Top 3 New Features for Mobile Apps Announced at Google I/O 2023
It’s Google I/O keynote day once again! Google I/O is an annual developer conference hosted by Google, where the company announces its latest updates, products, and technologies related to its various platforms and services.
At this year’s event, Google announced a number of new updates and improvements that are set to revolutionize the mobile app development landscape. From privacy dashboard to color accessibility, there are many exciting new features that mobile app developers need to know about.
Let’s take a closer look at the top three new features that will have the biggest impact on mobile app development and Android apps.
We'll explain what these new features are, why they're important, and how you can take advantage of them to improve your own mobile apps. Whether you're an experienced app developer or just starting out, this post will provide valuable insights that will help you stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly-evolving industry.
So, without further ado, let's dive in!
Top 3 New Features for Mobile Apps Announced at Google I/O 2023
Non-Linear Font Scaling to 200%. Or How to Build Accessible and Inclusive Mobile Apps Easier
Partial Access Granted to Photos and Videos For Better Control Over Visual Media
Grammatical Inflection API For a More Inclusive Approach Towards Users of Gendered Languages
More Control in Android 14
While Beta 2 is scheduled for this month, the first Beta of Android 14, released in the first part of April 2023, delivers enhancements and new features year-round, and was built around privacy, security, performance, developer productivity, and user customization.
During Google I/O, Google announced several updates for Android, with a focus on privacy and security, personalization, foreground services, machine learning, and features for a high-quality user experience.
In the following sections, we'll discuss the top three new features for mobile apps announced at Google I/O 2023.
Non-Linear Font Scaling to 200%. Or How to Build Accessible and Inclusive Mobile Apps Easier
A notable feature that was announced at Google I/O 2023 is improved accessibility options in Android 14, including support for font scaling up to 200%, which aligns with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and provides low-vision users with additional options to enhance their user experience.
It's important to note that impaired users are not a monolithic group, and there are many different types of impairments. The improved accessibility options in Android 14, particularly the support for font scaling up to 200%, will help a broad range of users with low vision or other visual impairments. By aligning with WCAG, Android 14 ensures that the mobile app will be accessible to more people and will improve the user experience for many who may have had difficulty using the app before. This feature is an important step towards creating a more inclusive and accessible mobile app experience for everyone.
For mobile app development, it is important to take note of this font scaling feature in Android 14, particularly if you're building apps with accessibility in mind, like we do. The ability to scale font sizes up to 200% can greatly enhance the usability and accessibility of your app for low-vision users. However, if you already use scaled pixels (sp) units to define text sizing, this change may not have a significant impact on your app. That being said, it's still a good idea to perform UI testing with the maximum font size enabled to ensure that your app can accommodate larger font sizes without negatively impacting usability.
Partial Access Granted to Photos and Videos For Better Control Over Visual Media
Another feature worth mentioning that was announced at Google I/O 2023 is partial access granted to visual media libraries in Android 14. Users can now choose to grant apps partial access to their photos and videos when the app requests any visual media permissions introduced in Android 13.
This new feature provides more granular control for users over their visual media, improving their privacy and security while using mobile apps, especially for those who use a mobile phone for both personal and work purposes or have children using apps. By allowing partial access to visual media libraries, users can be more confident that sensitive or personal media files are not being accessed without their knowledge or consent.
In order to support mobile app development, Android 14 introduces a new permission, READ_MEDIA_VISUAL_USER_SELECTED. This allows the system to behave differently, depending on whether an app uses it or not. Apps already using the photo picker won't need to change anything, but the rest may want to adopt it instead of adopting the change. Without the READ_MEDIA_VISUAL_USER_SELECTED permission, the system temporarily grants the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions during the app session, offering temporary access to user-selected photos and videos.
However, the system eventually denies these permissions when the app moves to the background or is actively killed. If your app needs to access additional photos and videos later, you must request the permissions again, prompting users to select photos and videos. While this behavior may not necessarily cause issues for apps that adhere to best practices, it highlights the importance of having a skilled team of developers who understand the nuances of mobile app development and can tailor the app's features to specific use cases.
Grammatical Inflection API For a More Inclusive Approach Towards Users of Gendered Languages
To ensure greater accessibility and inclusivity for users of gendered languages, Android 14 introduces the Grammatical Inflection API. With this new API, developers can easily add support for grammatical gender without having to refactor their apps.
This feature will be particularly impactful in countries such as Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Romania or Portugal, where the majority of the population speaks gendered languages.
By providing a more user-centric UI that accurately reflects the grammatical gender of users, this API will allow mobile apps to be more inclusive and welcoming to people who speak these languages. Addressing users in the correct grammatical gender will avoid negative impacts on their experience, ultimately leading to improved user engagement and a more natural-sounding app experience.
Once the user's preferred grammatical gender has been indicated (for example, through a settings section or a user setup workflow), the setRequestedApplicationGrammaticalGender(int) method can be used to store the value in the app's resources configuration. This API call sets the user's preferred grammatical gender, which can be used to dynamically adjust the language displayed in the app's UI. With this feature, developers can help bridge the language gap and make their apps more accessible to a wider audience.
Key Takeaways
With these new updates and improvements presented at Google I/O on Android 14, mobile app developers have even more tools to create engaging, personalized, and accessible user experiences. Non-linear font scaling, partial access to photos and videos, and grammatical inflection API all contribute to making mobile apps more user-centric, intuitive, and inclusive.
As you consider implementing these features in your own app development, keep in mind the potential benefits they can bring to your users, from improved readability and accessibility to better engagement and personalization. By embracing these new tools, you can help ensure that your mobile app stands out in an increasingly competitive market and provides the best possible user experience for your audience.
If you plan to build your mobile app and you are not sure how to make the best out of Android 14 and the Android Mobile App Developer Tools, our team at X2 Mobile can help you match your business needs with the mobile/tech capabilities available out there in the best way possible.
Get in touch for a free consultation session through the contact form on this page or through our chat, to learn more about how to use these functionalities in your app. No strings attached.