Android Studio 2.0 (April 2016)

Note: If you are developing for the N Developer Preview, you should use Android Studio 2.1 Preview. Android Studio 2.0 does not support all the features required to target the N Preview.

Instant Run:

  • Android Studio now deploys clean builds faster than ever before. Additionally, pushing incremental code changes to the emulator or a physical device is now almost instantaneous. Review your updates without redeploying a new debug build or, in many cases, without restarting the app. 

    • <li>Instant Run supports pushing the following changes to a running app:
  <ul>
    <li>Changes to the implementation of an existing instance method or
    static method
    </li>
    <li>Changes to an existing app resource
    </li>
    <li>Changes to structural code, such as a method signature or a static
    field (requires a target device running API level 21 or higher).
    </li>
  </ul>
</li>

<li>Read the documentation to learn more <a href=
"/tools/building/building-studio.html#instant-run">about Instant
Run</a>.
  <p class="note">
    <strong>Note:</strong> Instant Run is supported only when you deploy the
    debug build variant, use <a href=
    "/tools/revisions/gradle-plugin.html#revisions">Android plugin for
    Gradle version 2.0.0</a> or higher, and configure your app's module-level
    <code>build.gradle</code> file for <code>minSdkVersion 15</code> or higher.
    For the best performance, configure your app for <code>minSdkVersion
    21</code> or higher.
  </p>
</li>

New additions to Lint:

  • Inspection of switch statements using @IntDef annotated integers to make sure all constants are handled. To quickly add any missing statements, use the intention action drop-down menu and select Add Missing @IntDef Constants.
  • Flags for incorrect attempts to use string interpolation to insert version numbers in the build.gradle file.
  • Flags for anonymous classes that extend the Fragment class.
  • Flags for native code in unsafe locations, such as the res/ and asset/ folders. This flag encourages storing native code in the libs/ folder, which is then securely packaged into the application’s data/app-lib/ folder at install time. AOSP: #169950
  • Flags for unsafe calls to Runtime.load() and System.load() calls. AOSP: #179980
  • Find and remove any unused resources by selecting Refactor > Remove Unused Resources from the menu bar. Unused resource detection now supports resources only referenced by unused resources, references in raw files such as .html image references, and tools:keep and tools:discard attributes used by the Gradle resource shrinker, while considering inactive source sets (such as resources used in other build flavors) and properly handling static field imports.
  • Checks that implicit API references are supported on all platforms targeted by minSdkVersion.
  • Flags improper usage of RecyclerView and Parcelable.
  • @IntDef, @IntRange, and @Size inspections are now also checked for int arrays and varargs.

Additional Improvements:

  • Optimized for Android Emulator 2.0, which is faster than ever before, supports a wider range of virtual devices, and features a drastically improved UI. To learn more about the new emulator, read the SDK Tools release notes. 

    • <li>Improvements to the <a href=
"/tools/devices/managing-avds.html">Android Virtual Device
Manager</a>:
  <ul>
    <li>System images are now categorized under the following tabs:
    <em>Recommended</em>, <em>x86</em>, and <em>Other</em>.
    </li>
    <li>Under advanced settings, you can enable multi-core support and
    specify the number of cores the emulator can use.
    </li>
    <li>Under advanced settings, you can determine how graphics are rendered
    on the emulator by selecting one of the following options:
      <ul>
        <li>
          <strong>Hardware:</strong> use you computer's graphics card for
          faster rendering.
        </li>
        <li>
          <strong>Software:</strong> use software-based rendering.
        </li>
        <li>
          <strong>Auto:</strong> let the emulator decide the best option. This
          is the default setting.
        </li>
      </ul>
    </li>
  </ul>
</li>

<li>Improved AAPT packaging times by specifying deploy target before the app
is built. This allows Android Studio to efficiently package only the
resources required by the specified device.
</li>

<li>Added Cloud Test Lab integration to provide on-demand app testing with
the convenience and scalability of a cloud service. Learn more about how you
can <a href="/training/testing/start/index.html#run-ctl">use Cloud
Test Lab with Android Studio</a>.
</li>

<li>Added a preview of the new <a class="external-link" href=
"//tools.android.com/tech-docs/gpu-profiler">GPU Debugger</a>. For graphics
intensive applications, you can now visually step through your OpenGL ES code
to optimize your app or game.
</li>

<li>Added Google App Indexing Test. Add support for URLs, app
indexing, and search functionality to your apps to help drive more
traffic to your app, discover which app content is used most, and attract
new users. Test and validate URLs in your app all within Android
Studio. See <a href=
"/tools/help/app-link-indexing.html">Supporting URLs and App
  Indexing in Android Studio</a>.
</li>

<li>Upgrades from the latest IntelliJ 15 release, including improved code
analysis and performance. See <a class="external-link" href=
"https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/whatsnew">What's New in IntelliJ</a> for a
complete description of the new features and enhancements.
</li>

<li>XML editor auto-complete now adds quotations marks when completing
attributes. To check if this option is enabled, open the <b>Setting</b> or
<b>Preferences</b> dialogue, navigate to <b>Editor &gt; General &gt; Smart
Keys</b>, and check the box next to <b>Add quotes for attribute value on
attribute completion</b>. <a class="external-link" href=
"//b.android.com/195113">Issue: 195113</a>
</li>

<li>The XML editor now supports code completion for <a href=
"/topic/libraries/data-binding/index.html#layout_details">data binding</a>
expressions.
</li>