Android 14: Developer Preview 2 with new functions

In the Developer Previews, Google focuses on functions and interfaces that are important for app developers. However, they also contain one or two visible innovations for end users. For example, a preview of the back gesture or regional settings for personalisation.

Back preview, passkeys and less battery consumption

In the Developer Preview 2 of Android 14, Google is testing a preview for the back gesture. So far, it only works in the settings and must be activated in the developer settings. When swiping back across the edge of the display, the smartphone does not jump back immediately, but shows a preview of where the back gesture will take you.

Regional preferences can now also be found in the settings. This allows you to specify which degree scale should be used for the entire device, for example, or which day the week starts on. Or leave it to the apps. This should be particularly interesting for Europeans in the USA and vice versa.

Google has also made the navigation arrows more visible and adapted them to the current colour theme.

For app developers, for example, the new Photo Picker dialogue box should be of interest. It allows users to give an app access to individual images and videos without always having to share their entire media library.

The "Credential Manager" is a new interface designed to simplify login with saved credentials. It also includes support for Passkeys, the new industry standard for logging in without a password.

Google also wants to prevent apps running in the background from consuming unnecessary resources by improving Android's memory management system. This should have a positive effect on performance and battery consumption.

In the blog post on Developer Preview 2, Dave Burke, VP of Engineering at Google, also talks about further optimisations for tablets and foldables. The guide for app quality on large screens from the first developer preview is now joined by libraries for working with pens, for example.

The further schedule

Google plans to release the first public beta version of Android 14 in April. This will no longer be aimed solely at developers. Accordingly, it will bring further new functions and perhaps also visual changes. The same applies to 10 May. This is when Google's I/O developer conference begins. This is where the company traditionally announces the biggest innovations in the next version of Android.

Google expects the final version of Android 14 to be available from August, but if you don't have a Pixel smartphone from the Pixel 4a onwards, you will have to wait until the manufacturer of your smartphone has adapted the operating system for its devices.