Android N Developer Preview Available Now

In a surprise move, Google or Alphabet or whoever released the developer preview of Android N, the upcoming version of the mobile operating system. Allegedly codenamed “Nutella,” the operating system promises to be creamy and delicious with some gooey new features. As eager app developers in San Francisco, we can’t wait to play.

Multi Window

Hey, two apps at once? Why not. The new functionality should allow you to tweet while watching movies or text while doing something else. Cool, we guess. This functionality has been available on Samsung Galaxy phones for some time, and is similar to what Apple has rolled out on new iPads. Just try not to Facebook and watch movies and drive at the same time.

Reply in Notification

No need to dive into that pesky messaging app any longer. Now you can reply instantly to a text right there in the original notification, using your sultry voice or stubby fingers. Google introduced this handy little feature with Android Wear watches. Over a number of years, this will give you back seconds of valuable time.

Bundled Notifications

In another burst of efficiency, this feature will lump together notifications from a single app. Tap the app you want to see, then expand all those app-specific notifications. This way you won’t have to scroll through all of Donald Trump’s tweets unless you really want to.

Better Battery

Android N will bring back Doze, the battery-saving feature introduced in Marshmallow. Basically it puts your apps to sleep when the phone’s not in use. Meanwhile, Google is plugging away on Project Svelte which reduces the memory used by core processes. That saves you precious battery power.

Expect to see more of Android N at Google I/O conference in May. The preview edition is available now as an over-the-air update.