case of environmental ART, “translation” takes place already during the installation of the program and its result is stored in the future on a standard data carrier. Theoretically, this has lead to a reduction of CPU load, memory usage, etc. The first tests made yet on Android 4.4 show that it does not work miracles, but every bit of performance and better optimization of our welcome. Thirdly, a new environment is fully compatible with 64-bit processors of different types, ie ARMv8, x86-64 and MIPS64.

But this is not the end of the optimization of various types. Much attention has been paid to the behavior of supposedly “od?miecarki” memory. I think every user of smartphones with Android spotted some specific behavior of the system. When the RAM device is full when you run several programs and wants to take advantage of the next, which in a free RAM-e is not already, then you will find that everything slows down and may start to “munch”. This is due to the assumption “droid” that unused memory is wasted memory (in which there is some truth), through which he tries to keep in the applications and tools as long as possible and makes sense (and sometimes even longer ) . For this reason, sometimes when you want to start a new program, you should first wait for the “garbage truck”, which releases the required amount of memory, and its action causes a temporary “przycink?” system. The Android L has this to happen faster and less noticeable to the user, which is especially good news for people with smartphones equipped with 0.5-1 GB of RAM (ie, holders of Motorola Moto Moto E G and again rejoice that their phones work even better and better ).

There is also eliminated the theme of time working on the battery. Previously, we had Project Butter , designed to improve the liquidity of action Android, and now we Volta Project , which has allowed to find ways to properly time the battery. These optimizations will be mainly related to how often the device wakes from a deep sleep state by the modem and processes using the Internet and location services when the screen is turned off. Now it has to happen less often. The impact of this solution on the final result will largely depend on how you use your phone. If your smartphone has enabled most of the time the screen and still do something for him, it Volta will not change much. And if you use it less intensively, but they still check on something in the background and informs about new developments, this difference can be substantial. We wonder is whether the creator of the popular overlay system, something is traditionally not spoil, so the potential benefits of the amendments Android L will not be reserved only for holders of Nexusów, as is often the case with any kind of interface to optimize liquidity and the use of memory.

Another change relates mainly inner game programming is very specific, and evokes in us mixed feelings. It’s about Android Extension Pack . The games are an incredibly important part of mobile applications and they look better. This year’s graphics chips such as GPU Tegra K1, and Adreno 420 Snapdragon 805, will have a fully hardware compatible with DirectX 11 and the latest versions of OpenGL. This means support for features such as tessellation, compute shaders and geometry shaders. But to make it possible to take advantage of this service is needed by the system and drivers suitable API version that recognizes these functions. The Android-L can now enjoy the benefits of OpenGL ES 3.1, but it is a mobile API does not know what it is tessellation, geometry shaders and so a big chunk of logic smartfonowych latest graphics chips would lie fallow.

Here comes into play just Android Extension Pack , which will enable developers as easy to use these new techniques. It is therefore a form of patching the hole created by the fact that OpenGL ES does not keep pace with the development of hardware, and smartphones and tablets with Android still lacks full support for OpenGL. It is interesting that in the slide talking about AEP also mentioned compute shaders and texture compression ASTC, which are part of the OpenGL ES 3.1 and related API extensions, so either it is a mistake in the presentation (Compute r shaders?), or Extension Pack will do something my way.

With changes less technical and more visible it is worth mentioning:

• much better system notifications that appear on the lock screen system (somewhere we have already seen a similar solution )
• new type of notifications that appear in balloons “over” the current application (ie, an incoming call will now zatrzymywa?o everything and, for example, interrupt the game, because the information about it will appear in a small “floating” window)
• new look of the screen to switch between applications, for which a program can now send a few cards, not just one (for example, each card opened in a web browser can now be a separate “entity”
• changed the appearance of the user interface and a new set of animation known under the common name Material Design
• extreme power saving mode (this is also seen somewhere ), who will be able to slow down the refresh rate of the screen, turn off processor cores, etc. .

News, however, probably will be appreciated mainly by” Nexusowców “because different types of overlay system do not necessarily have to implement it, or you can have them find a similar solution.

Of course, the list of changes is much longer and probably still will be lengthened in the next months. Many of them are prepared for developers and the fact that Android is now also getting watches, eyewear, televisions and even cars, and you have to somehow make sense fasten together. We’ll see what comes out, but Android L clearly shows that Google knows what problems has the operating system looks at what they are doing different partners and focuses on the refinement of what is, instead of the proverbial wheel again. And how does it work out in practice, see the end of the year.