Android N Developer Preview 2 fixes multiwindow YouTube, here are the new features

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Google just released the second edition of the surprising Android N dev preview that it issued out of the blue last month for geeks (and Nexus owners) to toy with while they wait for the full Android 7.0 version to be unveiled May 18th at the I/O conference.

As usual, the improvements include both bug fixes, and add new features or improve on existing ones. One such improvement is that YouTube doesn't pause now when running a video in the new multiwindow mode. Before, when YouTube wasn't the app in focus on the split screen, the footage went black, which was rather annoying, but now you can watch a clip, and do something else on the other half of the screen with no issues.

An interesting new option that was introduced in the dev preview changelog is also "dynamic launcher shortcuts," which sounds an awful lot like the 3D Touch feature on the latest iPhones. Here's Google's list of new options that arrived with Android N Developer Preview 2:

  • Launcher shortcuts: Now, apps can define shortcuts which users can expose in the launcher to help them perform actions quicker. These shortcuts contain an Intent into specific points within your app (like sending a message to your best friend, navigating home in a mapping app, or playing the next episode of a TV show in a media app). An application can publish shortcuts with, and launchers can be expected to show 3-5 shortcuts for a given app.

  • Vulkan graphics support: a new 3D rendering API, geared at providing explicit, low-overhead GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) control to developers, and offering a significant boost in performance for draw-call heavy applications. Android N makes Vulkan a part of the platform;

  • Emoji Unicode 9: New design for people emoji that moves away from our generic look in favor of a more human-looking design. The update also introduces support for skin tone variations and Unicode 9 glyphs, like the bacon, selfie and face palm.

    source: Google

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