Another great version of Android Studio has hit the market this February 2020. App Developers across the world much-awaited Google’s Android 3.6.
Android Studio has managed to cover an illustrious journey so far since the inception of its first version in 2014. It is one of the most popular and the official IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for Google’s widely used operating system, Android. You can build premier quality apps for Android-based devices using this platform. It is known for its superfast coding and iteration capability. Based on the Intellij IDEA, it is known for its rapid turnaround. Android Studio 3.6 is the first major release by Google after the advent of Project Marble. This version has brought with it upgraded and improved methods to design, develop, and view application layouts.
Many of you must be excited to know what new does this Newest Android Studio version has in store for us.
Here is the summary of updates you will find in this Android Studio 3.6 in each of the Application Development Aspects
Design Phase
- Resources Tab Color Picker
- A New Split View
Developing Phase
- Changes to Android NDK Support
- View Binding
- Update to IntelliJ Platform
Build Phase
- Upgraded Packaging Tool
- New Android Gradle Plugin
Testing Phase
- Android Emulator with Google Maps UI
- Resumable Updates
- Changes for Imported APKs
- Leak Detectors
Let us now venture into more details about each of the new changes in the IDE.
- Resources Tab
This update enables you to add a varied range of colors in your application. Due to this addition, developers can choose, edit, and apply colors. They can also select and replace the value of color resources. You can access the feature in both the XML Editor and Design Tool.
- New Split View
In the Layout and Navigator Editors, you can now enable a split view for convenience. Developers can see the Design and the Coding views of their User Interface simultaneously. There is an up-gradation of the predecessor “Preview Window” feature. The Split view is configurable on the file-by-file basis. Click on the right-most top corner of the Editor Window to use the Split View function.
- Android NDK Support
Now even in Kotlin, developers can find the NDK features. Earlier, only Java supported this NDK feature. It has allowed faster and smoother navigation for developers from JNI Declaration to another implementation function in C or C++.
- View Binding feature
Coding for Android Developers has been further simplified with the View Binding feature. With View Binding function, one can generate a binding class for every XML Layout File. There is no risk of class cast exceptions or null pointers. If there is any incompatibility in your layout and your code, it will result in finding the build failure during the Compile time itself. You do not have to wait until the runtime.
- IntelliJ Platform Change
This new version of Android Studio comes with an updated IntelliJ Platform 2019.2 edition. This new bug fix update has removed several Gradle issues and enabled other functionalities like Displaying Project Path, Recording Terminal Tabs, etc.
- Updated Package Tool
Earlier versions of Android Studio had some Build Performance issues. To fix some of such problems now, Google has changed the default packaging tool to Zipflinger for Debug Builds. It is to allow superior build performance. It is expected to enhance the Build Speed of Android Applications.
- New Android Gradle Plugin tool
Developers can now publish their build artifacts to the Apache Maven Repository. All thanks to the new Android Gradle 3.6 Plugin. There are great improvisations in the Annotation Processing required for many bigger projects. The new Plugin version has better compatibility with Maven Publish Gradle Plugin. You can now customize a publication to the Maven Repository easily. Now, for every build variant artifact, the Gradle Plugin creates a separate component.
- Android Emulator with Google Maps UI
The Android Emulator 29.2.7 version is supportable by the new Android Studio 3.6. It has brought location improvements, especially for apps that require GPS Support. Earlier, you needed External Additional Libraries from 3rd Parties to add such features.
There is another Advancement in the Emulator. It has the ability to have automotive screens using virtual devices and project templates. The Emulator lets the developers have preliminary support for Multiple displays.
- Resumable Updates
Android 3.6 now also allows one to resume updates. There is no need to restart a paused update if there is any issue with the internet or your device. This has reduced the issues faced by developers and also leads to lesser time for any updates. So, now while downloading SDK Components and Tools, you can easily download and update without worrying about frequent restarts in case of any internet glitch.
- Changes for Imported APKs
Now, developers in the case of imported APKs can re-import the same in-place without the need to reattach the sources and symbols. There is no requirement of manually importing APKs. Android Studio 3.6 auto-detects the changes made to the APKs and provides you an option to re-import them in-place when needed.
- Leak Detectors
All Developers are aware of the problems of memory leaks in any smartphone app. It can lead to your app to crash and create an unsatisfying user experience. With a Memory Profiler, now a developer on the Android Studio 3.6 can detect leakage cases in Activity or Fragment situations. All you need to do is enable the “The Activity/Fragment Detection” checkbox.
Conclusion
Android Studio 3.6 has undoubtedly brought some exciting modifications and enhancements for App Developers. It will allow a smoother and faster development process for Application building. Are you still using the old Android Studio version? You should download and update to the new version of Android Studio Today.
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