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New at Google I/O 2019: Android CameraX, hearing aid support, designing Material dark themes, interviews

With I/O 2019 less than a month away, Google has posted more sessions which attendees and live streamers alike can expect at the developer conference. Notable highlights cover Android, Gaming, and many Fireside Chats with famous people in technology and science.

Android

Last year, Google announced that it was working on native hearing aid support in a future Android release. It did not come in Pie, with Q a likely candidate given a new session for “Android Streaming Hearing Aid Support.”

This talk is for media developers, audio hardware makers and hearing aid manufacturers interested in making audio on Android more accessible using built-in capabilities such as the dynamics processing effect (DPE) and Android Streaming Hearing Aid Support (ASHA). You’ll see examples of audio equalization using DPE to adjust for hard-to-hear situations using a reference application and learn implementation steps for hearing aid developer-manufacturers who want to implement ASHA.

Another mobile session is “Adapting Your Apps for Android Q Privacy Requirements” where Google calls privacy a “core theme for Android Q.”

Privacy is a core theme for Android Q. Come to this session to learn about the new privacy features in Android and how it may affect your apps. You’ll learn new alerts and controls for user’s to audit permissions, new restrictions on background app launching, app icon hiding and permissions, and how to leverage roles.

One interesting change related to the Play Store is how its “What’s new” session has been edited to remove unannounced features like “customized Play Store listing pages.”

At the same time, the Android OS User Interface now mentions the Bubbles API following the official announcement in Beta 2. There is also a more explicitly named session about “How to Design a Dark Theme Using Material.”

Google at I/O plans to introduce the “CameraX support library in Jetpack,” which “provides the best support across a wide selection of Android Camera hardware with minimal effort to integrate machine learning.”

Gaming

At GDC, Google teased a larger gaming focus at the conference. In addition to a new dedicated track and a handful of Stadia talks, the company will be hosting Game Reviews. This, and many of the sessions, will take place at the new “Garage” stage.

Game developers have a lot to keep up with, from development, through launch, and in live-ops. Here to help is Google’s gaming team, ready to review and provide recommendations for your game, no matter what state it’s in! Schedule time with these experts to review your game and ask for advice on tools, tips on developing, launching, protecting, optimizing, and monetizing your game. These game industry vets are happy to discuss all things related to game development. Walk-ins are welcome.

Fireside Chat

Besides the traditional Android Fireside Chat that ends the event, I/O 2019 will feature a number of interviews with both Googlers and other notable Alphabet employees, as well as experts in science and technology. This “Keynote” track includes conversations with:

  • A Fireside Chat with Co-founder of Android and Google SVP, Hiroshi Lockheimer
  • A Fireside Chat with X’s Captain of Moonshots, Astro Teller
  • Deep Learning to Solve Challenging Problems (Jeff Dean, Google Brain)
  • A Fireside Chat with Geoffrey Hinton, Pioneer of Deep Learning
  • Exploring the Frontiers of Science, Technology, and Human Potential (Mae Jemison, NASA astronaut)
  • The Future of Humanity (Dr. Michio Kaku, co-founder of String Field Theory)
  • On Creativity and Technology, with Legendary Animator Glen Keane

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com