Google released the first Android TV beta based on Android 13 in March quietly and without telling us much about it. Now, at Google I/O 2022, the company has announced Android 13 Beta 2 for Android TV and, now yes, with a list of novelties.
With this announcement, we learn about the new possibilities that application developers will have at their disposal, such as the extended PIP mode supportmore flexibility in key mapping or performance improvement.
Performance improvement
In the performance area, Google announced new APIs that can be used by developers to optimize your applications. One of them is improving AudioManager whereby an application can anticipate which audio paths are available and more easily query which playback modes are available.
The second is the use of the API MediaSession to detect changes in the HDMI that is active, so that app can pause content when source is changedwhile saving energy.
Accessibility changes
In the area of accessibility, version 13 of Android TV allows applications map the keys of a physical keyboard according to their position on the keyboardrather than a specific “key” or “letter”.
So a game running on Android TV could use the WASD keys to move the character in different directions, whether or not the connected keyboard is QWERTY, QWERTZ or AZERTY.
Multitasking improvements
One of Android 13’s most interesting changes to Android TV is Picture-in-Picture, or PIP, mode. Although Android TV already supports basic PIP mode, Android TV 13 add extended PIP mode supportinherited from the mobile version of Android.
Extended PIP mode can be larger to, for example, display multiple participants in a video call. Fault when using extended PIP mode, the main application is resized (so as not to cover your content) although Google provides the APIs for applications to choose whether to support PIP windows on top and/or interface elements that should not be covered by windows.
Android TV 13 Beta 2, for developers
The second beta version of Android TV 13 has been released so that developers can start adapting their apps with the latest news, but at the moment it is not available for any device beyond the test device of Google, the ADT-3, and as an image for Android Studio emulator.
More information | Google
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