The latest version of android known as KitKat or Android 4.4 is announced with many neat features.
One major feature in Kitkat is that it can be installed in most of the phones because it requires only 512 MB of RAM.
Google really wants to abolish the device fragmentation issue that it has faced for all these years.There are millions of android devices running different versions of android.With arrival of KitKat , latest version can be installed in entry level phones which was not possible before.
New features in Android KitKat
OEMs can use this opportunity of targeted recommendations and option to tune out-of-memory levels for processes.
- New improved APIs
- Core System Processes will use less memory Heap.
- Prevent Apps from using more amount of RAM.
- Better memory management on peak demands.
- Hardware Sensor Batching – Improves Efficiency.
Two new tools introduced in this version are Procstats and Meminfo which provides the on device view for developers to create low memory consuming apps.
Transactions through Secure NFC
Near Field Communication can be used for payment transactions using Host Card Emulation.
Cloud Printing:
Not just chrome, Android devices can now print content over Wi-Fi with help of Google Cloud Printing. The API for printing allows apps to interact with cloud print.
Storage Access Framework:
It helps users to open images and documents from many storage providers like Box,Google Drive etc.
New Steps detection sensors:
Two new sensors added to the core system called as Step Detector and Step Counter.
Default SMS Provider:
There will be a change in the way your apps read SMS from the device.It will done using the shared SMS provider.All the incoming messages will be handled by one default messaging app chosen by the user.
Full Screen Apps- Immersive Mode:
You can now develop full screen apps that wont have any action bar or other system UI which is called as immersive mode.This will be ideal for eBook reading apps that wont require any UI edge to edge.
Translucent UI Styling:
Another app styling perspective that lets you use the navigation bar and status bar inside apps.
Screen recording:
KitKat 4.4 adds a new screen recording utility that allows you to records the on screen activities and store it as mp4 file.
Remote Control :
Using an android device you could able to control electronics like TV tuners,switches etc using built in IR Blaster.Soon you will be seeing apps that can control your TV.
There are more new minor changes you can see here in android site.
Explore the new android SDK and APIs and implement the new features.
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