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Showing posts with label features. Show all posts
Showing posts with label features. Show all posts

Tuesday, 29 September 2015

Top 5 new features of Galaxy Note 5 you will like

Top 5 new features of Galaxy Note 5 you will like


Galaxy Note 5 vs Galaxy Note 4: what's new and exciting? New design, fast wireless charging, improved S pen features, improved camera, more RAM, faster CPU, better fingerprint sensor.....

galaxy_note_5_vs_galaxy_note_4_top_5_features
Update 1: Official Samsung Galaxy Note 5 user manuals are available now. You can download and read them in your language from this page.
Update 2: Galaxy Note 5 how-to guides page is available now. You can get detailed guides on how to use Galaxy Note 5.
On August 13 2015, Samsung announced the 5th generation of Galaxy Note phone: Galaxy Note 5 (together with Galaxy S6 edge+). In Asia, Galaxy  Note 5 has been available 2 days later (August 15). In US and North America, the release date is August 21.
If you are a long term Galaxy Note device user, you will notice Galaxy Note 5 was announced 2-3 weeks earlier than its predecessors.
All previous generations of Galaxy Note phones were announced in IFA Berlin (International radio exhibition Berlin, Berlin Radio Show).  The event usually starts from last week of August or first week of September. Galaxy Note (Note 1)  was announced in IFA Berlin 2011, Galaxy Note II in IFA Berlin 2012 (August 29, 2012), Galaxy Note 3 in IFA Berlin 2013 (September 4, 2013) and Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge in IFA Berlin 2014 (September 3, 2014).
But this year, Samsung desperately rolls out Galaxy Note 5 earlier due to competition of the 5.5″ iPhone 6 plus, and the upcoming S version of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus next month.
So, Samsung not only announced Galaxy Note 5 three weeks earlier than IFA Berlin 2015, but also released it immediately. It used to take Samsung 1-2 months to release Galaxy Note devices after the device was announced.
many Galaxy note users may wonder what the new features of Galaxy Note 5 are, and whether you should get this new Galaxy Note device.
To help you understand Galaxy Note 5 better, two posts are prepared. This post shows you the new and cool features in Galaxy Note 5. The other one will focus on flaws of Galaxy Note 5.

A new design, full metal-glass construction andcurved glass back

Galaxy Note 5 looks fundamentally different from Galaxy Note 4 and other older Note devices, although Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy Note 4 share similar 5.7″ screen.
The new design of Galaxy Note 5 follows Galaxy S6. And, sadly, the design also reminds you about iPhone.
Galaxy Note 5 also says bye-bye to plastic (or faux leather). Metal and glass are used instead. It look gorgeous.
The unique point of Galaxy Note 5 design is the curved back. All Samsung Galaxy devices have a flat back, including Galaxy S6 edge which has curved screen in front side, not back.
The curved back reminds you Motorola design for Moto X or Moto G. But Galaxy Note 5 is only curved near the frame/edge. So, it still looks very different from Moto devices.
This curved edge in the back actually is far more useful than the curved screen (edge screen) in Galaxy S6 edge+, or Galaxy S6 edge. It makes it is very easy to hold Galaxy Note 5.

Wireless charging and fast wireless charging

Galaxy Note 4 supports fast charging, but not wireless charging.
Galaxy S6 comes with fast charging and wireless charging.
Now, Galaxy Note 5 gives you fast charging, wireless charging andfast wireless charging.
The fast wireless chargingis absolutely new for smartphones. Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ probably are the first duo to get this feature. You can simply enjoy fast charging with wireless charging.

Improved S Pen features in Galaxy Note 5

S Pen is the signature feature of Galaxy Note devices.
Of course, Samsung continues to improve the S Pen features in Galaxy Note 5.
Here are some remarkable improved or new S Pen features:
  • New S Pen design. There is a serious flaw in Galaxy Note 5 design. You may accidentally insert the S Pen in wrong direction, and this will damage the S Pen slot. Please read this page for details.
  • You can customize air command menu by adding your favorite apps to it.
  • Scroll capture. You can take screenshot for multiple screens to cover whole web page, not just current screen.
  • Screen off memo. You can write memos on the screen without turn the screen on.
We will prepare individual guides to show you how to use these cool features.

Improved camera

For the front camera, compared to Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 5 upgrade the camera sensor. You can take 5MP selfies. A jump form 3.7MP in Galaxy Note 4.
The rear camera in Galaxy Note 5 has a similar 16MP sensor withOIS as you have in Galaxy Note 4.
But Samsung improved camera features significantly through software. For example:
  • Pro mode. You can have detailed control of your photo.
  • Camera quick launch. You can launch Galaxy Note 5 camera by tapping home button twice. Quick launch works even when the screen is locked.
  • Tracking AF (auto focus) for you to take photos with moving objects..
  • Lock focus and exposure.
  • RAW support in Pro Mode. For advanced users,  Galaxy Note 5 can save photos in RAW format. This means you have the full freedom to edit the photos after they are taken. You are not limited to effects and filters. You can travel back and re-adjust camera settings.
  • Video collage mode. You can capture multiple videos and play them in a single collage.
  • Live broadcast. You can broadcast yourself live through YouTube in Galaxy Note 5 camera app. You can set the broadcast as private (only invited contacts can watch) or public. It is up to you.

More RAM, faster CPU, better fingerprint sensor

Compared to Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 5 is equipped  with 4GB RAM (3GB in Note 4), faster 64-bit processor (Octa-core Exynos 7420). These surely boosts the performance of Galaxy Note 5 significantly.
Another improvement in Galaxy Note 5 is the UHS 2.0 storage, which is about 2-3 times faster than other smartphones with eMMC storage.  This is actually one of the  excuses of removing  micro SD card support in Galaxy Note 5.
Galaxy Note 5 also updated to touch-based fingerprint sensor. In Galaxy Note 4, you have to swipe your finger across the home button to register your fingerprint. In Galaxy Note 5, you need just touch the home button.


How to take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4?

How to take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4?

When you want to show  someone remotely the Galaxy Note 4 screen, e.g., the achievement in a game, booking proofs, ordering info, some key information on a website, location in the Google Map, a Galaxy Note 4 screenshot is the most simple way to deliver such info.
But how to take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4?
Luckily, there are many different methods to take screenshot on Galaxy Note 4.
In this guide, I will show you 3 different methods of taking a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 without using any apps, or connecting to other devices. In other words, you can take a  screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 directly. No apps, or connections are involved.

Method 1: Take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 with Home and Power button

In the early days,  most Androidphones had a hardware home button. The Home button and power button combination is usually for screenshot.
Samsung is a few Android manufactures who refuse to bury hardware home button. So, you can have a simple way to take  a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4.
On any screen, press and hold power button and Home button simultaneously to take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4.
In the reality, it is hard to press and hold two buttons simultaneously. So this may cause one of the two problems:
  1. Galaxy Note 4 exits current app and return to home screen. This means you press Home button too early.
  2. Galaxy Note 4 shows power options (restart the phone, shutdown the phone..). This means you press Power button too early.
The secret of successfully taking a  screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 is to press and hold the power button “slightly” earlier.
There is a reason for this secret. Home button will response normally within 100ms (about 0.1s) once pressed. But power button only responses usually after 500ms (0.5s).
Using Home button  and Power button to take a screenshot works not only on Galaxy Note 4, but also on almost all Galaxy devices from Samsung.

Method 2:  Take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 by swiping your palm over the screen

The second method of taking a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 may require patience. But it is fun.
You can simply swipe your palm over the Galaxy Note 4 screen as shown below to take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4.
take-a-screenshot-on-galaxy-note_4-swiping-palm
By default, this feature is turned on. But you may accidentally turned it off if you find this method is not working.
You can enable this feature by following these steps:
Step 1: Go to settings –Motions and gestures.
Step 2: Tap Palm swipe to capture if it is off.
Step 3: Turn it on by drag the switch to right until the color is green.
take-a-screenshot-on-galaxy-note_4_settings-motions-gesturestake-a-screenshot-on-galaxy-note_4_crop_enable-palm-swipe-settings

Again, this palm swiping method of  taking a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 also works on most other Samsung Galaxy devices.

Method 3:  Take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 with S your S Pen using Screen Write (air command)

In old Galaxy Note devcies (Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition and Galaxy Note Pro), you can take a screenshot by  holding the S Pen button, then tapping and holding the S Pen on the screen.
But this S Pen method does NOT work for Galaxy Note 4, due to the new smart select feature in Galaxy Note 4.
Then, can I take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 with the S Pen?
Yes, you still can use S Pen to take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4.  But now you need use one of the four air commands in Galaxy Note 4screen write.
Air command will be launched  when the S Pen  is removed from the slot, or when the S Pen is hovering over any part of the screen with S Pen button pressed.
In the four options of air command, tap screen write to take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4.
Once the screenshot is taken, you will be offered the options to edit, share, and save the screenshot, as shown below. Tap the check symbol to save the screenshot.
Please note, when screen write is used to take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4, the editing option is always provided and the screenshot is NOT saved until you tap the check symbol.  This behavior is different from the previous 2 methods.
take-a-screenshot-on-galaxy-note_4_using-screen-write-air-commandtake-a-screenshot-on-galaxy-note_4_using-screen-write-air-command-edit
Screen write was introduced in Galaxy Note 3. So this method also works on Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition and Galaxy Note Pro.

Are there any other methods to take a screenshot on Galaxy Note 4?

Yes, there are some other methods to take a screenshot for Galaxy Note 4.
One of the most common method for all Android devices is throughAndroid debug monitor.  But this required enable some developers options and USB connection with the PC.

Do you have any problems to take a screenshot on your Galaxy Note 4?

Please let us know your problems in the comment box below. We will try to help you.
For other Galaxy Note 4 problems, please check our Galaxy Note 4 how-to guides page.


How to enable and access Galaxy Note 4 air command?

How to enable and access Galaxy Note 4 air command?


What is Galaxy Note 4 air command?

Air command is a unique S Pen feature in Galaxy Note devices since Galaxy Note 3.  You can access some features very quickly by hovering the S Pen over the screen. It can dramatically increase your productivity  for some tasks.
In Galaxy Note 3, as discussed in this air command explained post, there are 5 commands: Action Memo, Scrapbook, Screen Write, S Finder, Pen Window.
In Galaxy Note 4, Samsung re-organize the actions into 4:
  1. Action memo: Write memos quickly and link actions to them. You can make calls, send messages, search the web, and more. This is almost identical to that in Galaxy Note 3
  2. New! Smart select: Collect content from the screen quickly. You can collect content from webpages or music and videos during playback.
  3. New! Image clip: Draw around an area of the screen you want to save or share. You can also crop part of an image.
  4. Screen write: Capture, edit, and write memos on screenshots, and then share them. This is actually one of the preferred method to take screenshot on Galaxy Note 4 as discussed in this guide.
galaxy_note_4_air_command

For the usage of these 4 actions in Galaxy Note 4 air command, we will create individual guide.

How to access Galaxy Note 4 air command?

By default, when you remove the S pen from the S Pen slot, Galaxy Note 4 air command will be shown on the screen.
This is due to the default settings in Settings– S Pen –Detachment options as shown below.
galaxy_note_4_air_command_settings_s_pengalaxy_note_4_air_command_settings_s_pen_detachment_options

As you may notice, actually, you can set the S Pen detachment options to action memo or none, instead of the air command.
Some owners are not aware that you can access Galaxy Note 4 air command at any time. I noticed some Galaxy Note 3 owners keep removing S Pen just to access air command.
Another way to access Galaxy Note 4 air command is  hovering  the S Pen over any part of the screen and press the S Pen button. So, you can access the air command whenever you want without putting back the S pen.
Please note,  you need release the S Pen button after pressing it, i.e., NOT holding the S Pen button.

How to enable/disable Galaxy Note 4 air command?

Sometimes, Galaxy Note 4 air command does not pop out when you take out the S pen or hover the S pen over the screen with S Pen button pressed.  You may accidentally disable the air command in your Galaxy Note 4.
To enable or disable Galaxy Note 4 air command, you can go toSettings–S Pen –Air command as shown below.
You may drag the switch to left to disable Galaxy Note 4 air command, right to enable it.
galaxy_note_4_air_command_settings_s_pen_air_command galaxy_note_4_air_command_settings_s_pen_air_command_enabled

Can you access and use Galaxy Note 4 air command now?

If you have any problems or questions using or accessing Galaxy Note 4 air command,   please post them in the comment box below.
We will try to help you find a solution.
If you have any tricks of using or accessing Galaxy Note 4 air command, please also share with the community in the comments.
More how-to guides , tips and tricks for using Samsung Galaxy Note 4 are available at Galaxy Note 4 how-to guides page.


How to use quick settings in Android Lollipop?

How to use quick settings in Android Lollipop?




Using quick settings in Android Lollipop can save you a lot of time!

In Android Lollipop 5.0, Google revamped the quick settings, one of the most popular features in Android. This guide will show you how to access and use quick settings on Android Lollipop devices.
Different Android vendors may modify the quick settings. So, the interface and feature of quick settings on different Android Lollipop devices may vary. But the fundamentals are usually very similar.

What is quick settings in Android Lollipop?

Android have so many features, so the settings menu usually is very long. If you need change something, you usually have to navigate through several pages.
Therefore Android puts a few most-commonly used settings in the quick settings page so that you can quickly change the settings without fiddling around pages of the settings.
Google made a significant change in quick settings in Android Lollipop.  Prior to Android Lollipop, quick settings simply are shortcuts to specific settings.
But in Android Lollipop, most items in quick settings menu are actionable. In other words, you can enable or disable the features just by tapping top part of it.  It is not necessary to open any settings pages. The lower part of each item may link to corresponding settings page.
This is new for Nexus devices and Motorola devices (e.g., Moto X, Moto G  and Moto E).
If you are a Samsung Galaxy phone user, you have enjoyed this feature for long time thanks for the customization by Samsung. Actually, Samsung put so many items in the quick settings panel that some new users may feel intimidating. For example, you can find Galaxy S5 quick settings panel here.
In short, quick settings in Android Lollipop makes it possible for you to change some frequently used features without navigating to settings app.

How to access quick settings in Android Lollipop?

You have two ways to access  quick settings in Android Lollipop.

Method 1: Swiping down from status bar (top of the screen) with 2 fingers.

From the status bar (the top of your device screen), you can swipe down with two fingers as shown below to get quick settings in Android Lollipop.
This method works on ALL android devices regardless of the brand or manufacture. It also works on Android KitKat, Jelly Bean and Ice Cream Sandwitch.
How_to_use_quick_settings_in_Android_Lollipop_swipe_two_fingers

Method 2:  Swiping down twice from status bar (top of the screen) with 1 finger.

From status bar, if you swipe down with one finger, you will see all notification messages.
In Android Lollipop, you can swipe down again in notification page to access quick settings as shown below.

This method of accessing  quick settings in Android Lollipop is new. In prior versions, you have to tap a button in notification page to access quick settings panel.
How_to_use_quick_settings_in_Android_Lollipop_one_finger How_to_use_quick_settings_in_Android_Lollipop__quick_settings_items

How to use quick settings in Android Lollipop?

Depending on features which you turned on, the items in quick settings can be different.
As shown in the screenshot above, you can find these settings (corresponding to the numbers in the screenshot).
  1. Settings icon.  Tapping this icon will open Settings app.
  2. Users. Tapping the user avatar to use the user control panel, change users, guests, and profiles. You can also setup your own profile here.
  3. Brightness control. Dragging the slider to adjust the brightness of the screen. This can be sued together with Adaptive brightness in Android Lollipop.
  4. WiFi control. Tapping the icon (top part) will turn on/off WiFi instantly.  Tapping the network name (or WiFi if not connected) in the lower part will bring you to WiFi settings page.
  5. Bluetooth control. Similar to WiFi control, the top part is for you to turn on/off Bluetooth. Tapping the name of connected Bluetooth device (or Bluetooth if no connected device) will bring you to the Bluetooth settings page.
  6. Cellular network info. Tapping the icon to open the cellular control panel for quick access to data usage information.
  7. Airplane mode control. Tapping the icon to turn on/off Airplane mode.
  8. Flashlight control. Tapping the icon to turn on/off flashlight.
  9. Location settings. Taping the icon to open location settings page.
  10. Cast screen.  Tapping the icon to cast your phone screen to Chromecast (aka Android screen casting, Android screen mirroring). This icon only works on Nexus devices. In Moto X (including Moto X 2nd Gen), Moto G (including Moto G 2nd Gen) and Moto E, this icon does NOT work. You need use Chromecast app to cast your screen.
If you tuned on some other features, you may find a few additional other items.

 Can you access and use quick settings in Android Lollipop now?

If you have any questions on using or accessing quick settings in Android Lollipop, please let us know them in the comment box below.
For more Android Lollipop guides, please visit on Android Lollipop Guide page.


Android 4.3 APIs

Android 4.3 APIs


API Level: 18
Android 4.3 (JELLY_BEAN_MR2) is an update to the Jelly Bean release that offers new features for users and app developers. This document provides an introduction to the most notable new APIs.
As an app developer, you should download the Android 4.3 system image and SDK platform from the SDK Manager as soon as possible. If you don't have a device running Android 4.3 on which to test your app, use the Android 4.3 system image to test your app on the Android emulator. Then build your apps against the Android 4.3 platform to begin using the latest APIs.

Update your target API level

To better optimize your app for devices running Android 4.3, you should set your targetSdkVersion to "18", install it on an Android 4.3 system image, test it, then publish an update with this change.
You can use APIs in Android 4.3 while also supporting older versions by adding conditions to your code that check for the system API level before executing APIs not supported by your minSdkVersion. To learn more about maintaining backward compatibility, read Supporting Different Platform Versions.
Various APIs are also available in the Android Support Library that allow you to implement new features on older versions of the platform.
For more information about how API levels work, read What is API Level?

Important Behavior Changes


If you have previously published an app for Android, be aware that your app might be affected by changes in Android 4.3.

If your app uses implicit intents...

Your app might misbehave in a restricted profile environment.
Users in a restricted profile environment might not have all the standard Android apps available. For example, a restricted profile might have the web browser and camera app disabled. So your app should not make assumptions about which apps are available, because if you call startActivity() without verifying whether an app is available to handle theIntent, your app might crash in a restricted profile.
When using an implicit intent, you should always verify that an app is available to handle the intent by callingresolveActivity() or queryIntentActivities(). For example:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
...
if (intent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(intent);
} else {
    Toast.makeText(context, R.string.app_not_available, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}

If your app depends on accounts...

Your app might misbehave in a restricted profile environment.
Users within a restricted profile environment do not have access to user accounts by default. If your app depends on anAccount, then your app might crash or behave unexpectedly when used in a restricted profile.
If you'd like to prevent restricted profiles from using your app entirely because your app depends on account information that's sensitive, specify the android:requiredAccountType attribute in your manifest's <application> element.
If you’d like to allow restricted profiles to continue using your app even though they can’t create their own accounts, then you can either disable your app features that require an account or allow restricted profiles to access the accounts created by the primary user. For more information, see the section below about Supporting accounts in a restricted profile.

If your app uses VideoView...

Your video might appear smaller on Android 4.3.
On previous versions of Android, the VideoView widget incorrectly calculated the "wrap_content" value forlayout_height and layout_width to be the same as "match_parent". So while using "wrap_content" for the height or width may have previously provided your desired video layout, doing so may result in a much smaller video on Android 4.3 and higher. To fix the issue, replace "wrap_content" with "match_parent" and verify your video appears as expected on Android 4.3 as well as on older versions.

Restricted Profiles


On Android tablets, users can now create restricted profiles based on the primary user. When users create a restricted profile, they can enable restrictions such as which apps are available to the profile. A new set of APIs in Android 4.3 also allow you to build fine-grain restriction settings for the apps you develop. For example, by using the new APIs, you can allow users to control what type of content is available within your app when running in a restricted profile environment.
The UI for users to control the restrictions you've built is managed by the system's Settings application. To make your app's restriction settings appear to the user, you must declare the restrictions your app provides by creating aBroadcastReceiver that receives the ACTION_GET_RESTRICTION_ENTRIES intent. The system invokes this intent to query all apps for available restrictions, then builds the UI to allow the primary user to manage restrictions for each restricted profile.
In the onReceive() method of your BroadcastReceiver, you must create a RestrictionEntry for each restriction your app provides. Each RestrictionEntry defines a restriction title, description, and one of the following data types:
  • TYPE_BOOLEAN for a restriction that is either true or false.
  • TYPE_CHOICE for a restriction that has multiple choices that are mutually exclusive (radio button choices).
  • TYPE_MULTI_SELECT for a restriction that has multiple choices that are not mutually exclusive (checkbox choices).
You then put all the RestrictionEntry objects into an ArrayList and put it into the broadcast receiver's result as the value for the EXTRA_RESTRICTIONS_LIST extra.
The system creates the UI for your app's restrictions in the Settings app and saves each restriction with the unique key you provided for each RestrictionEntry object. When the user opens your app, you can query for any current restrictions by calling getApplicationRestrictions(). This returns a Bundle containing the key-value pairs for each restriction you defined with the RestrictionEntry objects.
If you want to provide more specific restrictions that can't be handled by boolean, single choice, and multi-choice values, then you can create an activity where the user can specify the restrictions and allow users to open that activity from the restriction settings. In your broadcast receiver, include the EXTRA_RESTRICTIONS_INTENT extra in the result Bundle. This extra must specify an Intent indicating the Activity class to launch (use the putParcelable() method to passEXTRA_RESTRICTIONS_INTENT with the intent). When the primary user enters your activity to set custom restrictions, your activity must then return a result containing the restriction values in an extra using either the EXTRA_RESTRICTIONS_LISTor EXTRA_RESTRICTIONS_BUNDLE key, depending on whether you specify RestrictionEntry objects or key-value pairs, respectively.

Supporting accounts in a restricted profile

Any accounts added to the primary user are available to a restricted profile, but the accounts are not accessible from theAccountManager APIs by default. If you attempt to add an account with AccountManager while in a restricted profile, you will get a failure result. Due to these restrictions, you have the following three options:
  • Allow access to the owner’s accounts from a restricted profile.
    To get access to an account from a restricted profile, you must add the android:restrictedAccountType attribute to the<application> tag:
    <application ...
        android:restrictedAccountType="com.example.account.type" >
    Caution: Enabling this attribute provides your app access to the primary user's accounts from restricted profiles. So you should allow this only if the information displayed by your app does not reveal personally identifiable information (PII) that’s considered sensitive. The system settings will inform the primary user that your app grants restricted profiles to their accounts, so it should be clear to the user that account access is important for your app's functionality. If possible, you should also provide adequate restriction controls for the primary user that define how much account access is allowed in your app.
  • Disable certain functionality when unable to modify accounts.
    If you want to use accounts, but don’t actually require them for your app’s primary functionality, you can check for account availability and disable features when not available. You should first check if there is an existing account available. If not, then query whether it’s possible to create a new account by calling getUserRestrictions() and check theDISALLOW_MODIFY_ACCOUNTS extra in the result. If it is true, then you should disable whatever functionality of your app requires access to accounts. For example:
    UserManager um = (UserManager) context.getSystemService(Context.USER_SERVICE);
    Bundle restrictions = um.getUserRestrictions();
    if (restrictions.getBoolean(UserManager.DISALLOW_MODIFY_ACCOUNTS, false)) {
       // cannot add accounts, disable some functionality
    }
    Note: In this scenario, you should not declare any new attributes in your manifest file.
  • Disable your app when unable to access private accounts.
    If it’s instead important that your app not be available to restricted profiles because your app depends on sensitive personal information in an account (and because restricted profiles currently cannot add new accounts), add theandroid:requiredAccountType attribute to the <application> tag:
    <application ...
        android:requiredAccountType="com.example.account.type" >
    For example, the Gmail app uses this attribute to disable itself for restricted profiles, because the owner's personal email should not be available to restricted profiles.
  • Wireless and Connectivity


    Bluetooth Low Energy (Smart Ready)

    Android now supports Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) with new APIs in android.bluetooth. With the new APIs, you can build Android apps that communicate with Bluetooth Low Energy peripherals such as heart rate monitors and pedometers.
    Because Bluetooth LE is a hardware feature that is not available on all Android-powered devices, you must declare in your manifest file a <uses-feature> element for "android.hardware.bluetooth_le":
    <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.bluetooth_le" android:required="true" />
    If you're already familiar with Android's Classic Bluetooth APIs, notice that using the Bluetooth LE APIs has some differences. Most importantly is that there's now a BluetoothManager class that you should use for some high level operations such as acquiring a BluetoothAdapter, getting a list of connected devices, and checking the state of a device. For example, here's how you should now get the BluetoothAdapter:
    final BluetoothManager bluetoothManager =
            (BluetoothManager) getSystemService(Context.BLUETOOTH_SERVICE);
    mBluetoothAdapter = bluetoothManager.getAdapter();
    To discover Bluetooth LE peripherals, call startLeScan() on the BluetoothAdapter, passing it an implementation of theBluetoothAdapter.LeScanCallback interface. When the Bluetooth adapter detects a Bluetooth LE peripheral, yourBluetoothAdapter.LeScanCallback implementation receives a call to the onLeScan() method. This method provides you with a BluetoothDevice object representing the detected device, the RSSI value for the device, and a byte array containing the device's advertisement record.
    If you want to scan for only specific types of peripherals, you can instead call startLeScan() and include an array ofUUID objects that specify the GATT services your app supports.
    Note: You can only scan for Bluetooth LE devices or scan for Classic Bluetooth devices using previous APIs. You cannot scan for both LE and Classic Bluetooth devices at once.
    To then connect to a Bluetooth LE peripheral, call connectGatt() on the corresponding BluetoothDevice object, passing it an implementation of BluetoothGattCallback. Your implementation of BluetoothGattCallback receives callbacks regarding the connectivity state with the device and other events. It's during the onConnectionStateChange()callback that you can begin communicating with the device if the method passes STATE_CONNECTED as the new state.
    Accessing Bluetooth features on a device also requires that your app request certain Bluetooth user permissions. For more information, see the Bluetooth Low Energy API guide.

    Wi-Fi scan-only mode

    When attempting to identify the user's location, Android may use Wi-Fi to help determine the location by scanning nearby access points. However, users often keep Wi-Fi turned off to conserve battery, resulting in location data that's less accurate. Android now includes a scan-only mode that allows the device Wi-Fi to scan access points to help obtain the location without connecting to an access point, thus greatly reducing battery usage.
    If you want to acquire the user's location but Wi-Fi is currently off, you can request the user to enable Wi-Fi scan-only mode by calling startActivity() with the action ACTION_REQUEST_SCAN_ALWAYS_AVAILABLE.

    Wi-Fi configuration

    New WifiEnterpriseConfig APIs allow enterprise-oriented services to automate Wi-Fi configuration for managed devices.

    Quick response for incoming calls

    Since Android 4.0, a feature called "Quick response" allows users to respond to incoming calls with an immediate text message without needing to pick up the call or unlock the device. Until now, these quick messages were always handled by the default Messaging app. Now any app can declare its capability to handle these messages by creating a Servicewith an intent filter for ACTION_RESPOND_VIA_MESSAGE.
    When the user responds to an incoming call with a quick response, the Phone app sends theACTION_RESPOND_VIA_MESSAGE intent with a URI describing the recipient (the caller) and the EXTRA_TEXT extra with the message the user wants to send. When your service receives the intent, it should deliver the message and immediately stop itself (your app should not show an activity).
    In order to receive this intent, you must declare the SEND_RESPOND_VIA_MESSAGE permission.

    Multimedia


    MediaExtractor and MediaCodec enhancements

    Android now makes it easier for you to write your own Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) players in accordance with the ISO/IEC 23009-1 standard, using existing APIs in MediaCodec and MediaExtractor. The framework underlying these APIs has been updated to support parsing of fragmented MP4 files, but your app is still responsible for parsing the MPD metadata and passing the individual streams to MediaExtractor.
    If you want to use DASH with encrypted content, notice that the getSampleCryptoInfo() method returns theMediaCodec.CryptoInfo metadata describing the structure of each encrypted media sample. Also, the getPsshInfo()method has been added to MediaExtractor so you can access the PSSH metadata for your DASH media. This method returns a map of UUID objects to bytes, with the UUID specifying the crypto scheme, and the bytes being the data specific to that scheme.

    Media DRM

    The new MediaDrm class provides a modular solution for digital rights management (DRM) with your media content by separating DRM concerns from media playback. For instance, this API separation allows you to play back Widevine-encrypted content without having to use the Widevine media format. This DRM solution also supports DASH Common Encryption so you can use a variety of DRM schemes with your streaming content.
    You can use MediaDrm to obtain opaque key-request messages and process key-response messages from the server for license acquisition and provisioning. Your app is responsible for handling the network communication with the servers; theMediaDrm class provides only the ability to generate and process the messages.
    The MediaDrm APIs are intended to be used in conjunction with the MediaCodec APIs that were introduced in Android 4.1 (API level 16), including MediaCodec for encoding and decoding your content, MediaCrypto for handling encrypted content, and MediaExtractor for extracting and demuxing your content.
    You must first construct MediaExtractor and MediaCodec objects. You can then access the DRM-scheme-identifyingUUID, typically from metadata in the content, and use it to construct an instance of a MediaDrm object with its constructor.

    Video encoding from a Surface

    Android 4.1 (API level 16) added the MediaCodec class for low-level encoding and decoding of media content. When encoding video, Android 4.1 required that you provide the media with a ByteBuffer array, but Android 4.3 now allows you to use a Surface as the input to an encoder. For instance, this allows you to encode input from an existing video file or using frames generated from OpenGL ES.
    To use a Surface as the input to your encoder, first call configure() for your MediaCodec. Then callcreateInputSurface() to receive the Surface upon which you can stream your media.
    For example, you can use the given Surface as the window for an OpenGL context by passing it toeglCreateWindowSurface(). Then while rendering the surface, call eglSwapBuffers() to pass the frame to theMediaCodec.
    To begin encoding, call start() on the MediaCodec. When done, call signalEndOfInputStream() to terminate encoding, and call release() on the Surface.

    Media muxing

    The new MediaMuxer class enables multiplexing between one audio stream and one video stream. These APIs serve as a counterpart to the MediaExtractor class added in Android 4.2 for de-multiplexing (demuxing) media.
    Supported output formats are defined in MediaMuxer.OutputFormat. Currently, MP4 is the only supported output format and MediaMuxer currently supports only one audio stream and/or one video stream at a time.
    MediaMuxer is mostly designed to work with MediaCodec so you can perform video processing through MediaCodecthen save the output to an MP4 file through MediaMuxer. You can also use MediaMuxer in combination withMediaExtractor to perform media editing without the need to encode or decode.

    Playback progress and scrubbing for RemoteControlClient

    In Android 4.0 (API level 14), the RemoteControlClient was added to enable media playback controls from remote control clients such as the controls available on the lock screen. Android 4.3 now provides the ability for such controllers to display the playback position and controls for scrubbing the playback. If you've enabled remote control for your media app with the RemoteControlClient APIs, then you can allow playback scrubbing by implementing two new interfaces.
    First, you must enable the FLAG_KEY_MEDIA_POSITION_UPDATE flag by passing it to setTransportControlsFlags().
    Then implement the following two new interfaces:
    RemoteControlClient.OnGetPlaybackPositionListener
    This includes the callback onGetPlaybackPosition(), which requests the current position of your media when the remote control needs to update the progress in its UI.
    RemoteControlClient.OnPlaybackPositionUpdateListener
    This includes the callback onPlaybackPositionUpdate(), which tells your app the new time code for your media when the user scrubs the playback with the remote control UI.
    Once you update your playback with the new position, call setPlaybackState() to indicate the new playback state, position, and speed.
    With these interfaces defined, you can set them for your RemoteControlClient by callingsetOnGetPlaybackPositionListener() and setPlaybackPositionUpdateListener(), respectively.

    Graphics


    Support for OpenGL ES 3.0

    Android 4.3 adds Java interfaces and native support for OpenGL ES 3.0. Key new functionality provided in OpenGL ES 3.0 includes:
    • Acceleration of advanced visual effects
    • High quality ETC2/EAC texture compression as a standard feature
    • A new version of the GLSL ES shading language with integer and 32-bit floating point support
    • Advanced texture rendering
    • Broader standardization of texture size and render-buffer formats
    The Java interface for OpenGL ES 3.0 on Android is provided with GLES30. When using OpenGL ES 3.0, be sure that you declare it in your manifest file with the <uses-feature> tag and the android:glEsVersion attribute. For example:
    <manifest>
        <uses-feature android:glEsVersion="0x00030000" />
        ...</manifest>
    And remember to specify the OpenGL ES context by calling setEGLContextClientVersion(), passing 3 as the version.
    For more information about using OpenGL ES, including how to check the device's supported OpenGL ES version at runtime, see the OpenGL ES API guide.

    Mipmapping for drawables

    Using a mipmap as the source for your bitmap or drawable is a simple way to provide a quality image and various image scales, which can be particularly useful if you expect your image to be scaled during an animation.
    Android 4.2 (API level 17) added support for mipmaps in the Bitmap class—Android swaps the mip images in yourBitmap when you've supplied a mipmap source and have enabled setHasMipMap(). Now in Android 4.3, you can enable mipmaps for a BitmapDrawable object as well, by providing a mipmap asset and setting the android:mipMap attribute in a bitmap resource file or by calling hasMipMap().

    User Interface


    View overlays

    The new ViewOverlay class provides a transparent layer on top of a View on which you can add visual content and which does not affect the layout hierarchy. You can get a ViewOverlay for any View by calling getOverlay(). The overlay always has the same size and position as its host view (the view from which it was created), allowing you to add content that appears in front of the host view, but which cannot extend the bounds of that host view.
    Using a ViewOverlay is particularly useful when you want to create animations such as sliding a view outside of its container or moving items around the screen without affecting the view hierarchy. However, because the usable area of an overlay is restricted to the same area as its host view, if you want to animate a view moving outside its position in the layout, you must use an overlay from a parent view that has the desired layout bounds.
    When you create an overlay for a widget view such as a Button, you can add Drawable objects to the overlay by callingadd(Drawable). If you call getOverlay() for a layout view, such as RelativeLayout, the object returned is aViewGroupOverlay. The ViewGroupOverlay class is a subclass of ViewOverlay that also allows you to add Viewobjects by calling add(View).
    Note: All drawables and views that you add to an overlay are visual only. They cannot receive focus or input events.
    For example, the following code animates a view sliding to the right by placing the view in the parent view's overlay, then performing a translation animation on that view:
    View view = findViewById(R.id.view_to_remove);
    ViewGroup container = (ViewGroup) view.getParent();
    container.getOverlay().add(view);
    ObjectAnimator anim = ObjectAnimator.ofFloat(view, "translationX", container.getRight());
    anim.start();

    Optical bounds layout

    For views that contain nine-patch background images, you can now specify that they should be aligned with neighboring views based on the "optical" bounds of the background image rather than the "clip" bounds of the view.
    For example, figures 1 and 2 each show the same layout, but the version in figure 1 is using clip bounds (the default behavior), while figure 2 is using optical bounds. Because the nine-patch images used for the button and the photo frame include padding around the edges, they don’t appear to align with each other or the text when using clip bounds.
    Note: The screenshot in figures 1 and 2 have the "Show layout bounds" developer setting enabled. For each view, red lines indicate the optical bounds, blue lines indicate the clip bounds, and pink indicates margins.
    Mouse over to hide the layout bounds.
    Figure 1. Layout using clip bounds (default).
    Figure 2. Layout using optical bounds.
    To align the views based on their optical bounds, set the android:layoutMode attribute to "opticalBounds" in one of the parent layouts. For example:
    <LinearLayout android:layoutMode="opticalBounds" ... >
    Figure 3. Zoomed view of the Holo button nine-patch with optical bounds.
    For this to work, the nine-patch images applied to the background of your views must specify the optical bounds using red lines along the bottom and right-side of the nine-patch file (as shown in figure 3). The red lines indicate the region that should be subtracted from the clip bounds, leaving the optical bounds of the image.
    When you enable optical bounds for a ViewGroup in your layout, all descendant views inherit the optical bounds layout mode unless you override it for a group by settingandroid:layoutMode to "clipBounds". All layout elements also honor the optical bounds of their child views, adapting their own bounds based on the optical bounds of the views within them. However, layout elements (subclasses of ViewGroup) currently do not support optical bounds for nine-patch images applied to their own background.
    If you create a custom view by subclassing ViewViewGroup, or any subclasses thereof, your view will inherit these optical bound behaviors.
    Note: All widgets supported by the Holo theme have been updated with optical bounds, including ButtonSpinner,EditText, and others. So you can immediately benefit by setting the android:layoutMode attribute to"opticalBounds" if your app applies a Holo theme (Theme.HoloTheme.Holo.Light, etc.).
    To specify optical bounds for your own nine-patch images with the Draw 9-patch tool, hold CTRL when clicking on the border pixels.

    Animation for Rect values

    You can now animate between two Rect values with the new RectEvaluator. This new class is an implementation ofTypeEvaluator that you can pass to ValueAnimator.setEvaluator().

    Window attach and focus listener

    Previously, if you wanted to listen for when your view attached/detached to the window or when its focus changed, you needed to override the View class to implement onAttachedToWindow() and onDetachedFromWindow(), oronWindowFocusChanged(), respectively.
    Now, to receive attach and detach events you can instead implement ViewTreeObserver.OnWindowAttachListener and set it on a view with addOnWindowAttachListener(). And to receive focus events, you can implementViewTreeObserver.OnWindowFocusChangeListener and set it on a view with addOnWindowFocusChangeListener().

    TV overscan support

    To be sure your app fills the entire screen on every television, you can now enable overscan for you app layout. Overscan mode is determined by the FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_OVERSCAN flag, which you can enable with platform themes such asTheme_DeviceDefault_NoActionBar_Overscan or by enabling the windowOverscan style in a custom theme.

    Screen orientation

    The <activity> tag's screenOrientation attribute now supports additional values to honor the user's preference for auto-rotation:
    "userLandscape"
    Behaves the same as "sensorLandscape", except if the user disables auto-rotate then it locks in the normal landscape orientation and will not flip.
    "userPortrait"
    Behaves the same as "sensorPortrait", except if the user disables auto-rotate then it locks in the normal portrait orientation and will not flip.
    "fullUser"
    Behaves the same as "fullSensor" and allows rotation in all four directions, except if the user disables auto-rotate then it locks in the user's preferred orientation.
    Additionally, you can now also declare "locked" to lock your app's orientation into the screen's current orientation.

    Rotation animations

    The new rotationAnimation field in WindowManager allows you to select between one of three animations you want to use when the system switches screen orientations. The three animations are:
    Note: These animations are available only if you've set your activity to use "fullscreen" mode, which you can enable with themes such as Theme.Holo.NoActionBar.Fullscreen.
    For example, here's how you can enable the "crossfade" animation:
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    
        WindowManager.LayoutParams params = getWindow().getAttributes();
        params.rotationAnimation = WindowManager.LayoutParams.ROTATION_ANIMATION_CROSSFADE;
        getWindow().setAttributes(params);
        ...
    }

    User Input


    New sensor types

    The new TYPE_GAME_ROTATION_VECTOR sensor allows you to detect the device's rotations without worrying about magnetic interferences. Unlike the TYPE_ROTATION_VECTOR sensor, the TYPE_GAME_ROTATION_VECTOR is not based on magnetic north.
    The new TYPE_GYROSCOPE_UNCALIBRATED and TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD_UNCALIBRATED sensors provide raw sensor data without consideration for bias estimations. That is, the existing TYPE_GYROSCOPE and TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD sensors provide sensor data that takes into account estimated bias from gyro-drift and hard iron in the device, respectively. Whereas the new "uncalibrated" versions of these sensors instead provide the raw sensor data and offer the estimated bias values separately. These sensors allow you to provide your own custom calibration for the sensor data by enhancing the estimated bias with external data.

    Notification Listener


    Android 4.3 adds a new service class, NotificationListenerService, that allows your app to receive information about new notifications as they are posted by the system.
    If your app currently uses the accessibility service APIs to access system notifications, you should update your app to use these APIs instead.

    Contacts Provider


    Query for "contactables"

    The new Contacts Provider query, Contactables.CONTENT_URI, provides an efficient way to get one Cursor that contains all email addresses and phone numbers belonging to all contacts matching the specified query.

    Query for contacts deltas

    New APIs have been added to Contacts Provider that allow you to efficiently query recent changes to the contacts data. Previously, your app could be notified when something in the contacts data changed, but you would not know exactly what changed and would need to retrieve all contacts then iterate through them to discover the change.
    To track changes to inserts and updates, you can now include the CONTACT_LAST_UPDATED_TIMESTAMP parameter with your selection to query only the contacts that have changed since the last time you queried the provider.
    To track which contacts have been deleted, the new table ContactsContract.DeletedContacts provides a log of contacts that have been deleted (but each contact deleted is held in this table for a limited time). Similar toCONTACT_LAST_UPDATED_TIMESTAMP, you can use the new selection parameter, CONTACT_DELETED_TIMESTAMP to check which contacts have been deleted since the last time you queried the provider. The table also contains the constantDAYS_KEPT_MILLISECONDS containing the number of days (in milliseconds) that the log will be kept.
    Additionally, the Contacts Provider now broadcasts the CONTACTS_DATABASE_CREATED action when the user clears the contacts storage through the system settings menu, effectively recreating the Contacts Provider database. It’s intended to signal apps that they need to drop all the contact information they’ve stored and reload it with a new query.
    For sample code using these APIs to check for changes to the contacts, look in the ApiDemos sample available in the SDK Samples download.

    Localization


    Improved support for bi-directional text

    Previous versions of Android support right-to-left (RTL) languages and layout, but sometimes don't properly handle mixed-direction text. So Android 4.3 adds the BidiFormatter APIs that help you properly format text with opposite-direction content without garbling any parts of it.
    For example, when you want to create a sentence with a string variable, such as "Did you mean 15 Bay Street, Laurel, CA?", you normally pass a localized string resource and the variable to String.format():
    Resources res = getResources();
    String suggestion = String.format(res.getString(R.string.did_you_mean), address);
    However, if the locale is Hebrew, then the formatted string comes out like this:
    האם התכוונת ל 15 Bay Street, Laurel, CA?
    That's wrong because the "15" should be left of "Bay Street." The solution is to use BidiFormatter and itsunicodeWrap() method. For example, the code above becomes:
    Resources res = getResources();
    BidiFormatter bidiFormatter = BidiFormatter.getInstance();
    String suggestion = String.format(res.getString(R.string.did_you_mean),
            bidiFormatter.unicodeWrap(address));
    By default, unicodeWrap() uses the first-strong directionality estimation heuristic, which can get things wrong if the first signal for text direction does not represent the appropriate direction for the content as a whole. If necessary, you can specify a different heuristic by passing one of the TextDirectionHeuristic constants from TextDirectionHeuristicsto unicodeWrap().
    Note: These new APIs are also available for previous versions of Android through the Android Support Library, with theBidiFormatter class and related APIs.

    Accessibility Services


    Handle key events

    An AccessibilityService can now receive a callback for key input events with the onKeyEvent() callback method. This allows your accessibility service to handle input for key-based input devices such as a keyboard and translate those events to special actions that previously may have been possible only with touch input or the device's directional pad.

    Select text and copy/paste

    The AccessibilityNodeInfo now provides APIs that allow an AccessibilityService to select, cut, copy, and paste text in a node.
    To specify the selection of text to cut or copy, your accessibility service can use the new action, ACTION_SET_SELECTION, passing with it the selection start and end position with ACTION_ARGUMENT_SELECTION_START_INT andACTION_ARGUMENT_SELECTION_END_INT. Alternatively you can select text by manipulating the cursor position using the existing action, ACTION_NEXT_AT_MOVEMENT_GRANULARITY (previously only for moving the cursor position), and adding the argument ACTION_ARGUMENT_EXTEND_SELECTION_BOOLEAN.
    You can then cut or copy with ACTION_CUTACTION_COPY, then later paste with ACTION_PASTE.
    Note: These new APIs are also available for previous versions of Android through the Android Support Library, with theAccessibilityNodeInfoCompat class.

    Declare accessibility features

    Beginning with Android 4.3, an accessibility service must declare accessibility capabilities in its metadata file in order to use certain accessibility features. If the capability is not requested in the metadata file, then the feature will be a no-op. To declare your service's accessibility capabilities, you must use XML attributes that correspond to the various "capability" constants in the AccessibilityServiceInfo class.
    For example, if a service does not request the flagRequestFilterKeyEvents capability, then it will not receive key events.

    Testing and Debugging


    Automated UI testing

    The new UiAutomation class provides APIs that allow you to simulate user actions for test automation. By using the platform's AccessibilityService APIs, the UiAutomation APIs allow you to inspect the screen content and inject arbitrary keyboard and touch events.
    To get an instance of UiAutomation, call Instrumentation.getUiAutomation(). In order for this to work, you must supply the -w option with the instrument command when running your InstrumentationTestCase from adb shell.
    With the UiAutomation instance, you can execute arbitrary events to test your app by callingexecuteAndWaitForEvent(), passing it a Runnable to perform, a timeout period for the operation, and an implementation of the UiAutomation.AccessibilityEventFilter interface. It's within yourUiAutomation.AccessibilityEventFilter implementation that you'll receive a call that allows you to filter the events that you're interested in and determine the success or failure of a given test case.
    To observe all the events during a test, create an implementation of UiAutomation.OnAccessibilityEventListener and pass it to setOnAccessibilityEventListener(). Your listener interface then receives a call to onAccessibilityEvent()each time an event occurs, receiving an AccessibilityEvent object that describes the event.
    There is a variety of other operations that the UiAutomation APIs expose at a very low level to encourage the development of UI test tools such as uiautomator. For instance, UiAutomation can also:
    • Inject input events
    • Change the orientation of the screen
    • Take screenshots
    And most importantly for UI test tools, the UiAutomation APIs work across application boundaries, unlike those inInstrumentation.

    Systrace events for apps

    Android 4.3 adds the Trace class with two static methods, beginSection() and endSection(), which allow you to define blocks of code to include with the systrace report. By creating sections of traceable code in your app, the systrace logs provide you a much more detailed analysis of where slowdown occurs within your app.
    For information about using the Systrace tool, read Analyzing Display and Performance with Systrace.

    Security


    Android key store for app-private keys

    Android now offers a custom Java Security Provider in the KeyStore facility, called Android Key Store, which allows you to generate and save private keys that may be seen and used by only your app. To load the Android Key Store, pass"AndroidKeyStore" to KeyStore.getInstance().
    To manage your app's private credentials in the Android Key Store, generate a new key with KeyPairGenerator withKeyPairGeneratorSpec. First get an instance of KeyPairGenerator by calling getInstance(). Then callinitialize(), passing it an instance of KeyPairGeneratorSpec, which you can get usingKeyPairGeneratorSpec.Builder. Finally, get your KeyPair by calling generateKeyPair().

    Hardware credential storage

    Android also now supports hardware-backed storage for your KeyChain credentials, providing more security by making the keys unavailable for extraction. That is, once keys are in a hardware-backed key store (Secure Element, TPM, or TrustZone), they can be used for cryptographic operations but the private key material cannot be exported. Even the OS kernel cannot access this key material. While not all Android-powered devices support storage on hardware, you can check at runtime if hardware-backed storage is available by calling KeyChain.IsBoundKeyAlgorithm().

    Manifest Declarations


    Declarable required features

    The following values are now supported in the <uses-feature> element so you can ensure that your app is installed only on devices that provide the features your app needs.
    FEATURE_APP_WIDGETS
    Declares that your app provides an app widget and should be installed only on devices that include a Home screen or similar location where users can embed app widgets. Example:
    <uses-feature android:name="android.software.app_widgets" android:required="true" />
    FEATURE_HOME_SCREEN
    Declares that your app behaves as a Home screen replacement and should be installed only on devices that support third-party Home screen apps. Example:
    <uses-feature android:name="android.software.home_screen" android:required="true" />
    FEATURE_INPUT_METHODS
    Declares that your app provides a custom input method (a keyboard built with InputMethodService) and should be installed only on devices that support third-party input methods. Example:
    <uses-feature android:name="android.software.input_methods" android:required="true" />
    FEATURE_BLUETOOTH_LE
    Declares that your app uses Bluetooth Low Energy APIs and should be installed only on devices that are capable of communicating with other devices via Bluetooth Low Energy. Example:
    <uses-feature android:name="android.software.bluetooth_le" android:required="true" />

    User permissions

    The following values are now supported in the <uses-permission> to declare the permissions your app requires in order to access certain APIs.
    BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE
    Required to use the new NotificationListenerService APIs.
    SEND_RESPOND_VIA_MESSAGE
    Required to receive the ACTION_RESPOND_VIA_MESSAGE intent.
    For a detailed view of all API changes in Android 4.3, see the API Differences Report.

    Portions of this page are reproduced from work created and shared by the Android Open Source Project and used according to terms described in theCreative Commons 2.5 Attribution License.

    Original Page Direct link:
    http://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.3.html