The new release brings cutting-edge features for developers.
Google announced an update to its integrated development environment, introducing Android Studio "Iguana". Based on the IntelliJ 2023.2 platform, this version brings a number of significant improvements, including integration with GitLab, improved text search efficiency, and user interface improvements. This update focuses on tools to improve the quality of applications and simplify the development process.
The new version of Android Studio significantly improves working with app crash data due to the tight integration between the App Quality Insights tools and the git version control system. Developers can now easily link information about crashes to the code of the version of the app that crashed, which makes it easier to fix bugs and helps improve the quality of applications.
In addition, developers will be provided with preliminary information about whether the SDKs used in the project comply with the Google Play policy. This is made possible by the Google Play SDK Index, which tracks registered SDKs in Google and identifies those that have compliance problems or contain defects. This feature allows you to detect potential issues early in development, preventing apps from being rejected when they are submitted to the Google Play Store.
The update also puts a lot of emphasis on Jetpack Compose, a set of tools for creating a user interface. Introducing the Compose UI Check function automatically checks the user interface for responsiveness and accessibility. Progressive rendering in Compose Preview optimizes memory usage, reducing rendering quality for screens that are out of the user's field of view.
The Live Edit feature, which is still in the testing stage, offers the ability to make changes to the JetPack Compose user interface and immediately see the results on the emulator or physical device. This innovation can be a significant accelerator of the development process, although it is limited to affecting only the visual aspects of the interface, without affecting other parts of the code or application logic.
Although Android Studio "Iguana" does not include the previously announced JetBrains AI assistant, but in the next update, codenamed Jellyfish, the Studio Bot assistant is planned to appear. It is expected that Studio Bot will be available outside the United States, and will also receive support for templates for developing applications using Gemini AI. Studio Bot was first introduced in May 2023, and Google is gradually expanding its availability. At the moment, enthusiasts from 180 countries, including the US, but not the UK, can try out the preview.
As for GitHub Copilot, it is also integrated into Android Studio. However, despite more than 7 million installations of this extension in various JetBrains IDEs, users complain of numerous bugs and performance issues. Unlike the versions for Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio, plugin development is very slow, which causes criticism from developers.
In general, the release of "Iguana" is aimed at improving the stability of applications, improving the development process and ensuring that applications comply with Google Play standards.
Google announced an update to its integrated development environment, introducing Android Studio "Iguana". Based on the IntelliJ 2023.2 platform, this version brings a number of significant improvements, including integration with GitLab, improved text search efficiency, and user interface improvements. This update focuses on tools to improve the quality of applications and simplify the development process.
The new version of Android Studio significantly improves working with app crash data due to the tight integration between the App Quality Insights tools and the git version control system. Developers can now easily link information about crashes to the code of the version of the app that crashed, which makes it easier to fix bugs and helps improve the quality of applications.
In addition, developers will be provided with preliminary information about whether the SDKs used in the project comply with the Google Play policy. This is made possible by the Google Play SDK Index, which tracks registered SDKs in Google and identifies those that have compliance problems or contain defects. This feature allows you to detect potential issues early in development, preventing apps from being rejected when they are submitted to the Google Play Store.
The update also puts a lot of emphasis on Jetpack Compose, a set of tools for creating a user interface. Introducing the Compose UI Check function automatically checks the user interface for responsiveness and accessibility. Progressive rendering in Compose Preview optimizes memory usage, reducing rendering quality for screens that are out of the user's field of view.
The Live Edit feature, which is still in the testing stage, offers the ability to make changes to the JetPack Compose user interface and immediately see the results on the emulator or physical device. This innovation can be a significant accelerator of the development process, although it is limited to affecting only the visual aspects of the interface, without affecting other parts of the code or application logic.
Although Android Studio "Iguana" does not include the previously announced JetBrains AI assistant, but in the next update, codenamed Jellyfish, the Studio Bot assistant is planned to appear. It is expected that Studio Bot will be available outside the United States, and will also receive support for templates for developing applications using Gemini AI. Studio Bot was first introduced in May 2023, and Google is gradually expanding its availability. At the moment, enthusiasts from 180 countries, including the US, but not the UK, can try out the preview.
As for GitHub Copilot, it is also integrated into Android Studio. However, despite more than 7 million installations of this extension in various JetBrains IDEs, users complain of numerous bugs and performance issues. Unlike the versions for Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio, plugin development is very slow, which causes criticism from developers.
In general, the release of "Iguana" is aimed at improving the stability of applications, improving the development process and ensuring that applications comply with Google Play standards.
