Google has officially introduced the Android N Developer Preview.

Google was expected to unleash the Android N Developer Preview at the Google I/O 2016 event that is to be held in May. However, the search engine giant has surprised the tech world by introducing Android N Developer Preview edition today, Tech Crunch reported.

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Android N Developer Preview Compatible Devices

Google has exclusively released the first Developer Preview for several Nexus devices. It includes Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 9 LTE, Nexus Player and Google Pixel C. The preview edition is available as OTA update. Hence, users can search for the availability of OTA update on their devices.

Even though Google Nexus 5 is not present on the list, it is expected to get Android N Developer Preview soon, The Bleg reported. The reason behind it is that the codename of Nexus 5 i.e. Hammerhead was found mentioned in the AOSP repositories with the tagging for Android N Preview 1. Rumors suggest that the Nexus 5 may not be able to support all the Android N features as its spec have now become obsolete.

Android N Features

The Android N comes with plenty of new features. The multi-window will offer the best multitasking experience as it will allow users to run two apps on the same screen. The Notifications area has been improved to show alerts from the same apps together. Android N users will be able to reply to incoming text messages on the notification screen.

The Quick Settings has revamped to show more options such as auto-rotate, battery, clock and shortcuts. The Data Saver is a new feature that can help in cutting down the usage of cellular data by different apps.

The file browser has been improved to include a side menu that includes easy navigation options to images, videos, audio and recent. Android N is also expected to carry native support for 3D Touch, but this feature has not been revealed yet.

Android N Release Date

Google will be releasing five version of the Android N Developer Preview before rolling out the final edition of Android N. As far as Android N update is concerned, it is expected to arrive preloaded on the upcoming Google Nexus 2016 smartphones that will be manufactured by HTC. Both the smartphones are pegged to release in the third quarter of this year.