Android app developers and users have expressed frustration over the varying restrictions on foreground services and background work among different devices. To address these inconsistencies, Google has announced plans to improve background app performance with Android 14 and has partnered with Samsung to ensure that APIs for background work are supported consistently across the ecosystem.
Developers and end-users of Android apps have long complained about the inconsistent restrictions placed on foreground and background services across different Android devices. The varying policies of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can be quite aggressive in killing background apps to save battery life. This practice can lead to app failures, causing users to blame developers for a subpar experience. While app developers have followed Android's guidance, they often find it challenging to work around each OEM's restrictions and inconsistencies, which is neither feasible nor possible.
To address the problem of background inconsistencies, Google plans to make it easier for developers to create apps that work seamlessly across different Android devices starting with Android 14. Google has announced deeper partnerships with Android hardware manufacturers to ensure that APIs for background work are supported predictably and consistently across the ecosystem. Samsung is described as the first partner, and with One UI 6.0, foreground services of apps targeting Android 14 will be guaranteed to work as intended, provided they are developed according to Android's new foreground service API policy.
Samsung's collaboration with Google has resulted in a unified policy that aims to strengthen the Android platform and create a more consistent and reliable user experience for Galaxy users. As part of Android 14, Google has announced three changes: a new requirement to declare foreground service types and request type-specific permissions, which clarify when it is reasonable to use foreground services; a new user-initiated data transfer job type, which makes the management of large user-initiated uploads and downloads smoother by leveraging JobScheduler's constraints, such as unmetered WiFi; and new Google Play policies to ensure appropriate use of foreground services and user-initiated data transfer jobs.
Developers are encouraged to send feedback on the Android 14 APIs via the Issue Tracker and contribute CTS-D tests to help catch consistency issues. If there are any behavior differences across Android devices, users can file a ticket using goo.gle/devicespecificissue to bring it to the attention of Google. Overall, Google's collaboration with OEMs, such as Samsung, promises to resolve the long-standing challenge of background inconsistencies and ensure that Android apps work seamlessly across different devices, offering users a better and more consistent experience.
To address the problem of background inconsistencies, Google plans to make it easier for developers to create apps that work seamlessly across different Android devices starting with Android 14. Google has announced deeper partnerships with Android hardware manufacturers to ensure that APIs for background work are supported predictably and consistently across the ecosystem. Samsung is described as the first partner, and with One UI 6.0, foreground services of apps targeting Android 14 will be guaranteed to work as intended, provided they are developed according to Android's new foreground service API policy.
Samsung's collaboration with Google has resulted in a unified policy that aims to strengthen the Android platform and create a more consistent and reliable user experience for Galaxy users. As part of Android 14, Google has announced three changes: a new requirement to declare foreground service types and request type-specific permissions, which clarify when it is reasonable to use foreground services; a new user-initiated data transfer job type, which makes the management of large user-initiated uploads and downloads smoother by leveraging JobScheduler's constraints, such as unmetered WiFi; and new Google Play policies to ensure appropriate use of foreground services and user-initiated data transfer jobs.
Developers are encouraged to send feedback on the Android 14 APIs via the Issue Tracker and contribute CTS-D tests to help catch consistency issues. If there are any behavior differences across Android devices, users can file a ticket using goo.gle/devicespecificissue to bring it to the attention of Google. Overall, Google's collaboration with OEMs, such as Samsung, promises to resolve the long-standing challenge of background inconsistencies and ensure that Android apps work seamlessly across different devices, offering users a better and more consistent experience.
Author
-Anurag
RSS Feed