The time has come once again for Google’s annual software and hardware extravaganza known as I/O, a developer conference filled with new toys and surprises. This year, instead of giving out thousands of free Pixel Chromebooks, Google dished out bits of cardboard, to show off its new VR app called… Cardboard.
One of the most anticipated (rather, hoped-for) announcements was a new version of Android, and whatever improvements it might bring. After Apple showed off the major overhaul of both its mobile and desktop OSes with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, there’s been some bated breath in the Android community. How would they respond? Would they even try? This was particularly important as the last few releases have stayed within the 4.x branch.
So, the latest version is called Android L, which finally brings us up to version 5.0. Along with a slight graphical evolution, there are over 5,000 new APIs available to developers, ranging from camera improvements to improved Bluetooth support. For the brave, there should already be a developer preview available for Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 (2013). You can see a few of the new APIs in the slide Google showed off yesterday.
Among the massive list of API changes, are two very interesting ones in this screenshot:
- USB audio; and
- low latency audio recording
Details are still scarce, barring the above photo, but we can take a pretty good guess at what they mean.
USB Audio
USB audio is probably the main bulletpoint to catch, and with it Android should finally universally have the ability to hook up an audio interface via the micro-USB port and an OTG (on the go) adapter. Apple’s mobile OS has had working audio via the camera adapter for a long while, and it’s about time Android caught up. From a market standpoint, Android must be attractive for hardware and software makers, it’s simply that the technology isn’t there.
Low latency audio recording
This new addition might be more useful for the producers out there. The low latency audio recording API should give DAWs and music software a much sturdier platform for recording and sequencing music, particularly live audio.
Anything else?
Too a lesser extent for DJs, another interest part of ‘L’ is something called ‘Project Volta’. You might remember that when Android 4.0 came out, Google had a system named ‘Project Butter’, designed to push the UI to levels of fluidity not previously accomplished on Android, without compromising background tasks. And it did the trick. Even 18 months on, my old Nexus 4 still feels as fresh to use as when I got it.
Well, Google have now turned their attention to another area that Android is lacking: the battery life. Battery is definitely an area of weakness for the OS, partly because apps have much more access to the systems than on iOS. But if Google do as good a job as they did with Project Butter, the benefits will be huge.
Final thoughts
Although Android L is not the cosmic leap in technology we dreamed of, there are some improvements that us DJs might get to make the most of. The competition with Apple means that in this case, the user wins out overall, though I suspect that, much like the DJ industry, we will soon see a plateau in innovation, perhaps as they spin-off the so-called ‘wearables’ market. Who knows, maybe we will see people DJing via their watch or Google Glass?
Now, it’s very early days with regards to this Android release, so it’s hard to tell what impact these changes will have, if they indeed have any. The hardware is all there and ready to use, from the OTG cable to the controllers. We just need the software.
I know dj news is slow, but I don’t like article like this here. I read about google, android or apple anywhere on the net. Let’s keep it dj tech. thank you
And you can read DJ related news about anything to do with computing right here too, especially when it concerns developments in the biggest mobile platform in the world.
No DJ or pro audio blogs seem to be covering the new Android APIs, so this is a refreshing change. My hope is that this will help the guys that have been trying to port XWAX (linux DVS app) over to Android. Apparently they’ve already successfully ran the GUI on an Android phone but the audio side was the sticking point. Low-latency class-compliant USB audio running out-of-the-box should move development along nicely.
Please disregard Heavie’s post. He does not know how transformative having low-latency audio (lla) on Android would be. If lla truly arrives, the controller market would evolve significantly in 6 months. Your coverage is outstanding.
That’s my hope. Bringing Android into the pro audio fray will hopefully push mobile app DJing over the edge.
Are you retarded? This VERY much applies to DJ/production tech. LLA is a crucial thing in the audio industry and Android is the biggest mobile platform on the planet. Connect the dots..
5.0 images up up! http://developer.android.com/preview/setup-sdk.html#top
But, thanks for reporting this. When they mentioned 5000+ new API’s I knew someone would dig through that list for the really interesting ones!
I’ve used an Ipad/Lemur combo as a controller for Traktor for a while, but I’ve been disappointed in Apple’s implementation of network MIDI (seriously, why do I have to use the CCK to transmit MIDI instead of the standard cable? Jailbreaking sucks but it’s the only way to get MIDI over the regular Lightning Cable). I’ve moved to Android relatively recently and am loving the platform, so this news REALLY has me curious as to what this might look like on Android.
I’ve been on Android since I got a G1 and I’m just as excited. Have you tried Caustic 3 and RD4? RD4 even had MIDI sync…
Considering I see news on technology websites all the time about DJ gear, the occasional article on here covering major changes that can benefit djs isn’t a problem.
Actually was surprised to see an android article on here if anything.
Development for. Android is still too complex for pro audio companies to invest heavily in. With apple there’s one company to deal with. With android you have too many manufacturers plus google to deal with.then each manufacturer who pushes updates which can break your app then you have them moving on to the next device and abandoning the previous models. Most audio software will work going back to the ipad 2. The only way I can see this working is on nexus devices only that aren’t modified and a new one doesn’t cone out every 2 minutes.
Until then apple had the reliability and trust of the pro audio market.
I’ve already posted this elsewhere but made sense to collate the info and put it here too.
The demo with caustic is looking great for Samsung: http://youtu.be/AJjsDWgUecY
Interesting that the enhanced audio driver that Samsung is pushing out with the Lollipop update has a good latency time now…
http://www.sammobile.com/2015/02/02/samsungs-lollipop-update-finally-fixes-high-latency-problems-while-other-oems-continue-to-suffer/
Below is with a Blue ‘Yeti’ showing the new USB audio working…
http://youtu.be/6LCEYcKo-Vg