With the Beta version launched in February, Google launched Studio 2.0, one month before its I/O Developer conference in May.
Android Studio 2.0 is the latest version of its Integrated development environment (IDE) and the new version can be downloaded for Windows, Mac and Linux directly from Android.com/SDK. It brings about a cool new list of features namely the Instant Run, faster Android emulator, cloud test lab and improvements in app indexing.
Below are some of the features explained:
Instant Run: This improves the workflow by quickly letting you see the changes running on your device or emulator. The changes run ‘in an instant’ and this gives the boost to continuously code and run your app, fastening the ‘edit – build – run’ iterations. This works on any Android device or emulator running API14 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher.
Android Emulator: The new emulator is 3x faster in CPU, RAM and I/O than the previous version. ADB (Android Debug Bridge) push speeds are 10x faster and this solves the problem of the ABD, forwarding speeds being very slow in the previous version. It has a new UI and sensor controls, which lets you drag and drop APKs, and use multi-touch actions (pinch and zoom, pan, rotate, tilt) etc.
Cloud Test Lab: This expanded testing allows you to test on a wide number of devices and device configurations, hosted in Google’s data centres. It also offers a basic set of crash tests to choose from if you don’t have any test written.
GPU Debugger Preview: For developing OpenGL ES games or graphics-intensive apps, the new GPU Debugger Preview provides for stepping through frame by frame to identify and debug graphics rendering issues.
To update to this latest version, find this on the Navigation menu (Help -> Check for Update on Windows/Linux or Android Studio -> Check for updates on OS X). Check out these instructions if you are developing apps for the Android N Developer Preview.
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