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  • Android Studio Meerkat Feature Drop is stable



    Posted by Adarsh Fernando, Group Product Manager

    Today, we’re excited to announce the stable release of Android Studio Meerkat Feature Drop (2024.3.2)!

    This release brings a host of new features and improvements designed to boost your productivity and enhance your development workflow. With numerous enhancements, this latest release helps you build high-quality Android apps faster and more efficiently: streamlined Jetpack Compose previews, new Gemini capabilities, better Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) integration, improved device management, and more.

    Read on to learn about the key updates in Android Studio Meerkat Feature Drop, and download the latest stable version today to explore them yourself!

    Developer Productivity Enhancements

    Analyze Crash Reports with Gemini in Android Studio

    Debugging production crashes can require you to spend significant time switching contexts between your crash reporting tool, such as Firebase Crashlytics and Android Vitals, and investigating root causes in the IDE. Now, when viewing reports in App Quality Insights (AQI), click the Insights tab. Gemini provides a summary of the crash, generates insights, and links to useful documentation. If you also provide Gemini with access to local code context, it can provide more accurate results, relevant next steps, and code suggestions. This helps you reduce the time spent diagnosing and resolving issues.

    moving image of Gemini in the App Quality Insights tool window in Android Studio

    Gemini helps you investigate, understand, and resolve crashes in your app much more quickly in the App Quality Insights tool window.

    Generate Unit Test Scenarios with Gemini

    Writing effective unit tests is crucial but can be time-consuming. Gemini now helps kickstart this process by generating relevant test scenarios. Right-click on a class in your editor and select Gemini > Generate Unit Test Scenarios. Gemini analyzes the code and suggests test cases with descriptive names, outlining what to test. While you still implement the specific test logic, this significantly speeds up the initial setup and ensures better test coverage by suggesting scenarios you might have missed.

    moving image of generating unit test scenarios in Android Studio

    Gemini helps you generate unit test scenarios for your app.

    Gemini Prompt Library

    No more retyping your most frequently used prompts for Gemini! The new Prompt Library lets you save prompts directly within Android Studio (Settings > Gemini > Prompt Library). Whether it’s a specific code generation pattern, a refactoring instruction, or a debugging query you use often, save it once from the chat (right-click > Save prompt) and re-apply it instantly from the editor (right-click > Gemini > Prompt Library). Prompts that you save can also be shared and standardized across your team.

    moving image of prompt library in Android Studio

    The prompt library saves your frequently used Gemini prompts to make them easier to use.

    You have the option to store prompts on IDE level or Project level:

      • IDE level prompts are private and can be used across multiple projects.
      • Project level prompts can be shared across teams working on the same project (if .idea folder is added to VCS).

    Compose and UI Development

    Themed Icon Support Preview

    Ensure your app’s branding looks great with Android’s themed icons. Android Studio now lets you preview how your existing launcher icon adapts to the monochromatic theming algorithm directly within the IDE. This quick visual check helps you identify potential contrast issues or undesirable shapes early in the workflow, even before you provide a dedicated monochromatic drawable. This allows for faster iteration on your app’s visual identity.

    moving image of themed icon support in preview in Android Studio

    Themed icon support in Preview helps you visually check how your existing launcher icon adapts to monochromatic theming.

    Compose Preview Enhancements

    Iterating on your Compose UI is now faster and better organized:

      • Enhanced Zoom: Navigate complex layouts more easily with smoother, more responsive zooming in your Compose previews.
      • Collapsible Groups: Tidy up your preview surface by collapsing groups of related composables under their @Preview annotation names, letting you focus on specific parts of the UI without clutter.
      • Grid Mode by Default: Grid mode is now the default for a clear overview. Gallery mode (for flipping through individual previews) is available via right-click, while List view has been removed to streamline the experience.

    moving image of Compose previews in Android Studio

    Compose previews render more smoothly and make it easier to hide previews you’re not focused on.

    Build and Deploy

    KMP Shared Module Integration

    Android Studio now streamlines adding shared logic to your Android app with the new Kotlin Multiplatform Shared Module template. This provides a dedicated starting point within your Android project, making it easier to structure and build shared business logic for both Android and iOS directly from Android Studio.

    Kotlin Multiplatform template in Android Studio

    The new Kotlin Multiplatform module template makes it easier to add shared business logic to your existing app.

    Updated UX for Adding Devices

    Spend less time configuring test devices. The new Device Manager UX for adding virtual and remote devices makes it much easier to configure the devices you want from the Device Manager. To get started, click the ‘+’ action at the top of the window and select one of these options:

      • Create Virtual Device: New filters, recommendations, and creation flow guide you towards creating AVDs that are best suited for your intended purpose and your machine’s performance.
      • Add Remote Devices: With Android Device Streaming, powered by Firebase, you can connect and debug your app with a variety of real physical devices. With a new catalog view and filters, it’s now easier to locate and start using the device you need in just a few clicks.

    moving image of configuring virtual devices in Android Studio

    It’s now easier to configure virtual devices that are optimized for your workstation.

    Google Play Deprecated SDK Warnings

    Stay more informed about SDKs you publish with your app. Android Studio now displays warnings from the Google Play SDK Index when an SDK used in your app has been deprecated by its author. These warnings include information about suggested alternative SDKs, helping you proactively manage dependencies and avoid potential issues related to outdated or insecure libraries.

    Google Play Deprecated SDK warnings in Android Studio

    Play deprecated SDK warnings help you avoid potential issues related to outdated or insecure libraries.

    Updated Build Menu and Actions

    We’ve refined the Build menu for a more intuitive experience:

      • New ‘Build run-configuration-name’ Action: Builds the currently selected run configuration (e.g., :app or a specific test). This is now the default action for the toolbar button and Control/Command+F9.
      • Reordered Actions: The new build action is prioritized at the top, followed by Compile and Assemble actions.
      • Clearer Naming: “Rebuild Project” is now “Clean and Assemble Project with Tests”. “Make Project” is renamed to “Assemble Project”, and a new “Assemble Project with Tests” action is available.

    Build menu in Android Studio

    The Build menu includes behavior and naming changes to simplify and streamline the experience.

    Standardized Config Directories

    Switching between Stable, Beta, and Canary versions of Android Studio is now smoother. Configuration directories are standardized, removing the “Preview” suffix for non-stable builds. We’ve also added the micro version (e.g., AndroidStudio2024.3.2) to the path, allowing different feature drops to run side-by-side without conflicts. This simplifies managing your IDE settings, especially if you work with multiple Android Studio installations.

    IntelliJ platform update

    Android Studio Meerkat Feature Drop (2024.3.2) includes the IntelliJ 2024.3 platform release, which has many new features such as a feature complete K2 mode, more reliable Java** and Kotlin code inspections, grammar checks during indexing, debugger improvements, speed and quality of life improvements to Terminal, and more.

    For more information, read the full IntelliJ 2024.3 release notes.

    Summary

    Android Studio Meerkat Feature Drop (2024.3.2) delivers these key features and enhancements:

      • Developer Productivity:
          • Analyze Crash Reports with Gemini
          • Generate Unit Test Scenarios with Gemini
          • Gemini Prompt Library
      • Compose and UI:
          • Themed Icon Preview
          • Compose Preview Enhancements (Zoom, Collapsible Groups, View Modes)
      • Build and Deploy:
          • KMP Shared Module Template
          • Updated UX for Adding Devices
          • Google Play SDK Insights: Deprecated SDK Warnings
          • Updated Build Menu & Actions
          • Standardized Config Directories
      • IntelliJ Platform Update
          • Feature complete K2 mode
          • Improved Kotlin and Java** inspection reliability
          • Debugger improvements
          • Speed and quality of life improvements in Terminal

    Getting Started

    Ready to elevate your Android development? Download Android Studio Meerkat Feature Drop and start using these powerful new features today!

    As always, your feedback is crucial. Check known issues, report bugs, suggest improvements, and connect with the community on LinkedIn, Medium, YouTube, or X. Let’s continue building amazing Android apps together!

    **Java is a trademark or registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.





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  • Jetpack WindowManager 1.4 is stable



    Posted by Xiaodao Wu – Developer Relations Engineer

    Jetpack WindowManager keeps getting better. WindowManager gives you tools to build adaptive apps that work seamlessly across all kinds of large screen devices. Version 1.4, which is stable now, introduces new features that make multi-window experiences even more powerful and flexible. While Jetpack Compose is still the best way to create app layouts for different screen sizes, 1.4 makes some big improvements to activity embedding, including activity stack spinning, pane expansion, and dialog full-screen dim. Multi-activity apps can easily take advantage of all these great features.

    WindowManager 1.4 introduces a range of enhancements. Here are some of the highlights.

    WindowSizeClass

    We’ve updated the WindowSizeClass API to support custom values. We changed the API shape to make it easy and extensible to support custom values and add new values in the future. The high level changes are as follows:

      • Opened the constructor to take in minWidthDp and minHeightDp parameters so you can create your own window size classes
      • Added convenience methods for checking breakpoint validity
      • Deprecated WindowWidthSizeClass and WindowHeightSizeClass in favor of WindowSizeClass#isWidthAtLeastBreakpoint() and WindowSizeClass#isHeightAtLeastBreakpoint() respectively

    Here’s a migration example:

    // old 

val sizeClass = WindowSizeClass.compute(widthDp, heightDp)
when (sizeClass.widthSizeClass) {
  COMPACT -> doCompact()
  MEDIUM -> doMedium()
  EXPANDED -> doExpanded()
  else -> doDefault()
}

// new
val sizeClass = WindowSizeClass.BREAKPOINTS_V1
                               .computeWindowSizeClass(widthDp, heightDp)

when {
  sizeClass.isWidthAtLeastBreakpoint(WIDTH_DP_EXPANDED_LOWER_BOUND) -> {
    doExpanded()
  }
  sizeClass.isWidthAtLeastBreakpoint(WIDTH_DP_MEDIUM_LOWER_BOUND) -> {
    doMedium()
  }
  else -> {
    doCompact()
  }
}

    Some things to note in the new API:

      • The order of the when branches should go from largest to smallest to support custom values from developers or new values in the future
      • The default branch should be treated as the smallest window size class

    Activity embedding

    Activity stack pinning

    Activity stack pinning provides a way to keep an activity stack always on screen, no matter what else is happening in your app. This new feature lets you pin an activity stack to a specific window, so the top activity stays visible even when the user navigates to other parts of the app in a different window. This is perfect for things like live chats or video players that you want to keep on screen while users explore other content.

    private fun pinActivityStackExample(taskId: Int) {
 val splitAttributes: SplitAttributes = SplitAttributes.Builder()
   .setSplitType(SplitAttributes.SplitType.ratio(0.66f))
   .setLayoutDirection(SplitAttributes.LayoutDirection.LEFT_TO_RIGHT)
   .build()

 val pinSplitRule = SplitPinRule.Builder()
   .setDefaultSplitAttributes(splitAttributes)
   .build()

 SplitController.getInstance(applicationContext).pinTopActivityStack(taskId, pinSplitRule)
}

    Pane expansion

    The new pane expansion feature, also known as interactive divider, lets you create a visual separation between two activities in split-screen mode. You can make the pane divider draggable so users can resize the panes – and the activities in the panes – on the fly. This gives users control over how they want to view the app’s content.

    val splitAttributesBuilder: SplitAttributes.Builder = SplitAttributes.Builder()
   .setSplitType(SplitAttributes.SplitType.ratio(0.33f))
   .setLayoutDirection(SplitAttributes.LayoutDirection.LEFT_TO_RIGHT)

if (WindowSdkExtensions.getInstance().extensionVersion >= 6) {
   splitAttributesBuilder.setDividerAttributes(
       DividerAttributes.DraggableDividerAttributes.Builder()
           .setColor(getColor(context, R.color.divider_color))
           .setWidthDp(4)
           .setDragRange(
               DividerAttributes.DragRange.DRAG_RANGE_SYSTEM_DEFAULT)
           .build()
   )
}
val splitAttributes: SplitAttributes = splitAttributesBuilder.build()

    Dialog full-screen dim

    WindowManager 1.4 gives you more control over how dialogs dim the background. With dialog full-screen dim, you can choose to dim just the container where the dialog appears or the entire task window for a unified UI experience. The entire app window dims by default when a dialog opens (see EmbeddingConfiguration.DimAreaBehavior.ON_TASK).To dim only the container of the activity that opened the dialog, use EmbeddingConfiguration.DimAreaBehavior.ON_ACTIVITY_STACK. This gives you more flexibility in designing dialogs and makes for a smoother, more coherent user experience. Temu is among the first developers to integrate this feature, the full-screen dialog dim has reduced screen invalid touches by about 5%.

    Customised shopping cart reminder with dialog full-screen dim in the Temu app

    Customised shopping cart reminder with dialog full-screen dim in Temu.

    Enhanced posture support

    WindowManager 1.4 makes building apps that work flawlessly on foldables straightforward by providing more information about the physical capabilities of the device. The new WindowInfoTracker#supportedPostures API lets you know if a device supports tabletop mode, so you can optimize your app’s layout and features accordingly.

    val currentSdkVersion = WindowSdkExtensions.getInstance().extensionVersion
val message =
if (currentSdkVersion >= 6) {
  val supportedPostures = WindowInfoTracker.getOrCreate(LocalContext.current).supportedPostures
  buildString {
    append(supportedPostures.isNotEmpty())
    if (supportedPostures.isNotEmpty()) {
      append(" ")
      append(
      supportedPostures.joinToString(
      separator = ",", prefix = "(", postfix = ")"))
    }
  }
} else {
  "N/A (WindowSDK version 6 is needed, current version is $currentSdkVersion)"
}

    Other API changes

    WindowManager 1.4 includes several API changes and additions to support the new features. Notable changes include:

      • Stable and no longer experimental APIs:
        • ActivityEmbeddingController#invalidateVisibleActivityStacks
        • ActivityEmbeddingController#getActivityStack
        • SplitController#updateSplitAttributes
      • API added to set activity embedding animation background:
        • SplitAttributes.Builder#setAnimationParams
      • API to get updated WindowMetrics information:
        • ActivityEmbeddingController#embeddedActivityWindowInfo
      • API to finish all activities in an activity stack:
        • ActivityEmbeddingController#finishActivityStack

    How to get started

    To start using Jetpack WindowManager 1.4 in your Android projects, update your app dependencies in build.gradle.kts to the latest stable version:

    dependencies {
    implementation("androidx.window:window:1.4.0-rc01")
    ...  
    // or, if you're using the WindowManager testing library:
    testImplementation("androidx.window:window-testing:1.4.0-rc01")
}

    Happy coding!



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