Despite still rolling out Marshmallow, Sony is beginning to prepare for Android N (please let it be Nutella).

 Now you can get your apps ready for Android N using Xperia Z3. Sony is working with Google to bring you the N Developer Preview on selected Xperia Z3 devices. 

Specifically, Sony wants you to use the

 N Developer Preview to test your apps with new system behaviors for saving power and memory. Extend your apps with new features such as multi-window UI, direct reply notifications and more. 

Let’s just hope that this is a sign that Sony plans on being even more aggressive with their Android N rollout. It’s also curious that they’re testing it on Xperia Z3 devices and not Xperia Z5 though that could be due to the numbers of Z3s in the wild vs. the newer Z5. So what’s new with Android N? Details after the jump.

Multi-window – This new multitasking feature lets users view two apps or Activities at the same time, with the system resizing them as needed to fit the device or tablet screen. All apps targeting Android N are resizeable unless they opt-out, so make sure your layouts and resources are optimized.

Bundled notifications – You can use the Notification.Builder.setGroup() method to group your app’s notifications together for easier scanning.

Direct reply notifications – Use the RemoteInput notification API to enable users to respond quickly to notifications, without leaving the notification shade.

Efficiency – Adapt your apps to use Doze to save even more power in Android N. There are also new behaviors in Project Svelte, aiming to reduce the memory needs of Android.

Discuss:

Are you looking forward to Android N?

[Via Sony]