3 things to know about Android Privacy, Platform & Security from Google I/O'22

Posted by Dan Galpin, Developer Relations Engineer

 

Amidst the whirlwind of content at Google I/O, we shared huge announcements involving privacy, security, and the Android platform. Read on for the details, and don’t forget to watch the topic playlist on YouTube.

#1: Privacy Sandbox on Android

We recently released the first Privacy Sandbox on Android Developer Preview, so you can get an early look at the SDK Runtime and Topics API. This provides a path for new advertising solutions that improve user privacy without putting access to free content and services at risk.

You can conduct preliminary testing of these new technologies, evaluate how you might adopt them for your solutions, and share feedback with us. Learn more in the “Overview of the Privacy Sandbox in Android” session.

#2: Google Play SDK Index

The new Google Play SDK index is a public portal that lists over 100 of the most widely used commercial SDKs. It contains information like which app permissions the SDK requests, statistics on the apps that use them, and which version of the SDK is most popular, so you can evaluate if an SDK is right for your business and your users. Android Studio Electric Eel allows you to view dependency insights from Google Play SDK Index; if a specific version of a library has been marked as 'outdated' by its author, a corresponding Lint warning appears when viewing that dependency definition. Learn more on our blog post and watch the “What’s new in Google Play” and “What’s new in Android development tools” sessions.

#3: Android 13!

The second Beta of Android 13 is now available. You can enhance your app with Android 13 features like app-specific language support and themed app icons, while the "Basics for System Back" talk covers the new Android 13 opt-in API that lets you tell the system that you’re handling back ahead of time to make the back experience more predictable and fluid.

The "Developing Privacy User-centric Apps" session will help you get your apps ready for the latest features for privacy and security, like the new notification permission, the privacy-protecting photo picker, and improved permissions for pairing with nearby devices and accessing media files.

The "What's new in Android Media" talk will help you build with modern standards like HDR video and Bluetooth LE Audio, while the "What's New in Android Camera" talk provides a … snapshot … of what we’re doing in CameraX, such as support for video capture and WYSIWYG camera controls.

You can get started by enrolling your Pixel device here. The Android 13 Beta is now available to test on a range of devices from Asus, Lenovo, Nokia, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, TECNO, Vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE - visit developer.android.com/13 to learn more.

This is just a fraction of what we're doing to improve the Android platform, user privacy, and security. Head on over to the playlist to learn more.