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Google has caught tech geeks by surprise by announcing an early developer preview of the next version of Android – still known for now as Android N.
N will follow on from the current generation Marshmallow, with the technology giant following a tradition of naming their mobile operating systems alphabetically and after sweets and desserts.
The firm themselves admitted that the release on Thursday was “a little different this year” and that it was “early…really early”. The announcement normally doesn’t come until the firm’s annual developer conference, I/O, which takes place in May.
So, what can we expect from Android N apart from the pretty new background shown in the image above?
First of all is split-screen or multi-window as Google is calling it. This will give the ability to work across two things at once and, crucially, will work on smartphones as well as tablets.
There’s also something called direct reply notifications, which will enable users to reply to messages they receive without leaving the notification panel – making the whole process a bit smoother. Google says battery life will be more efficient when a device is running N too, as they’re doing work to tidy up how programs run in the background.
There’s a preview kit already available for developers, so those who build apps and software for a living can try out this early version now, while the rest of us should find out more in the weeks and months leading into the expected grand unveiling at Google I/O.
There’s also no word on what the N could stand for yet – Nutella? Nougat? That could be revealed at I/O too.
