Android P Developer Preview 4 [Gallery] and New Features

Developer Preview 4 brings Android P closer to its consumer version later this year. As a release candidate for testing and many features are optimized by Google, and Beta3 is very close to what you see in the final version of Android P. Make sure you follow our updated (backward) list of all new versions properties.

If we dive in the coming hours and days in Android P DP4, we will find the new features and improvements below. (The latest updates are at the top of the list.)

If you want to install the Android P developer preview on your compatible pixel, pixel XL, pixel 2 or pixel 2 XL, check this Read our step-by-step guide.

Android P system UI icon

Call the volume slider in Sound Settings

 

The clock settings are displayed in the quick settings. Opens the clock app

When the Quick Settings window is dragged down – either notifications or the entire panel – you can now tap on the time in the upper left corner to open the Clock app on the Alarms tab.

Keyboard symbol instead of Recents

The keyboard switch is no longer located to the right of the navigation bar when multiple apps are installed. Instead, like auto-rotate, the icon is now in the “Last” position when gestural navigation is activated.

Well-structured battery save mode icon

To note that the battery saving mode is activated, the status and navigation bars of Android are currently displayed in bright orange. With Android P, Google chose a more discreet orange + sign in the battery icon of the status bar. To emphasize that the mode is activated, there is now (via Twitter) an orange border around the symbol in DP4.

New gesture navigation slider

One advantage of the new gesture navigation is the ability to quickly scroll through a current app by wiping directly onto the Home button. Before DP4, the user interface was a slider that took up only half of the screen. This slider has been redesigned in the latest update to cover the entire width of the display.

New rotation symbol instead of Last

Android P introduces a new Auto Rotate control that simplifies the process. Previously located in the right, right corner, it now replaces the previous “Last” button when gesture navigation is activated.

Device theme in display

With Android 8.1, elements of the operating system such as Quick Settings, Notifications and Pixel Launcher have adopted a light or dark theme based on the set background. As promised last month, DP4 allows users to change the theme manually. It is available under the “Display” menu with an “Automatic” option that retains the previous background behaviour.

New Google Material Theme icons

DP4 updates multiple icons in Android P to match the Google Material Theme style of thin, bold contours. Changes are shown in the quick settings and the status bar.

New back button

The back button is now a chevron instead of a triangle.