What did Google announce for developers at Google I/O 2022?

Google I/O, an annual Google event, is where Google announces its most significant software updates and changes. Google I/O 2022 took place on May 11-12, and it brought about significant changes.

Some notable announcements were made for Android developers at the event:

New features make Android app development more enjoyable.

Innovations in wearable apps and advances for large screens.

Upgrades to Android Studio and Jetpack Compose.

A revamped Google wallet

Learn more about the most recent software announcements from Google to make your next Android project a success.

Google I/O 22 Announcements for Developers

Google I/O was always primarily a developer-oriented event. These are the top announcements Google made during the I/O developer keynote.

1. Android 13 Beta

The second Android 13 beta version is now available. Prepare your applications to take advantage of the latest privacy and security features. These include enhanced permissions for using media files and pairing with handy devices, as well as the privacy-safeguarding selector and new notification permission.

Access features such as app-specific language assistance and themed app icons to make your app more robust.

2. Jetpack Compose

Google Jetpack Compose Beta 1.2 Beta was released. It addresses one of the most common bugs by including include Font Padding. This parameter can be adjusted to address one of the most commonly known issues. This allows for more precise text alignment within a layout. Google recommends setting this value to inappropriate.

Jetpack Compose 1.2 also offers downloadable fonts. This allows you to explore Google Fonts in reverse. Easy setup allows you to choose fallback fonts.

Jetpack Compose currently supports Android's text magnifier widget. This magnifier was used to select text within the fields in Compose 1.1.0. The latest version supports Selection Container’s magnifier.

It has also enhanced the magnifier to match Views' exact functions and behavior.

3. Android Studio

Google also announced new enhancements to its toolset for Android app development. Two Android Studio launches are available: Android Studio Electric Eel (which is a Canary release) and Android Studio Dolphin (which is in Beta).

The Android Studio Dolphin lets developers check how often composable is recomposed with the Layout Inspector. It is possible to optimize a composable if there are many recomposition.

Dolphin also includes an Animation Coordination tool, which allows developers to quickly see and edit the animations. It also includes a MultiPreview annotation that allows developers to create animations for different screen sizes.

The Android Studio Electric Eel, on the other hand, features a recomposition highlighter that visualizes when and what composable will recompose.

4. Flutter 3

Flutter 3 was also presented by Google at the I/O 2022 conference. Google's cross-platform app creation suite is expanding with new assistance for Linux or macOS.

This update also includes enhancements to Firebase integration and the Casual Games Toolkit. It also speeds up compilation times on Apple Silicon Macs and adds other functionality.

You will also get better support for Google Material Design's design language. Flutter 3 can also be used in conjunction with Dart SDK 2.17.

5. Foldable and large screens

Google I/O 2022 saw the launch of Android 12L. This means that Android 12L has larger screens, such as tablets, and is foldable. These screens have more screen space to support features such as multitasking, column-based layouts, split-screen mode, and system menu navigation.

Android 13 offers a wonderful experience in creating and designing adaptive user interfaces.

Google offers three different starter layouts, also known as canonical layouts. These layouts are great for projects that have large screens:

feed

supporting panel

list-detail view

These projects are for beginners and basic use cases. These new breakpoints will help you adapt your UI to the available space on different devices.

expanded

medium

compact

These predefined classes can be found in the JetpackWindowManger library 1.1. Another library that can be used to create engaging UIs is the Jetpack DragAndDrop library. You can use it to make dragging/dropping easier. Slidingpanelayout is another option that helps you mix fragments intuitively.

6. Health Connect

The company also announced Google Health Connect. This new platform allows users to quickly and securely access their health data across all Android devices. It's a collaboration between Google and Samsung, which Samsung Health and Google Fit are all-embracing.

Health Connect makes it easy to connect between apps and helps you reach more people with less effort. You can use and create users' fitness and health information in your app. Download the Health Connect SDK and install the Jetpack Library to enjoy it.

Health Connect stores data on Android devices and collects data from them when they give their consent. It gives users complete information about their fitness data. Health Connect is currently available in Alpha via the Jetpack Health API.

7. Firebase

Firebase Extension events were introduced at Google I/O 2022 by the Firebase team. Developers can improve extensions' functionality using their code. The Firebase Emulator Suite now includes third-party extensions that allow payment processing, search, and marketing, such as Snap, RevenueCat, Stream, and Typesense.

Firebase now allows you to deploy web applications created with Next.JS and Angular Universal using one command: firebase deploy. We anticipate that support for other web frameworks will also be coming soon.

Firebase has upgraded its Crashlytics support. This will lower the effort required to get started, receive alerts from Crashlytics, and log on-demand fatalities in applications. It may also group Flutter crashes, potentially increasing their effectiveness.

Firebase also offers better integration with App Check using the new Play Integrity API and Swift language. Performance Monitoring alerts are now available in Swift. App Distribution features include auto-deletion and bulk tester handling. It can also inform testers about new versions inside the app.

8. Google Wallet

In 2011, Google launched its first wallet app. It went through many changes and eventually became Google Pay in 2018. At I/O 2022, Google unveiled a new Google Wallet to replace its old wallet.

Google plans to replace the traditional wallet with a digital one that allows users to store their credit and debit cards online. The company is currently testing the concept in the USA. It allows users to store their driver's licence digitally and share it via NFC or QR codes.

Google Wallet's all-new application offers a variety of preset pass types, including loyalty cards, vaccination cards, and gift cards.

It also provides a generic card that can be used for parking passes and library cards. Multiple passes can be combined. The Google Wallet will soon be available on the Play Store.

9. Android Vitals

Google announced that Android Vitals will be launched outside of Google Play's "App Quality on Google Play" session. The new API allows programmatic access to the Vitals metrics, issue data, stack traces, crash rates, clusters, and counts.

Google wants to make Android Vitals easier by integrating it with other crash reporting tools such as Crashlytics from Firebase. To get Play track data from Crashlytics, you can connect your Play app with Crashlytics.

Likely, issue clusters in Crashlytics will soon get the same names in Vitals. This will make it easier to use them together.

Vitals now allows you to see if there was a crash in the background or front. You can also check the stack trace of the crash. It does, however, redact the exception message because it may contain PII. Vitals will soon display exception messages and redact PII to protect user information.

10. Wear OS

Wear OS 3 was introduced by Google and Samsung in 2021. This platform brings together the best of both Samsung and Google. Wear OS 3 is currently only available for the Galaxy Watch 4 Series, but we expect more Wear OS 3-enabled watches to be released soon. The most notable is the Pixel Watch.

There are now many more Wear OS smartwatches on the market thanks to Google's partnership. Wear OS will soon get an emergency SOS feature that allows users to contact friends, family, or emergency services from their wrist.

Google will soon launch the next-generation Wear OS smartwatches. We anticipate more Wear OS apps to be available on the Play Store in the second half of this year, such as SoundCloud and Deezer. Google Assistant will eventually be available on the Galaxy Watch 4 series "this summer".

11. Google Play

The launch of the Google Play SDK Index was Google's most significant announcement at I/O 2022. It is a web tool that provides information about the most important Android packages. You will find out what permissions these packages require, which apps use them, as well as code that could violate Google Play policies.

Developers will be able to submit special events, discounts, and other applications through the new beta program "LiveOps", which will allow them to be prominently featured on the Play Store. The LiveOps beta is currently limited, but developers may register to be eligible.

Another feature that will be added to the Play Store is the ability to manage almost 50 store listings per application. You can make little difference between them depending on your interests, region, or ad campaign.

12. Google Assistant

Developers can use the Google Assistant SDK to create App Actions. These allow users to speak simple voice commands to initiate basic app functions.

The organization announced that it would increase App Action support for WearOS during the session "Google Assistant functionality across Android devices" at Google I/O 2022.

The organization also stated that they will allow the use of the existing apps' health and fitness indexes to enable similar integration.

Google will increase developers' access to the Shortcuts API for Android for Cars. It will make it easier to integrate voice access into applications for Android Automotive or Android Auto.

App Install Suggestions allow the Assistant to direct users to the Play Store, encouraging them to download the app and to use its functionality. Brandless Queries allow the Assistant to determine which app is most suitable for users and then direct them to that app.

13. Baseline Profiles

The speed at which an app is installed can have a significant impact on its user retention. Google introduced Baseline Profiles to improve that experience. This allows libraries and apps to provide metadata about the code path used in the Android runtime. It prioritizes before compiler compilation.

Google's baseline profiles have resulted in a 30% faster app launch time. Jetpack already has baseline profiles, and the organization has also added baselines for libraries such as Compose or Fragments to provide a better user experience.

Bottom Lines

Google's I/O 2022 showcase featured several new software development updates and changes. The enhancements and advances in Android, Firebase, and Flutter can be added to your apps, making them easier and more efficient for developers.