Android N Developer Preview 4 available for Download for Nexus Smartphones

Google has released Android N developer preview 4 with the build number NPD56N. The factory images are available for all the same supported devices that include Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9 (both Wi-Fi & LTE), Nexus Player, Pixel C and the General Mobile 4G device. If you are a part of the program, then keep checking Setting > About Phone > System updates. It should be out soon. We had covered a related story today about the Android N Naming, that probably could be Nutella & these developer previews could help you in experiencing them on your phones.

We have listed all the new feature changes briefly here for you to have a look-

• Developer Preview 4 includes the final APIs for the upcoming Android N. This new API is marked at level 24, so you can start publishing apps that use level 24 to the Play store, in Alpha, Beta, and production release.
• Google provided the final API 24 SDK to be used with Android Studio 2.1.2 and higher. The emulator is also updated with Developer Preview 4 system images for testing.
• Unlike previous versions of Android, now the system negotiates resource locales individually for each resource object before the app activates.
• In the new developer preview 4, the Launcher Shortcuts APIs are removed.
• The new update will prevent applications from starting and stopping BLE scans more than 5 times in 30 seconds. And the long running scans will be converted into opportunities scans.
• The Multi-Window android:minimalHeight and android:minimalWidth attributes have been renamed to android:minHeight and android:minWidth.

If you’re interested to know what’s broken before flashing it on your primary device (which we don’t recommend), here you go-

• System instability (kernel panics and crashes).
• Issues with default launcher’s All Apps tray may become unresponsive after cycling the screen off and on. You may resolve this issue by returning to home screen and relaunching the Apps tray.
• Issues with Media Playback on Nexus 9 and the Nexus Player while playing HD video.
• Occasional freeze when running the YouTube app with other apps in Multi-window mode on Pixel C devices. A hard reboot is required in a few cases.
• Issues on handling VP8 video on Nexus 9 devices.
• Apps may become unstable when they are moved from internal storage to adoptable external storage.
• Google Play services 9.0.83 incorrectly reports the current screen density rather than the stable screen density. And few other multi-APK issues.
• Also on devices running Android N, Google Play services 9.0.83 currently reports Vulkan support but not the Vulkan version which can cause Google Play to select a version of a multi-APK app that’s designed for lower Vulkan support on devices with higher version support.
• Navigating web pages in Chrome might be an issue.
• Accessibility issues for talkback users with notification dismissal.
• CA certificates provisioned through DevicePolicyManager are not available to profiles other than the primary user/profiles currently, which is going to be resolved in the next Developer preview.

Installing the developer preview on your Nexus device

If you have already enrolled in the Android Beta Program, your devices will get the recently released OTA right away, once the developer makes it available. In case if you wish to enroll now, then click here and follow the instructions, and you are good to go. Alternatively, you can also flash the factory images onto your devices manually. Check the appropriate version to download them and install. Visit the developer’s website and follow the instructions to flash the update.