docs/html/preview/overview.jd

page.title=Program Overview
page.metaDescription=Get your apps ready for the next version of Android.
page.image=images/cards/card-n-overview_2x.png
meta.tags="preview", "developer", "android"
page.tags="preview", "developer", "android"

@jd:body
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<h3>
    Developer Preview 3 is now available
  </h3>
  <p>Includes final SDK and near-final system images</p>
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<p>
  Welcome to the <strong>Android N Developer Preview</strong>, a program that
  gives you everything you need to test and optimize your apps for the next
  version of Android. It's free, and you can get started right away just by
  downloading the N Developer Preview tools.
</p>







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<div class="wrap">
  <div class="cols">
    <div class="col-4of12">
      <h5>
        Hardware and emulator images
      </h5>

      <p>
        Run and test your apps on a range of devices or on an emulator.

      </p>
    </div>

    <div class="col-4of12">
      <h5>
        Latest platform code
      </h5>

      <p>
        We’ll provide monthly updates during the Preview, so you’ll be testing against the latest platform changes.
      </p>
    </div>

    <div class="col-4of12">
      <h5>
        Priority for developer issues
      </h5>

      <p>
        During the first several weeks we’ll give priority to developer-reported
        issues, so test and give feedback as soon as possible.
      </p>
    </div>

  </div>

  <div class="cols">


    <div class="col-4of12">
      <h5>
        New behaviors and capabilities
      </h5>

      <p>
        Start work early to support new platform behaviors and develop with new features.
      </p>
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        <h5>
        Updates delivered by OTA
      </h5>

      <p>
        Seamless over-the-air updates for any supported device through the
        Android Beta Program. No flashing is needed.
      </p>
    </div>

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      <h5>
        Feedback and support
      </h5>

      <p>
        Report issues and give us feedback using our
        <a href="{@docRoot}preview/bug">issue tracker</a>. Connect with other
        developers in the
        <a href="{@docRoot}preview/dev-community">N&nbsp;Developer Community</a>.
      </p>
    </div>
  </div>
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<p>New in the Android N Developer Preview: </p>

<ul>
  <li> Accompanying Android Beta Program for consumers, starting later in the preview</li>
  <li> More supported devices, including devices from OEM partners</li>
  <li> Seamless OTAs for your devices, from initial release to final N release without flashing</li>
</ul>
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<h2 id="timeline">Timeline and updates</h2>
<img src="{@docRoot}images/n-preview-updates_2x.png">

<p>
  The N Developer Preview runs from 9 March 2016 until the final Android N
  public release to AOSP and OEMs, planned for Q3 2016.
</p>

<p>
  At key development milestones, we’ll deliver updates for your development and
  testing environment. In general you can expect an update each month (4 to 6
  week interval). The milestones are listed below.
</p>

<ul>
  <li><strong><a href="{@docRoot}preview/support.html#dp1">Preview 1</a></strong> (initial release, alpha)</li>
  <li><strong><a href="{@docRoot}preview/support.html">Preview 2</a></strong> (incremental update, beta)</li>
  <li><strong>Preview 3</strong> (incremental update, beta)</li>
  <li><strong>Preview 4</strong> (final APIs and official SDK, Play publishing)</li>
  <li><strong>Preview 5</strong> (near-final system images for final testing)</li>
  <li><strong>Final release</strong> to AOSP and ecosystem</li>
</ul>

<p>
  Each update includes SDK tools, preview system images, emulators, reference
  documentation, and API diffs.
</p>

<p>
  The <strong>first three preview milestones</strong> provide an <strong>early
  test and development environment</strong> that help you identify
  compatibility issues in your current apps and plan migration or feature work
  needed to target the new platform. This is the priority period in which to
  give us your feedback on features and APIs and file compatibility issues
  &mdash; for all of these, please use the <a href="{@docRoot}preview/bug">issue
  tracker</a>. You can expect some API changes across these updates.
</p>

<p>
  At <strong>previews 4 and 5</strong> you’ll have access to the <strong>final
  N APIs and SDK</strong> to develop with, as well as near-final system images
  to test system behaviors and features. Android N will provide a standard API
  level at this time. You can begin final compatibility testing of your legacy
  apps and refine any new code that is using the N APIs or features.
</p>

<p>
  Also starting in preview 4, you’ll be able to <strong>publish apps to
  devices</strong> running Android N at the official API level, such as
  consumer devices that have opted into the Android Beta program. You can
  publish into the Google Play alpha and beta channels first, so you can test
  your apps with Android Beta consumers before distributing broadly on the
  store.
</p>

<p>
  As you test and develop on Android N, we strongly recommend <strong>keeping
  your development environment up-to-date</strong> as preview updates are
  released. To make the process easier, you can enroll your test devices in the
  Android Beta program and get <strong>updates over-the-air (OTA)</strong> at
  each milestone. Alternatively, updated preview images are available that you
  download and flash manually.
</p>

<p>
  We’ll notify you when preview updates are available via the <a href=
  "http://android-developers.blogspot.com/">Android Developers Blog</a>, as
  well as this site and the <a href="{@docRoot}preview/dev-community">Android
  N Developer Community</a>.
</p>


<h2 id="preview_tools">What's in the N Developer Preview?</h2>

<p>
  The N Developer Preview includes everything you need to test your existing
  apps on a variety of screen sizes, network technologies, CPU/GPU chipsets,
  and hardware architectures.
</p>

<h3 id="sdk_tools">SDK tools</h3>

<p>You can download these components through the SDK Manager in <a href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing/adding-packages.html">Android Studio</a>:</p>

<ul>
  <li> N Developer Preview <strong>SDK and tools</strong>
  <li> N Developer Preview <strong>emulator system image</strong> (32-bit & 64-bit)
  <li> N Developer Preview <strong>emulator system Image for Android TV</strong> (32-bit)
  <li> N Developer Preview support libraries (for new app templates)
</ul>

<p>
  We’ll provide updates to these development tools at each milestone as needed.
</p>

<h3 id="hardware_system_images">Hardware system images</h3>

<p>
  The N Developer Preview includes Nexus and other hardware system images that you can use when
  testing and developing on physical devices. See the <a href=
  "{@docRoot}preview/download.html">Device Images</a> page for the full list
  of hardware images.
</p>

<p>
  We’ll deliver updated system images for these devices at each milestone. You
  can download and flash the updated system images to your test devices
  manually, as frequently as you need. This is especially useful for automated
  testing environments where you might need to reflash your device multiple
  times.
</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note</strong>:
  <strong>Devices flashed manually will not get OTA updates</strong> like in
  last year’s preview. This year, you can get OTAs by enrolling devices in the
  Android Beta Program &mdash; see details in the next section.
</p>

<h3 id="android_beta">OTA Updates through Android Beta Program</h3>

<p>
  New for Android N is an Over-the-Air (OTA) update program that automatically
  delivers the latest preview updates of Android N directly to devices enrolled
  in the program. The program is free, and it’s open to anyone who has a
  supported device that’s registered to their Google account.
</p>

<p>
  To enroll in the program visit the <a href="https://g.co/androidbeta">Android
  Beta Program</a> site. You’ll
  see all of the devices registered to your account that are eligible to enroll
  in Android Beta.
</p>

<ol>
  <li> Choose the devices you want to receive the Android N updates
  <li> Click Enroll, read and agree to the terms of service, and then click OK
</ol>

<p>
  Once you’ve enrolled, your device will soon receive an update. In most cases,
  you will not need to do a full reset of your data to move to Android N, but
  it’s recommended that you back up any data you don’t want to lose before
  enrolling the device.
</p>

<p>
  As updates are delivered to your device, we recommend downloading and
  installing them as soon as possible. You’ll want to stay current with the
  latest changes in system UI, behavior, APIs, and features.
</p>

<p>
  At the conclusion of the Developer Preview, your enrolled devices will
  receive an update to the official Android N release.
</p>

<p>
  You can un-enroll your devices from the Android Beta program at any time from
  the Android Beta site. Before un-enrolling, make sure to back-up your data on
  the device.
</p>

  <p class="note"><strong>Note</strong>:
  When you un-enroll, <strong>your device will be factory reset</strong>
  to the latest version
  of Android 6.0 Marshmallow (not necessarily the version that you had
  installed prior to enrolling the device). To ensure a clean installation,
  your data will be erased from the device, including contacts, messages,
  photos, and so on.
</p>

<h3 id="documentation_and_sample_code">Documentation and sample code</h3>

<p>
  These documentation resources are available on the Developer Preview site to
  help you learn about the Android&nbsp;N:
</p>

<ul>
  <li> <a href="{@docRoot}preview/setup-sdk.html">Set Up to Develop for
Android N</a> has
  step-by-step instructions for getting started.</li>
  <li> <a href="{@docRoot}preview/behavior-changes.html">Behavior
  Changes</a> points you to key areas to test.</li>
  <li> Documentation of new APIs, including an <a
  href="{@docRoot}preview/api-overview.html">API Overview</a>, downloadable
  <a href="{@docRoot}preview/setup-sdk.html#docs-dl">API
  Reference</a>, and detailed developer guides on key features such as
  multi-window support, bundled notifications, multi-locale support, and others.
  <li> <a href="{@docRoot}preview/samples.html">Sample code</a> that
  demonstrates how to support permissions and other new features.
  <li> <a href="{@docRoot}preview/support.html#release-notes">Release notes</a>
  for the current version of the N Developer Preview, including change notes and
  diff reports.
</ul>

<h4 id="reference">Downloadable API Reference</h4>

<p>
  During the early preview updates, you can download the latest
  <a href="{@docRoot}preview/setup-sdk.html#docs-dl">API Reference
  for the Android N platform</a> as a separate zip archive. The reference
  download also includes a diff report that helps you identify API changes from
  API 23 and the previous update.
</p>

<p>
  When the Android N APIs are final and an official API level is assigned,
  we’ll provide the API reference to you online at <a href=
  "https://developer.android.com">https://developer.android.com</a>.
</p>

<h3 id="support_resources">
  Support resources
</h3>

<p>
  As you test and develop on the N Developer Preview, please use these channels
  to report issues and give feedback.
</p>

<ul>
  <li> <a href="https://code.google.com/p/android-developer-preview/">N Developer Preview Issue
    Tracker</a> is your <strong>primary feedback channel.</strong> You can report bugs, performance
    issues, and general feedback through the issue tracker. You can also check for
<a href="{@docRoot}preview/bugs">known issues</a> and
    find workaround steps. We’ll keep you updated on your issue as it’s triaged and sent to
    the Android engineering team for review. </li>
  <li> The <a href="{@docRoot}preview/dev-community">Android N Developer Community</a> is
    a Google+ community where you can <strong>connect with other developers</strong>working with
    Android N. You can share observations or ideas or find answers to
    questions about Android N. We’ll moderate the community and provide answers and
    guidance as needed.</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="targeting">Targeting, preview APIs, and publishing</h3>

<p>
  The N Developer Preview provides a development-only system and Android
  library that <strong>does not have a standard API level</strong>. If you want
  to opt out of compatibility behaviors to test your app (which is strongly
  recommended), you can target the preview version of Android N by setting your
  app's <code><a href=
  "{@docRoot}preview/setup-sdk.html#create-update">targetSdkVersion</a></code>
  to <code>“N”</code>.
</p>

<p>
  The Android N Developer Preview delivers <strong>preview APIs</strong>
  &mdash; the APIs will not be official until the final SDK is released,
  currently planned for the third quarter of 2016. This means that you can
  <strong>expect minor API changes</strong> over time, especially during
  initial weeks of the program. We’ll provide a summary of changes to you with
  each update of the Android N Developer Preview.
</p>

<p class="note">
  <strong>Note</strong>: Although preview APIs may change, underlying
  system behaviors are stable and ready for testing against
  right away.
</p>

<p>
  Google Play <strong>prevents publishing of apps targeting the N Developer
  Preview</strong>. When the Android N final SDK is available, you’ll be able
  to target the official Android N API level and publish your app to Google
  Play via the alpha and beta release channels. Meanwhile, if you want to
  distribute an app targeting Android N to testers, you can do so via email or
  by direct download from your site.
</p>

<p>
  At the full release of Android N to AOSP and OEMs, planned for Q3 2016,
  you’ll be able to publish your apps targeting Android N to the public release
  channel in Google Play.
</p>


<h2 id="how_to_get_started">How to get started</h2>

<p>
  To get started testing your app with Android N:
</p>

<ol>
  <li> Review the <a href="{@docRoot}preview/api-overview.html">API Overview</a>
  and <a href="{@docRoot}preview/behavior-changes.html">Behavior Changes</a> to
  get an idea of what's new and how it affects your apps. In particular,
  learn about the new <a href="{@docRoot}preview/features/notification-updates.html"
  >notifications</a> features and
  <a href="{@docRoot}preview/features/multi-window.html">multi-window support</a>.</li>
  <li> Set up your environment by following the instructions for <a
  href="{@docRoot}preview/setup-sdk.html">Setting up the Preview SDK</a>
  and configuring test devices.</li>
  <li> Follow the <a href="https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images">flashing
  instructions</a> to flash the latest Android N system image for your device. </li>
  <li> Review the <a href="{@docRoot}preview/setup-sdk.html#docs-dl">API Reference</a>
  and <a href="{@docRoot}preview/samples.html">Android N samples</a> to gain more
  insight into new API features and how to use them in your app.
  <li> Join the <a href="{@docRoot}preview/dev-community">Android N
  Developer Community</a> to get the latest news and connect with other
  developers working with the new platform.</li>
</ol>

<p>
  Thank you for your participation in the Android N Developer Preview program!
</p>