EVIE2 UATES!Android N: l the little things in ‘s latest version [[DO NOT BSH]]

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Published 19 Apr 2016

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Disclosure
N is what’s next
01 roid n

The second developer preview of Android N is here.  At first blush, it looks a lot like Android 6.0, Android Marshmallow. But beneath that layer of familiarity, you’ll find lots of little tweaks improvements to ’s mobile operating system. It’s early going for Android N, a lot may change between now the final release, but let’s dig in take a look at some of what this new OS has to offer.

Android N: Name TBD
02 easter egg

So far, isn’t dropping any hints of what tasty moniker it’ll ultimately attach to Android N, or what version number it’ll receive. The final Easter Egg is also still in the works, but if you really want, you can view the placeholder N Easter Egg: Go to Settings > About phone, then tap the Android version repeatedly until a stylized “N” logo appears. ess the N icon repeatedly, a game of Flappy Android will eventually appear, but it’s the same one that’s in Android Marshmallow.

Notifications get an overhaul
03 notifications

The first big change you’ll likely notice about Android N is its redesigned notifications. They look more streamlined, but they actually provide more details, such as the name of the app a notification belongs to. Tap the downward pointing arrow to view a preview or more details (where supported), or tap hold a notification to adjust how notifications for that app will appear.

[[NESDE]] New homescreen folder icons
Android N eview 2's new folder icons

It’s a little thing, but the homescreen folder icons got a minor visual refresh in Android N eview 2, with app icons appearing in a grid instead of the stack-of-icons look in Marshmallow. The change is purely cosmetic, though—folders act the same as they did before.

Even quicker Quick Settings
04 quicker settings

On Android Marshmallow, you had to swipe down from the top twice to get to the Quick Settings drawer (once to open the Notifications drawer, the second time to get Quick Settings to slide down). The Quick Settings drawer is still there in Android N, but you can now get to a hful of important settings from the Notifications drawer itself. One swipe gets you access to battery information, Do Not Disturb, the flashlight feature, -Fi settings, to name a few. You can choose which five settings go here by re-ordering the Quick Settings—the first five appear here.

Easy battery saver switch
05 battery saver

You can now turn on Battery Saver mode at any time from the Notifications/Quick Settings drawer: Slide down the Notifications drawer, tap the battery icon, then toggle Battery Saver to the On position. You’ll even get a hy chart that shows how quickly you’re draining your battery.

itable Quick Settings
06 edit quick settings

Android Marshmallow has a hidden feature that lets you edit or rearrange the Quick Settings drawer, but Android N turns this on by default. Simply slide open the Quick Settings drawer, then tap it. You can rearrange, add, remove tiles as you please, simply by dragging them around.

Open the camera app from anywhere
07 open camera app

Here’s a hy tip spotted by Android lice : You can open the camera app simply by tapping holding the Flashlight button in the Quick Settings drawer. Hold it for a second or two, release your finger once the Camera app opens. A dedicated Camera button would be ideal, but this tap–hold trick is the next best thing.

[[UATED BODY]]The app drawer lives on
Android N app drawer

Some time back, the Internet worked itself into a tizzy over buzz that the app drawer may disappear in Android N. ’re pleased to report that the app drawer is alive well in the Android N preview. (It looks ever so slightly different in eview 2, but it works the same as it does in Marshmallow.) ether it appears in the final release of Android N is anyone’s guess, but for now, it’s still there.

Rejiggered Settings app
09 settings main

The main screen in the Settings app gets an update in Android N. The top of this screen will now provide useful status information about your device (for example, it’ll tell you if you have Do Not Disturb or Battery Saver turned on), it’ll suggest settings for you to tweak.

mp around the Settings app
10 settings menu

A new “hamburger” menu lets you switch to any section in the Settings app without returning to the main screen first. It won’t necessarily save you a tap, but it might feel that way.

System UI Tuner brings a new batch of tricks
11 system ui tuner

ke Marshmallow before it, Android N includes hidden System UI Tuner options in the Settings app, which lets you toggle a hful of experimental features that aren’t quite ready for public consumption. To turn it on, open the Quick Settings drawer, then tap hold the gear icon until the icon spins your phone vibrates. System UI Tuner tools live at Settings > System UI Tuner.

Night mode saves your eyes
12 night mode

Research suggests that exposure to blue light—like the light emitted from computer phone screens—too close to bedtime can disrupt your sleep patterns, which in turn can lead to a whole host of health problems. But a hidden, experimental Night mode gives your screen a reddish hue, potentially mitigating the effects of this blue light on the body. You can set your phone to switch on night mode automatically, you can even choose to use a dark theme instead of Android N’s stard black-text-on-white look. Go to Settings > System UI Tuner > Color appearance > Night mode to give it a try.

[[NESDE–E AFTER NIGHT MODE SDE]]Turn on Night Mode from anywhere
Android N night mode quick settings toggle

Though Android N’s night mode is very experimental in eview 2, you can now add a Night Mode toggle to the quick settings drawer. Only time will tell if Night Mode makes it into the final build of Android N.

Calibrate your screen
16 calibrate screen

A new, experimental feature lets you adjust your screen’s color balance white point—useful if you want to manually tweak your screen’s settings so it always looks its best. Go to Settings > System UI Tuner > Color appearance > Calibrate display, then adjust the red, green, blue (RGB) sliders as you please. Unfortunately, your screen may not reflect your changes as you make them, so you’ll have to go through a process of trial error to get things the way you want them.

Tweak the status bar
13 status bar options

Another System UI Tuner goodie lets you choose which icons—like the battery or -Fi indicators—appear in the status bar.You can also choose to view more (or less) battery status information, or include seconds on the clock. Try it at Settings > System UI Tuner > Status bar.

Split-screen view lets you use two apps at once
15 drag  drop

Many smartphones have massive screens, what better way to take advantage of all that space than to view two apps at once? A new split-screen view in Android N lets you do just that without relying on a phone maker’s custom interface. Go to the app switcher, tap hold an app’s “card” for a moment, then drag it to either the top or bottom of the screen. Next, tap the second app you want to view in this two-up view. You can drag the divider around to resize each app’s usable space, too. To revert to one-up view, simply drag the divider off the bottom of the screen.

Drag drop text between split-screen apps
14 split screen

You can also drag drop text between apps when using the split-screen view in lieu of copying pasting. Simply select the text you want to copy to the other app, then drag it over to the other app with your finger. You need to use your phone in lscape view to get this to work; otherwise, the keyboard can get in the way. According to Android lice, drag–drop image support is baked in, but developers will have to update their apps to take advantage of it.

[[NESDE]] New -Fi network picker
Android N new -Fi network picker

A new, more straightforward -Fi network picker lets you switch -Fi on off or connect to a network quickly easily without jumping into the Settings app. Open the Quick Settings drawer then tap the -Fi button to pull it up.

[[NESDE]] Quick access to the calculator
Android N quick settings calculator

You can now figure out how much to tip your waiter more quickly easily than before. An optional Quick Settings tile now lets you pop open the Calculator app from just about anywhere on your phone.

[[NESDE]]Multiple pages in the quick settings drawer
Android N quick settings pages

At first glance, the full quick settings drawer appears mostly unchanged in Android N, but you can now add multiple pages of quick settings icons—useful in case you just want quick access to as many settings as possible.

[[NESDE]]Close all recent apps
Android N clear recent apps

Is your app switcher getting a little overcrowded? In Android N eview 2, you can now close all recently used apps with just a tap. Tap the Recent apps button (the square button at the bottom of the screen), scroll all the way to the top, then tap Clear all.

[[NESDE]]No recent apps
Android N no recent apps

If you have no recent apps to display, Android N eview 2 will now tell you as much with an icon message.

[[NESDE]] ess button, switch to split-screen view
24 press to switch

Here’s another method to switch to split-screen mode: ile you’re in an app other than the home screen, press hold the Recent apps button for a couple seconds. Next, pick the second app you want to use in split-screen mode.

[[NESDE]]Set a different photo for the lock screen
25 different wallpaper

Change it up a little! th Android N eview 2, you can now set two different background photos for your home screen lock screen. For example, you can now have a photo of your cat on your home screen one of your dog on your lock screen. Go to Settings > Display > llpaper, pick your new wallpaper, then tap Set wallpaper as you normally would, then select where you’d like to use that image.

[NESDE]]Updated emoji characters
26 new emoji

As Android lice noted , emoji got a refresh in eview 2. The changes aren’t major, but they make the emoji characters cleaner more legible.