Google's Android P developer preview now available to download

After teasing the audience for a quite a bit, Google launched the first developer preview of Android P, available for Pixel smartphones, like Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. This is an early look at the operating system, which is being referred to as Android P for the time being until Google comes up with a good name starting with that letter.

Android P makes it clear that Google’s mobile OS is going to embrace the notch. The Android P developer page explains that the OS will offers “support for the latest edge-to-edge screens with display cutout for camera and speaker.” According to the Google page, this new “DisplayCutout class” will help developers find the location and shape of “non-functional areas” where they should not display content.

Android P will also come with improved privacy restrictions. The system in Android P will restrict an app running in the background from accessing the microphone or camera, sensors which use continuous reporting mode like accelerometers and gyroscopes.

The operating system will also offer improved notifications. Messaging notifications in Android P will now display images and this will be an option for developers to activate.

For group conversations, Android P will allow developers to add new features to identify the person in the conversation in the message notification. Replies can also be saved as drafts in Android P should a user mistakenly close the notification.

The new version of Android will also let developers access streams simultaneously from two or more physical cameras on devices.

While anyone can download the system image files from Android.com, Google warns that the preview is solely for developers, and not intended for consumer use. Meanwhile, you can read about all the new and updated features over here.