Android 7.1 to arrive in December, Developer Preview to go live this month

Google just announced the new Pixel smartphones which replace the Nexus lineup. The smartphones are also the first ones to come with Android 7.1 with enhanced features and with Google Assistant built into its core.

While there was no clarity if the new update would arrive to older devices, today Google has cleared all doubts. Android 7.1 has been made official the developer blog. A list of devices that will get the new update has also been listed which include the Motorola Nexus 6, HTC Nexus 9, Huawei Nexus 6P , LG Nexus 5X , Pixel C, Asus Nexus Player, as well as supported Android One devices. The first in line to get 7.1 will be the Nexus 6P, 5X, and Pixel C.

A Developer Preview of Android 7.1 is expected to arrive by the end of this month while a final release is scheduled to arrive in early December. To receive the Developer Preview, you need to be enrolled in the Android Beta program.

Here are some of the prominent changes for developers that will arrive with the new update:

App shortcuts API: Lets you surface key actions directly in the launcher and take your users deep into your app instantly. You can create up to 5 shortcuts, either statically or dynamically.

Circular app icons support: Lets you provide great-looking rounded icon resources that match the look of Pixel and other launchers.

Enhanced live wallpaper metadata:Lets you provide metadata about your live wallpapers to any picker displaying the wallpapers as a preview. You can show existing metadata such as label, description, and author, as well as a new context URL and title to link to more information.

Image keyboard support: Expands the types of content that users can enter from their keyboards, letting them express themselves through custom stickers, animated gifs, and more. Apps can tell the keyboard what types of content they accept, and keyboards can deliver all of the images and other content that they offer to the user. For broad compatibility, this API will also be available in the support library.

Storage manager Intent: Lets an app take the user directly to a new Settings screen to clear unused files and free up storage space on the device.

Sadly Daydream VR and seamless firmware updates will not be coming to older devices which require specific hardware to support these features.