Android

Android Studio 1.3 Now Available

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Android Studio 1.3 is now available on the stable release channel offering Google’s biggest feature release for the year so far, including a new memory profiler, improved testing support, and full editing and debugging support for C++.

Updates in the release include:

- Android Memory (HPROF) Viewer: Android Studio now allows the ability to capture and analyze memory snapshots in the native Android HPROF format.

- Allocation Tracker: In addition to displaying a table of memory allocations that an app uses, the updated allocation tracker now includes a visual way to view app allocations.

- APK Tests in Modules: For more flexibility in app testing, Android developers now have the option to place code tests in a separate module and use the new test plugin (‘com.android.test’) instead of keeping tests right next to app code. This feature requires an app project to use the Gradle Plugin 1.3.

- App permission annotations: Android Studio now has inline code annotation support to help manage the new app permissions model in the M release of Android.

- Data Binding Support: New data binding features provide the ability to create declarative layouts in order to minimize boilerplate code by binding application logic into layouts.

- SDK Auto Update & SDK Manager: Managing Android SDK updates is now a part of the Android Studio. By default, Android Studio will now prompt developers about new SDK & Tool updates.

- C++ Support: As a part of the Android 1.3 stable release, Google has included an Early Access Preview of the C++ editor & debugger support paired with an experimental build plugin. See the Android C++ preview page for information on how to get started.

An update to Android Studio does not require developers to change Android app projects. With updating, developers get the latest features but still have control of which build tools and app dependency versions to use for an Android app.