242 lines
12 KiB
HTML
242 lines
12 KiB
HTML
<h1 id="awesome-android-release-notes">Awesome Android Release
|
||
Notes</h1>
|
||
<p>Awesome Android Release Notes is a useful directory for Android
|
||
software developers to keep up-to-date with all the things related with
|
||
Android. <strong>Contributions are welcome</strong>.</p>
|
||
<p><a href="https://github.com/pedronveloso"><img
|
||
src="https://cdn.rawgit.com/sindresorhus/awesome/d7305f38d29fed78fa85652e3a63e154dd8e8829/media/badge.svg"
|
||
alt="Awesome" /></a></p>
|
||
<p>###<strong>Note on Update Frequency</strong>:</p>
|
||
<p>For several websites I’ve tried to provide the update frequency of
|
||
the webpage in question. This way you can know how frequently it is
|
||
worth visiting that webpage to keep track of what’s new. I further
|
||
recommend using a browser extension like <a
|
||
href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tab-snooze/pdiebiamhaleloakpcgmpnenggpjbcbm?hl=en">Tab
|
||
Snooze</a>, which allows you to set a <strong>webpage to open
|
||
periodically</strong> to automate those which interest you.</p>
|
||
<h1 id="android-os-updates">Android OS Updates</h1>
|
||
<p>For the entire history of Android versions check the official <a
|
||
href="https://www.android.com/history">interactive page for Android
|
||
history</a> that gives you the highlights on each Android version
|
||
previous to the current one. <a
|
||
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history">Wikipedia
|
||
has a comprehensive and concise list</a> of all the Android versions,
|
||
their release date and prominent features. And last but not least the <a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/about/index.html"><strong>in-depth
|
||
developer-oriented documentation</strong></a> for the latest Android
|
||
versions.</p>
|
||
<p>Check <a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platforms.html">SDK
|
||
Platform release logs</a> for information about <strong>revisions of
|
||
each Android release</strong>. This will let you know what changed from
|
||
versions like Android <em>7.1_r1</em> to <em>7.1_r2</em>. Notice that
|
||
both of these versions are still considered <em>Android 7.1</em> for the
|
||
consumer, but there could still be practical diferences for developers
|
||
to be aware of. <strong>Android Police</strong> website usually does a
|
||
<a href="http://www.androidpolice.com/tags/changelog/"><strong>diff
|
||
detailing the new stuff</strong></a> of each new revision.
|
||
<code>Update Frequency: Biweekly</code></p>
|
||
<p>If you like to stay informed about <strong>OS security</strong> check
|
||
the <a
|
||
href="https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/index.html">Android
|
||
Security Bulletins</a>, they get updated <code>every month</code>.
|
||
Furthermore each major Android version release contains a <a
|
||
href="https://source.android.com/security/enhancements/index.html">round
|
||
of changes pertaining to Security</a>.</p>
|
||
<h2 id="android-auto">Android Auto</h2>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://plus.google.com/communities/116320632775523824083/stream/b2eff625-c529-476d-b3b2-6d3321484e71">Google
|
||
Plus Developer announcements page</a></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h2 id="android-wear">Android Wear</h2>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/wear/preview/support.html">Android
|
||
Wear release notes here</a>. This webpage includes preview versions of
|
||
Android Wear as well - <code>monthly</code></li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/wear/preview/behavior-changes.html">Details
|
||
about <strong>behavioral changes</strong></a> that are introduced with
|
||
each new Wear version</li>
|
||
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Wear">Wikipedia
|
||
page</a> - Contains an overview of the version history of Android
|
||
Wear</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h2 id="google-cast-and-android-tv">Google Cast and Android TV</h2>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/release-notes">Release
|
||
notes</a> for each Google Cast version - <code>twice a month</code></li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7124014?hl=en">Chromecast
|
||
Firmware versions</a></li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://plus.google.com/communities/112881895888889393129/stream/8726bf2b-3211-48e9-a857-4a6d1aec24ad">Android
|
||
TV Developer Announcements on Google Plus</a> - This is the closest
|
||
thing to official release notes</li>
|
||
<li></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h2 id="android-things">Android Things</h2>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/things/preview/releases.html">Android
|
||
Things</a> - release notes</li>
|
||
<li><a href="https://github.com/androidthings">GitHub page</a> -
|
||
Official samples</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 id="relevant-info">Relevant Info</h1>
|
||
<p>The following websites are always up-do-date with information
|
||
pertinent to Android software development:</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a href="https://source.android.com/source/build-numbers.html">Build
|
||
Numbers webpage</a> - Check the relation between Android
|
||
<strong>Codenames</strong> (<em>Nougat, …</em>), with <strong>API
|
||
Versions</strong> (<em>25,..</em>), <strong>Android Version</strong>
|
||
(<em>7.1,…</em>) and other things like <strong>Source Code Tags</strong>
|
||
for each device release (<em>N6F26Q,…</em>) and their branch name</li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html#Platform">Android
|
||
Dashboards</a> - This one gets updated every week and display
|
||
<strong>global stats</strong> on the distribution of <strong>Android
|
||
versions</strong>, <strong>Screen densities</strong> and others</li>
|
||
<li><a href="https://android.googlesource.com/?format=HTML">Android
|
||
Open-Source Project repositories</a> - If you’re feel like diving into
|
||
the source of all of the things that make up the
|
||
<strong>AOSP</strong></li>
|
||
<li><a href="https://github.com/googlesamples">Google Samples GitHub</a>
|
||
- Google provided repositories and projects, a great way to explore and
|
||
improve your integration with their products and APIs</li>
|
||
<li><a href="https://medium.com/google-developers">Google Developers
|
||
Medium page</a> - The <strong>Medium’s page of Google
|
||
Developers</strong> offers a great array of articles regarding
|
||
development, it is not exclusive to Android but still worth checking
|
||
out</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h2 id="device-updates">Device updates</h2>
|
||
<p>If you’ve a Nexus, Pixel or other device that is officially supported
|
||
by Google you can find the <a
|
||
href="https://developers.google.com/android/images"><strong>Factory
|
||
Images</strong> here</a>. In this page you’ll typically find
|
||
<em>developer preview builds</em> to install on selected devices every
|
||
time Google announces a new Android release that is not yet ready to
|
||
ship. The factory images require you to wipe the data of your device, so
|
||
be sure to check the <a
|
||
href="https://developers.google.com/android/ota">OTA
|
||
(<em>Over-The-Air</em>) binaries</a> that you can flash on your device
|
||
to keep it up-to-date without resetting it. This is basically the same
|
||
update your device gets when it automatically prompts you to update
|
||
itself, this behavior can take longer depending on how Google decides to
|
||
roll-out the update so basically with this you can force that update
|
||
sooner onto your device.</p>
|
||
<h1 id="blogs-and-news">Blogs and News</h1>
|
||
<p>Here are some places that you should check out regularly if you’re
|
||
not doing so already, that contain all sorts of new stuff about
|
||
Android:</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a href="https://android-developers.googleblog.com/">Google Android
|
||
Developers Blog</a> - <code>Weekly</code></li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVHFbqXqoYvEWM1Ddxl0QDg">Android
|
||
Developers YouTube channel</a> - Also contains a playlist of Android
|
||
related Google I/O videos - <code>Weekly</code></li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://source.android.com/source/community.html#open-source-project-discussions">Official
|
||
Android Mailling Lists and IRC information</a></li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://github.com/Juude/awesome-android-performance">Awesome
|
||
Android Performance</a> - A good directory that is kept up-to-date
|
||
relating to <strong>Android applications performance</strong></li>
|
||
<li><a href="https://github.com/nisrulz/android-tips-tricks">Android
|
||
tips and tricks GitHub</a> - A GitHub page that gets frequent
|
||
contributions and serves as a directory for tips, tricks and tools.
|
||
Definately worth checking out!</li>
|
||
<li><a href="http://androidweekly.net/">Android Weekly</a> - A
|
||
<strong>weekly newsletter</strong> to stay up-to-date with Android
|
||
Development</li>
|
||
<li><a href="https://www.androiddevdigest.com/">AndroidDev Digest</a> -
|
||
Another <strong>weekly newsletter</strong> regarding Android
|
||
Development</li>
|
||
<li><a href="https://realm.io/news/tags/android/">Realm News Blog</a> -
|
||
Realm invites known developers to talk about varied topics related with
|
||
Android development and provides the video sessions afterwards for free
|
||
- <code>weekly</code></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 id="android-development-tools">Android development Tools</h1>
|
||
<p>Here are the <strong>links</strong> for the <strong>development tools
|
||
release logs</strong>:</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a href="http://tools.android.com/recent">Android Studio</a> -
|
||
<code>monthly</code></li>
|
||
<li><a href="http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/new-build-system">New
|
||
Jill and Jack build system</a></li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/sdk-tools.html">SDK
|
||
Tools</a> - Android Studio informs you of updates to this one by default
|
||
as well, check this release log to see what the update brings
|
||
exactly</li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/build-tools.html">SDK
|
||
Build Tools</a> - Check this one to keep the
|
||
<strong>buildToolsVersion</strong> of your <em>gradle build file</em>
|
||
up-to-date. <code>monthly</code></li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/gradle-plugin.html">Android
|
||
Plugin for Gradle</a> - Reading this one is a great way to stay informed
|
||
about <strong>new flags</strong>, <strong>properties</strong> and other
|
||
changes to of the <strong>Gradle build syntax</strong></li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools.html">SDK
|
||
Platform Tools</a> - Contains updates to the command line tools used for
|
||
development such as <em>adb</em>, <em>fastboot</em> and
|
||
<em>systrace</em>.</li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/ndk/downloads/revision_history.html">Android
|
||
NDK release notes</a> - <code>twice a year</code></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h2 id="complimentary-development-tools">Complimentary development
|
||
tools</h2>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a href="https://docs.gradle.org/current/release-notes">Gradle
|
||
release log</a> - Android is always behind the current Gradle release,
|
||
but it is worth checking this website for more in-depth understanding of
|
||
each new version that Android supports and for the curious to peek into
|
||
what’s coming next :)</li>
|
||
<li><a
|
||
href="https://blog.jetbrains.com/idea/category/releases/">IntelliJ
|
||
Release Blog</a> - Android Studio is based on IntelliJ IDEA, some even
|
||
prefer to stick with that instead of Studio as they work similarly if
|
||
you have the Android plugin enabled. Check this to know new
|
||
<strong>features and tips</strong> about the IDE, they usually work on
|
||
Studio as well</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 id="libraries">Libraries</h1>
|
||
<h2 id="google-play-services-sdk">Google Play Services SDK</h2>
|
||
<p>By far the most relevant library or group of libraries to always keep
|
||
track of is the <a
|
||
href="https://developers.google.com/android/guides/releases"><strong>Google
|
||
Play Services SDK</strong></a>. The Google Play Services SDK is composed
|
||
by more than a dozen libraries, you can see the <a
|
||
href="https://developers.google.com/android/guides/setup">full
|
||
up-to-date list here</a>. This includes know libraries such as
|
||
<strong>Google Maps</strong>, <strong>Google Cloud Messaging</strong>,
|
||
<strong>Android Wear</strong>, <strong>Firebase</strong>, <strong>Google
|
||
Account Login</strong>, <strong>Google Analytics</strong>, and the list
|
||
goes on… Basically integrations with most Google products out there, so
|
||
it bound to keep growing.</p>
|
||
<p>Update Frequency: <code>Monthly</code></p>
|
||
<h2 id="support-library">Support Library</h2>
|
||
<p>The <strong>Google Support Library</strong> is another super set of
|
||
libraries, and you can check the <a
|
||
href="https://developer.android.com/topic/libraries/support-library/revisions.html">latest
|
||
changes here</a>. Some of the most know libraries it provides are used
|
||
to provide support for <strong>retro-compatibility</strong>, various
|
||
aspects and components of <strong>material design</strong>, <strong>TV
|
||
and Media Playback</strong>, etc.</p>
|
||
<p>Update Frequency: <code>Monthly</code></p>
|
||
<h2 id="junit">JUnit</h2>
|
||
<p>If you’re writing tests you should keep track of the <a
|
||
href="https://github.com/junit-team/junit4/tree/master/doc">changes in
|
||
JUnit4</a>. The throughput of new releases varies, but as good thumb of
|
||
rule check this one <code>twice a year</code>.</p>
|