Android N May Feature Improved Support For Virtual Reality

Google may have released developer previews of Android N but it’s yet to fully unveil the next major Android OS update. It hasn’t even confirmed what the name of this update is going to be but that and more will be unveiled at Google I/O next month. There are reports about what new features Android N might come with and the latest report suggests that it’s going to have improved support for virtual reality.

That does make sense since Android device makers are increasingly pushing the VR capabilities of their flagship handsets. Samsung has been very aggressive with the Gear VR and LG has jumped on the bandwagon as well. Even Huawei has made its own VR headset.jumped on the bandwagon as well

It’s only a matter of time before VR capabilities trickle down to mid-range handsets and thus become accessible to a lot more people. It makes perfect sense for Google to add enhanced VR support to Android particularly when iOS hasn’t really embraced the technology just yet.

Ars Technica reports that the second Android N developer preview has references to “VR Listener” and “VR Helper” apps as well as a permissions warning which informs users that an app “will be able to run when you are using applications in virtual reality mode.”

Not much is known about the VR support being baked inside Android but a previous report did suggest that Google wants Android to work better with VR as it looks to launch its own VR headset in the future.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: android n, Google, Google i/o 2016, Virtual Reality (VR)