Tag Archives: Studio Bot

A Smoother Ride: Android Emulator Stability and Performance Updates

Posted by Neville Sicard-Gregory – Senior Product Manager, Android Studio

Looking for a more stable, reliable, and performant Emulator? Download the latest version of Android Studio or ensure your Emulator is up to date in the SDK Manager.

A split screen shows Kotlin code on the left and the corresponding Android app display on the right in Android Studio. The app displays the Google Play Store, Photos, YouTube, Gmail, and Chrome icons.

We know how critical the stability, reliability, and performance of the Android Emulator is to your everyday work as an Android developer. After listening to valuable feedback about stability, reliability, and performance, the Android Studio team took a step back from large feature work on the Android Emulator for six months and started an initiative called Project Quartz. This initiative was made up of several workstreams aimed at reducing crashes, speeding up startup time, closing out bugs, and setting up better ways to detect and prevent issues in the future.

Improved stability and reliability

A key goal of Project Quartz aimed to reduce Emulator crashes, which can frustrate and block developers, decreasing their productivity. We focused on fixing issues causing backend and UI crashes and freezes, updated the UI framework, updated our hypervisor framework, and our graphics libraries, and eliminated tech debt. This included:

Moving to a newer version of Qt, the cross-platform framework for building the graphical user interfaces of the Android Emulator, and making it stable on all platforms (as of version 34.2.13/ This was also a required change to ensure things like Google Maps and the location settings UI continued to work in the Android Emulator.

Updating gfxstream, the graphics rendering system used in the Android Emulator, to improve our graphics layer.

Adding more than 600 end-to-end tests to the existing pytests test suite.

As a result, we have seen 30% fewer crashes in the latest stable version of Android Studio, as reported by developers who have opted-in to sharing crash details with us. Along with additional end-to-end testing, this means a more stable, reliable, and higher quality experience with fewer interruptions while using the Android Emulator to test your apps.

A horizontal bar graph showing performance times of different versions of the Android emulator in milliseconds

This chart illustrates the reduction in reported crashes by stable versions of the Android Emulator (newer versions are at the top and shorter is better).

We have also enhanced our opt-in telemetry and logging to better understand and identify the root causes of crashes, and added more testing to our pre-launch release process to improve our ability to detect potential issues prior to release.

Improved release quality

We also implemented several measures to improve release quality, including increasing the number and frequency of end-to-end, automated, and integration tests on macOS, Microsoft Windows, and Linux. Now, more than 1,100 end-to-end tests are ran in postsubmit, up from 500 tests in the past implementation, on all supported operating system platforms . These tests cover various scenarios, including (among other features) different Android Emulator snapshot configurations, diverse graphics card considerations , networking and Bluetooth functionality, and performance benchmarks between Android Emulator system image versions.

This comprehensive testing ensures these critical components function correctly and translates to a more reliable testing environment for developers. As a result, Android app developers can accurately assess their app's behavior in a wider range of scenarios.

Reduced open issues and bugs

It was also important for us to reduce the number of open issues and bugs logged for the Android Emulator by addressing their root cause and ensuring we cover more of the use cases you run into in production. During Project Quartz, we reduced our open issues by 43.5% from 4,605 to 2,605. 17% of these were actively fixed during Quartz and the remaining were closed as either obsoleted or previously fixed (e.g. in an earlier version of the Android Emulator) or duplicates of other issues.

Next Steps

While these improvements are exciting, it's not the end. We will continue to build on the quality improvements from Project Quartz to further enhance the Android Emulator experience for Android app developers.

As always, your feedback has and continues to be invaluable in helping us make the Android Emulator and Android Studio more robust and effective for your development needs. Sharing your metrics and crashdumps is crucial in helping us understand what specifically causes your crashes so we can prioritize fixes.

You can opt-in by going to Settings, then Appearance and Behavior, then System Settings, then Data Sharing, and selecting the checkbox marked ‘Send usage statistics to Google.'

The Android Studio settings menu displays the Data Sharing settings page, where 'Send usage statistics to Google' option is selected.

Be sure to download the latest version of the Android Emulator alongside Android Studio to experience these improvements.

As always, your feedback is important to us – check known issues, report bugs, suggest improvements, and be part of our vibrant community on LinkedIn, Medium, YouTube, or X. Together, we can create incredible Android experiences for users worldwide!

Source: Android Developers Blog

Android Studio Koala Feature Drop is Stable!

Posted by Sandhya Mohan, Product Manager, Android Studio

Today, we are thrilled to announce the stable release of Android Studio Koala Feature Drop (2024.1.2)!🐨

Earlier this year, we announced that every Android Studio animal version will have two releases: a platform release and a feature drop release. These more frequent updates get important IntelliJ updates to you faster, while we focus on quality and polish for Android-specific features. The Koala platform release was launched in June. Today, we'll walk through the feature drop release.

Get access to cutting-edge features like new devices in device streaming, Compose previews for Glance widgets, USB cable speed detection, support for Android 15 in the Android SDK Upgrade Assistant, and much more. All of these new features are designed to accelerate your Android app development workflow in building next-generation and high-quality apps.

Read on to learn more about all the updates, quality improvements, and new features across your key workflows in Android Studio Koala Feature Drop, and download the latest stable version today to try them out!

Develop

Android Device Streaming: more devices and improved sign-up

Android Device Streaming now includes the following devices, in addition to the portfolio of 20+ device models already available:

Google Pixel 9

Google Pixel 9 Pro

Google Pixel 9 Pro XL

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Google Pixel 8a

Samsung Galaxy Fold5

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Additionally, if you're new to Firebase, Android Studio automatically creates and sets up a no-cost Firebase project for you when you sign-in to Android Studio to use Device Streaming. As a result, you can get to streaming the device you need much faster. Learn more about Android Device Streaming quotas, including promotional quota for the Firebase Blaze plan projects available for a limited time.

As we announced at Google I/O 2024, we’re further expanding the selection of devices available by working with partners, such as Samsung, Xiaomi, and OnePlus, to allow you to connect to devices hosted in their device labs. To learn more and enroll in the upcoming Early Access Preview, see the official blog post.

Device Streaming

Target Android 15 using Android SDK Upgrade Assistant

The Android SDK Upgrade Assistant provides a step-by-step wizard to help you upgrade your targetSdkVersion. It also pulls documentation directly into Android Studio, saving you time and effort. Android Studio Koala Feature Drop adds support for upgrading projects to Android 15 (API Level 35).

Android SDK Upgrade Assistant

Updated sign-in flow to Google services

It's now easier to sign in to multiple Google services with one authentication step. Whether you use Gemini in Android Studio, Firebase for Android Device Streaming, Crashlytics in App Quality Insights, Google Play for Android Vitals reports, or some combination of these services, the new sign-in flow makes it easier to get up and running. With granular permissions scoping, you'll always be in control of which services have access to your account. To get started, click the profile avatar on the top right corner and sign-in with your developer account.

Updated sign-in wizard

Wear OS Tile Preview Panel

You can now view snapshots of your Wear OS app's tiles by including version 1.4 of the Jetpack Tiles library. This preview panel is particularly useful if your tile's appearance changes based on certain conditions, such as content that depends on the device's display size, or a sports event reaching halftime.

Wear OS Tile Preview Panel

Compose Glance widget previews

Android Studio Koala Feature Drop makes it easy to preview your Jetpack Compose Glance widgets directly within the IDE. You can even use multi-previews to preview at standard widget sizes and their designed widget breakpoints (sample code). Catch potential UI issues and fine-tune your widget's appearance early in the development process or while debugging any UI issues. Learn more.

Previews for Compose Glance widgets

Live Edit (Compose)

Live Edit is now enabled in manual mode by default. It has increased stability and more robust change detection, including support for import statements. Note that starting with Android Studio Koala Feature Drop, the default shortcut to push your changes in manual mode has been updated to Control+' (Command+' on macOS). You can customize the shortcut on the Keymap settings page.

Making an update with Live Edit in manual mode

Debug

USB Cable Speed Detection

Android Studio now detects when it's possible to connect your Android device with a faster USB cable and suggests an upgrade that maximizes your device capabilities. Using an appropriate USB cable optimizes app installation time and minimizes latency when using tools such as the Android Studio debugger. USB cable speed detection is currently available for macOS and Linux. Learn more.

While most readily available USB cables are still the older USB 2.0 standard, the majority of modern devices support the significantly faster USB 3.0. Upgrading to a USB 3.0 cable can potentially increase your data transfer speeds up to 10x.

USB cable speed detection

Device UI Shortcuts

To help you build and debug your UI, we've introduced Device UI shortcuts button action in the Running Devices tool window in Android Studio. Use the shortcuts to view the effect of common UI settings such as dark theme, font size, screen size, app language and TalkBack. You can use the shortcuts with emulators, mirrored physical devices, and devices streamed from Firebase Test Lab. Device UI shortcuts are available for devices running API level 33 or higher. Learn more.

Device UI Setting Shortcuts in Running Device Window

Pixel 8a in Emulator

The Android Emulator (35.1+) now supports the Pixel 8a in the stable channel, enabling you to test your apps on more Pixel devices without needing a physical device. Find the new Pixel 8a in the phone category when you create a new virtual device. Additionally, you can find Pixel 9 devices in the canary release channel of Android Studio.

Pixel 8a in Emulator

Optimize

Faster and improved Profiler with a task-centric approach

Popular performance optimization tasks like capturing a system trace with profileable apps now start up to 60% faster^*. The Profiler's task-centric redesign also makes it easier to start the task you're interested in, whether it's profiling your app's CPU, memory, or power usage. For example, you can start a system trace task to profile and improve your app's startup time right from the UI as soon as you open the Profiler.

Faster and improved Profiler with a task-centric approach* Based on internal data, as tested in April 2024

Quality improvements

Beyond new features, we also continue to improve the overall quality and stability of Android Studio. In fact, the Android Studio team addressed over 520 bugs during the Koala Feature Drop development cycle.

IntelliJ platform update

Android Studio Koala Feature Drop (2024.1.2) includes the IntelliJ 2024.1 platform release, which has many new features such as comprehensive support for the latest Java** 22 features, an improved terminal, and sticky lines in the editor to simplify working with large files and exploring new codebases.

The improved terminal features a fresh new look, with commands separated into distinct blocks, along with an expanded set of features, such as smooth navigation between blocks, command completion, and easy access to the command history. Learn more.

Sticky lines in the editor keeps key structural elements, like the beginnings of classes or methods, pinned to the top of the editor as you scroll and provides an option to promptly navigate through the code by clicking on a pinned line. Learn more.

Basic IDE functionalities like code highlighting and completion now work for Java and Kotlin during project indexing, which should enhance your startup experience.

See the full release notes here.

Summary

To recap, Android Studio Koala Feature Drop includes the following enhancements and features:

Develop

Android Device Streaming: more devices and improved sign-up

Target Android 15 using Android SDK Upgrade Assistant

Updated sign-in flow to Google services

Wear OS Tile Preview Panel

Compose Glance widget previews

Live Edit (Compose)

Debug

USB Cable Speed Detection

Device UI Settings Picker

Pixel 8a in Emulator

Optimize

New Task UX for Profilers

Quality Improvements

520+ bugs addressed

IntelliJ Platform Update

Improved terminal

Sticky lines in the editor to simplify working with large codebases

Enhanced startup experience

Getting Started

Ready for next-level Android development? Download Android Studio Koala Feature Drop and unlock these cutting-edge features today! As always, your feedback is important to us – check known issues, report bugs, suggest improvements, and be part of our vibrant community on LinkedIn, Medium, YouTube, or X. Let's build the future of Android apps together!

**Java is a trademark or registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Source: Android Developers Blog

Gemini in Android Studio and more: Android Studio Jellyfish is Stable!

Posted by Paris Hsu – Product Manager, Android Studio

Android Studio Jellyfish (2023.3.1) is making waves with its official stable release! 🪼🌊 Dive into cutting-edge AI features like Gemini in Android Studio, seamless Google services integrations like Android Device Streaming, and much more. All designed to supercharge your Android development to build next-generation, high-quality apps. Surf below to learn more about all the updates, product quality improvements, and new features across your key flows in Android Studio Jellyfish, and download the latest stable version today to try them out!

Develop

Gemini in Android Studio: stable, and now available in 200+ countries!

Today, Gemini in Android Studio is available in over 200+ countries and territories, including a new set of countries in Europe. Thanks to all of the valuable feedback you’ve provided us over the last year, we’re excited to bring Gemini in Android Studio (formerly Studio Bot) into this stable release of Android Studio, as your AI-powered development companion in Android Studio, ready to level up your productivity. Ask your Android development questions and get help instantly: whether it’s to generate code, find resources, or explain best practices, Gemini in Android Studio is here to save you valuable time. Plus, it integrates seamlessly with your workflow:

Chat: Get code samples and questions answered
AI code completion: Intelligent suggestions as you type
Error analysis: Understand Logcat and Build errors with ease
Smart actions: Streamline tasks with powerful shortcuts

Onboard and then opt-in with the built-in AI privacy controls, and learn more about how the current capabilities of Gemini in Android Studio can accelerate your development workflow.

Modular login permissions

To provide you with more precise control over the permissions you grant for specific features, the new sign-in flow lets you select only the Google Service integrations you want to enable. This means you decide exactly which features, like Gemini for Android Studio, App Quality Insights, and Android Device Streaming, are able to access the required Google services using your Google account.

Manage login settings in Android Studio

Switch accounts in Android Studio

Debug

Android Device Streaming, powered by Firebase

Android Device Streaming, powered by Firebase, lets you securely connect to remote physical Android devices hosted in Google's secure data centers. It’s a fast and easy way to test your app against physical units of some of the latest Android devices, including the Google Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, Pixel Fold, select Samsung devices, and more.

Device Streaming in Android Studio, running your app on a remote Pixel Fold

After connecting to a device, you can deploy your app, view the display, interact with the device (including rotating or unfolding the device), and anything else you might do with a device using a direct ADB over SSL connection—all without leaving Android Studio. When you're done using the device, Google wipes all your data and factory resets the device before making it available to another developer.

Android Device Streaming is currently available as a no-cost trial after you sign in to Android Studio with your Google account and select a Firebase project to use. If you don’t already have a Firebase project, it’s easy to create one.

AQI Crashlytics: Multi-events, keys, and logs

Dive deeper into App Quality Insights (AQI) crash reports with Android Studio Jellyfish! We've listened to your feedback and made analyzing crashes easier than ever:

Iterate through events: Now explore multiple events within a Crashlytics report in reverse chronological order, revealing patterns for faster debugging.
Explore custom data: View custom keys/values and logs for each Crashlytics crash report (find them in the Keys and Logs tabs after selecting a report).
Analyze ANRs (Application Not Responding): Access and investigate ANRs directly within both the Android Vitals and Crashlytics tabs.

Device Streaming in Android Studio, running your app on a remote Pixel Fold

Embedded Layout Inspector

In Android Studio Jellyfish, Layout Inspector is now embedded by default in the Running Devices tool window. This integration saves screen real-estate, centralizes your workflow in a single tool window, and delivers significant performance gains - with a 50% improvement in rendering speeds. You can effortlessly toggle between deeply inspecting and interacting with your app, and use snapshots for 3D visualizations of your UI. Discover the full range of features here.

Embedded Layout Inspector with Pixel Fold Emulator

Optimize

App Links Assistant: Web associations file support

App Links Assistant now supports web association file validation. This new feature streamlines deep linking by helping you identify and fix errors in your deep links setup (both in your Android manifest file and the corresponding Digital Asset Links JSON file). Ensure a seamless user experience by validating that your JSON file is correctly formatted for upload to your domain.

App Links Assistant: Web associations file support

Baseline Profile installation

Baseline Profiles improve code execution speed by about 30% from the first launch by avoiding interpretation and just-in-time (JIT) compilation steps for included code paths. While Android Studio has included Baseline Profiles in builds for years now, these were only actually compiled by the OS in production (often by Play Store).

Android Studio Jellyfish now compiles these Baseline Profiles when any non-debuggable app build is installed on a device. This applies to release builds, as well as when you're profiling with low-overhead.

This means — as long as you aren't using a debug variant of your app — the performance you see when installing from Studio / CLI now much more closely matches production by taking advantage of profiles from a Baseline Profile generator module and libraries like Compose.

Quality improvements

Beyond new features, we also continue to improve the overall quality and stability of Android Studio. In fact, over 900 bugs were addressed during the Jellyfish/AGP-8.4 cycle, and memory errors are down by 40%.

IntelliJ platform update

Android Studio Jellyfish (2023.3.1) includes the IntelliJ 2023.3 platform release, which has many new features such as comprehensive support for the latest Java 21 programing language features, an intuitive floating toolbar with editing actions, and a Run to Cursor inlay option in the debugger to speed up your workflow. Learn more.

Summary

To recap, Android Studio Jellyfish 🪼includes the following enhancements and features:

Develop

Gemini in Android Studio
Modular login permissions

Debug

Android Device Streaming
AQI Crashlytics: Multi-events, keys, and logs
Embedded Layout Inspector

Optimize

App Links Assistant: Web associations file support
Baseline Profile installation

Quality Improvements

900+ bugs addressed
Memory errors down by 40%

IntelliJ Platform Update

Latest Java 21 feature support
Run to Cursor inlay option
More 2023.3 features

Getting Started

Ready for next-level Android development? Download Android Studio Jellyfish 🪼 and unlock cutting-edge features today! As always, your feedback is important to us – check known issues, report bugs, suggest improvements, and be part of our vibrant community on LinkedIn, Medium, YouTube, or X. Let's build the future of Android apps together!