Google Reveals New Android Software

By Nathan Olivarez-Giles 

Alphabet Inc.'s Google doesn't yet have a name for Android N, its next major mobile operating system release, but the division is already sharing details, such as a split-screen mode for tablets and phones, a smoother graphics-processing engine and the ability to choose the skin color of emojis.

Dave Burke, Google vice president of Android Engineering, said the new operating system will have more than 250 new features.

The split-screen mode will be triggered with a long tap on the recent-apps button. Doing so will let you see the last app you used next to the one you're currently using.

Other multitasking improvements center around the recent-apps button, including the automatic removal of apps in the queue that you haven't used in a while, and a "clear all" option to start fresh. (You currently have to swipe away each app one by one.) And double tapping the recent-apps button will let you quickly toggle between the app you're currently using and the last one you used.

Android N will introduce skin color to emojis, instead of just the bright yellow people now available -- a feature Apple Inc.'s operating system has had for a year.

Android N also will introduce improved security measures, such as the ability to encrypt each individual file stored on a phone.

Many changes will be focused on making Android perform faster and more efficiently across a wide range of processors, display and other hardware variations. Android developers have to be cognizant of the thousands of different models that run the operating system, including not only phones and tablets but streaming TV boxes and other Internet-of-things devices.

One such under the hood change that Android N will introduce is called Vulkan, a 3-D graphics application program interface built to help developers make games render smoother and with higher fidelity.

As for that lack of a sweet name (such as its predecessors KitKat, Lollipop and Marshmallow), Google launched a new website, android.com/n, where the public will be able to submit their own ideas. Potential names discussed so far have are nougat and Nutella.

A public beta of Android N is being released today at android.com/beta for users of the Nexus 5X, 6 and 6P smartphones and the Nexus Player set-top box. Its official release will come later this summer.

Write to Nathan Olivarez-Giles at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 18, 2016 15:43 ET (19:43 GMT)

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