Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1) stable version officially released

Author/ Amanda Alexander, Android Product Manager

We are pleased to announce that Android Studio Arctic Fox has officially entered the stable release channel, and everyone is welcome to download it. This latest version supports Jetpack Compose 1.0 , a new Android toolkit for building a native interface. In addition, this version also emphasizes the coverage of multiple device types, including Wear OS devices, and provides functions such as a new version of the background task manager to help developers improve work efficiency. We created this brand new Android Studio based on developer feedback to help the developer community build high-quality, modern applications faster, and cover a variety of devices!

Please note: Last year, we announced adjusted the version numbering scheme of Android Studio to match the year and version of IntelliJ IDEA on which Android Studio is based, and added our own patch number. We will use codenames (in alphabetical order): the first is Arctic Fox, and the second is Bumblebee (currently in the Canary version). Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1) updated Android Studio to version 2020.3 of the IntelliJ platform, which added a lot of new features, including debugger interactive prompts, VCS updates, and several new code editor improvements to improve your work efficiency. Please read IntelliJ's release note for details.

To allow everyone to quickly design a modern UI, we have added additional features to Jetpack Compose. With Compose Preview, you can create previews for multiple components of Compose UI so that you can instantly view the changes brought about by your modifications in multiple dimensions (such as theme, screen, and font size, etc.). The Deploy Preview function to the device allows you to directly deploy Compose code snippets to the device or simulator to quickly test a small piece of code. We have added Compose support in the Layout Inspector so that you can easily understand how the layout is rendered when you need a deeper understanding of the layout. In addition, we have added a real-time editing function for characters, so that you can view the changes of the Compose code instantly in the preview and when running the application on the simulator or physical device, without having to compile again.

In terms of enhanced device support, we have built a new Wear OS pairing assistant to simplify the pairing of Wear OS simulators with physical or virtual phones. You can also immediately use the latest version of Wear OS through the Wear OS 3 developer preview system image. When you run the Wear OS simulator, you will also find that we have added support for the Heart Rate Sensor API. We have added the latest Google TV remote control function for Google TV-oriented applications, and updated the Google TV system image, so that everyone can experience the latest interface design. In addition, we have improved the development and testing workflow of Automotive OS, allowing developers to use simulators to replay vehicle sensor data to simulate driving scenarios. For tablet-oriented applications, we have updated all templates so that they natively support horizontal screen. Whether you are developing for small or large screen devices, we have added new features to help you continue to create innovative and outstanding applications.

Finally, in order to improve the efficiency of developers, we have added some features that will allow you to work more efficiently. For example, we added a lint check to Android 12 to help you build apps for the next generation of Android. To help you test the code, we have added an Accessibility Scanner to the Layout Editor so that you can more easily identify accessibility issues in the layout. The new Test Matrix Allows you to view test results in parallel across multiple devices in real time. In addition, we have added preview support for hardware equipped with Apple chips (arm64) and expanded the simulator controls to expand the coverage of the test. Finally, in terms of debugging, the new Background Task Inspector can help you analyze the background task processor (worker) of your application.

The list of improvements in Android Studio Arctic Fox is endless. To see the full list of updates, please refer to Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1) Beta release articles and release notes .
You can also watch video learn about the highlights of the update not to be missed.

Design

Use the @Preview annotation to generate a preview of the Compose code and visualize the different configurations of multiple components (for example, different devices or themes). Compose Preview can make it easier for you to create mental mappings for Composables in your code.

△ Compose Preview

Layout Inspector supports Compose

Whether the application is built entirely through Compose, or a combination of Compose and Views, Layout Inspector allows you to get more details about the layout and troubleshoot. For example, you can see the parameters and modifiers passed to each Composable. When developing an application, you can also choose to enable Live Updates to stream data from the device.

△ Compose Layout Inspector

character real-time editing

You can now quickly edit the characters in the code (strings, numbers, Boolean operations, etc.), and immediately view the changes on the screen (whether it is a preview, simulator or physical device) without compiling.

△Character real-time editing: Edit the character string and view the change result in real time in the preview

device

Wear OS pairing

The new Wear OS pairing assistant will help you complete the pairing, thus simplifying the pairing process between the Wear OS emulator and the virtual or physical phone. Please note that this function is currently available for pairing with Wear OS 2 supporting devices, and support for Wear OS 3 will be launched soon. Please read official document for details.

△ Wear OS emulator pairing assistant dialog

△ Mobile phone + watch simulator pairing successfully

Developer Productivity

Background Task Inspector

WorkManager library 2.5.0 or higher on devices running level 26 or higher API, you can use the new Background Task Inspector to visualize, monitor and debug the background of the application Task processor. From the menu bar, select View> Tool Windows> App Inspection to access this tool. Please read official document for details.

Here is a brief summary of the new optimizations and features added to the stable version of Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1):

Design

• Compose Preview
• Background Task Inspector
• Deploy preview to device
• Real-time editing of characters

device

• Wear OS pairing
• Heart rate sensor
• New version of Wear OS system image
• Google TV remote
• Google TV system image
• Automotive OS sensor playback
• Tablet PC template support

Developer Productivity

• IntelliJ 2020.3.1
• Android 12 lint check
• Non-transitive R refactoring
• Apple chip support preview
• Android emulator extension control
• Background Task Inspector
• Accessibility Scanner in the layout editor
• Test Matrix
• New recording interface for Memory Profiler
• AGP Upgrade Assistant improvements
• C++ editor: set the execution point in the debugger

For more detailed information, please refer to Android Studio release notes , Android Gradle plugin release notes and Android emulator release notes .

Start using now

Download Android Studio

You can now download the latest version Android Arctic Fox Studio, or download a preview version of Apple chip . If you are using a previous version of Android Studio, you only need to update to the latest version of Android Studio. If you want to keep the stable version of Android Studio, you can run both the stable version of Android Studio Arctic Fox and the Canary version at the same time. Please read official document for details.

We look forward to your feedback, whether it is the content you like, the problems in the product, and the features you want to add. If you find errors or problems, please feel submit to us at 1611b7391262dc.