Google’s next sweet treat, Android Q, has arrived. In its early beta, the newest iteration of the popular operating system promises tons of new features with a primary focus on mobile photography.
As detailed on the official Android Developers Blog, Android Q Beta 1 is now available for early adopters along with a preview SDK for developers.
Android Q brings in a number of additional privacy and security features for users, enhancements for foldables, new APIs for connectivity, new media codecs and camera capabilities, NNAPI extensions, Vulkan 1.1 support, faster app startup, and more.
One of the nifty new features is the enhancements for foldables. As foldable smartphones are the next-in-line in flagship devices, Android Q has been added with the capability to support them and also provide additional enhancements for a seamless two-screen or multi-screen experience.
Another interesting feature is the Dynamic Depth for a camera. It allows apps to request for JPEG + Dynamic Depth image for bokeh effect, allowing developers to build apps that offer the blur effect natively. The ability can also be used to create 3D images or support AR photography use-cases in the future.
Although the beta is supported on Pixel devices, Google is promising to open up its Dynamic Depth for other partner device-makers.
The official announcement for Android Q and the moniker will take place at the Google I/O in May.
