It feels like a week ago, but it was only Wednesday morning, alongside announcement of the new Nexus devices, that we were officially told that Android 6.0 Marshmallow is here. But what would a new version of Android do for consumers if the developers that excite the inner geeks among us can’t get their ideas and apps to integrate nicely with it? To answer this, Google have released Android Studio 1.4 for developers onto the Google Developers site.
Not only does the latest version of Android Studio give an updated API to the developers, but it also offers some new functionality within the design tools
Vector Assets:
Aiming to minimise the effort required by developers to maintain and import their images within an app, integrating some basic functionality into the Android Studio.
Theme Editor:
Only a preview at this stage, but again focussing on making the design and management process for themes (material colours at this stage) within apps easier for developers.
Project Templates:
Perhaps one of the best additions to this update as it will open the door to some developers who are tentative about diving into Android development.
From the template wizard you can start projects with a basic blank template with a floating action button or start from a range of user interface components such as the navigation drawer, or AppBar with scrolling view. We also re-introduced the empty app template for those who want minimum code generation when adding an activity to your project.
Performance Monitors:
Another nice change in Android Studio allowing developers to see how their apps are performing, more importantly how they are consuming resources on devices which will (as many users will confirm) affect performance and often; in the case of some poorly designed apps, have a huge detrimental affect on battery life.
So its clear the team are working very hard to make development easier, giving Developers more time to work on ideas and functions inside their apps rather than simply making them work and look good.
What would you like to see come out of the update to Android Studio from your favourite developers?
