Android Developers Blog

Posted by Joel Newman & Ashraf Hassan, Strategic Partnerships, Finance, Google Play Millions of people around the globe have limited or no access to basic financial services to enable them to manage their day-to-day finances. Mobile technology can help bridge this gap by connecting historically underserved consumers with high-quality tools to help them improve their financial health. Often faced with an uncertain regulatory environment and/or a highly fragmented financial marketplace, many developers struggle with building great app experiences while also navigating this complex financial space. That's why we recently worked with CFSI , the authority on consumer financial health, to create the FinTech App Development Compass, a six-step guide for building high quality mobile apps to make financial services more accessible on Google Play. Below, we're sharing six tips to consider when building a financial services app. For more, read the complete FinTech App Development Comp...

Posted by Hoi Lam , Lead Developer Advocate, Android Wear Today, we are releasing the final SDK for Android Wear 2.0. In this release, we have added support for the new hardware features announced yesterday . If you have not done so already, it really is time to publish your apps so as to not miss the consumer hardware launch tomorrow. Throughout the developer preview program, you have given us a lot of constructive feedback as well as bug reports. Thank you again! Android Wear 2.0 recap Android Wear 2.0 is our biggest update since we launched Wear in 2014, with numerous platform and developer enhancements. Some of the highlights include: Material Design for Android Wear - A new system user interface and design guidelines, featuring a darker colour palette, vertical layout and visual components such as the WearableRecyclerView and WearableNavigationDrawer . We have also enhanced notifications on the watch with the new MessagingStyle rich notification style and inline actions. Watc...

Posted by Wayne Piekarski , Developer Advocate for IoT Today we are releasing Developer Preview 2 (DP2) for Android Things, bringing new features and bug fixes to the platform. We are committed to providing regular updates to developers, and aim to have new preview releases approximately every 6-8 weeks. Android Things is a comprehensive solution to building Internet of Things (IoT) products with the power of Android. Now any Android developer can quickly build a smart device using Android APIs and Google services, while staying highly secure with updates direct from Google. It includes familiar tools such as Android Studio, the Android Software Development Kit (SDK), Google Play Services, and Google Cloud Platform. Android Things supports a System-on-Module (SoM) architecture, where a core computing module can be initially used with development boards and then easily scaled to large production runs with custom designs, while continuing to use the same Board Support Package (BSP) from ...

Posted by Noah Falstein, Chief Game Designer at Google The Game Developers Conference (GDC) kicks off on Monday, February 27th with our annual Google Developer Day . Join us as we demonstrate how new devices, platforms, and tools are helping developers build successful businesses and push the limits of mobile gaming on Android. Expect exciting announcements, best practices, and tips covering a variety of topics including Google Play, Daydream VR, Firebase, Cloud Platform, machine learning, monetization, and more. In the afternoon, we'll host panels to hear from developers first-hand about their experiences launching mobile games, building thriving communities, and navigating the successes and challenges of being an indie developer. Visit our site for more info and the Google Developer Day schedule . These events are part of the official Game Developer's Conference, so you will need a pass to attend. For those who can't make it in person, watch the live stream on YouTube st...

Posted by Jeremy Brook, Group Creative Business Partner, the ZOO Last summer , we made the Awareness API available to all developers through Google Play services for the first time, providing a powerful and unified sensing platform that enables apps to be aware of all aspects of a user's environment. By using a combination of context signals, such as location, physical activity, weather and nearby beacons, developers can better understand their users individually and provide more engaging and customized mobile app experiences. We have already seen some great implementations of the API in obvious scenarios, such as shopping for a new home in the neighborhood or recommending a music playlist while starting a jog. For New York Fashion Week, we explored other creative integrations of the Awareness API and collaborated with H&M Group's digital fashion house Ivyrevel and its Fashion Tech Lab to bring couture into the digital age with the 'Data Dress,' a personalized dres...

Posted by JP Souchak, Program Manager The Associate Android Developer Certification program was announced at Google I/O 2016 , and launched a few months later. Since then, over 322 Android developers spanning 61 countries have proven their competency and earned the title of Google Certified Associate Android Developer. To establish a professional standard for what it means to be an Associate Android developer in the current job market, Google created this certification, which allows us to recognize developers who have proven themselves to uphold that standard. We conducted a job task analysis to determine the required competencies and content of the certification exam. Through field research and interviews with experts, we identified the knowledge, work practices, and essential skills expected of an Associate Android developer. The certification process consists of a performance-based exam and an exit interview. The certification fee includes three exam attempts. The cost for cert...

Posted by Dave Burke, VP of Engineering The next maintenance release for Android Nougat -- 7.1.2 -- is just around the corner! To get the recipe just right, starting today, we're rolling out a public beta to eligible devices that are enrolled in the Android Beta Program , including Pixel and Pixel XL, Nexus 5X, Nexus Player, and Pixel C devices. We're also preparing an update for Nexus 6P that we expect to release soon. Android 7.1.2 is an incremental maintenance release focused on refinements, so it includes a number of bugfixes and optimizations, along with a small number of enhancements for carriers and users. If you'd like to try the public beta for Android 7.1.2, the easiest way is through the Android Beta Program . If you have an eligible device that's already enrolled, you're all set -- your device will get the public beta update in the next few days and no action is needed on your part. If your device isn't enrolled, it only takes a moment to visit andro...