APC_Australia_Issue_442_June_2017

howto » android masterclass
Graphic of Sony’s LDAC
wireless audio
capabilities from
its microsite.
Android O allows the
user to categorise and
defer notification alerts.
Android O is available as
a System Image download
within Android Studio 2.4.
Sounds a bit like Wi-Fi Direct? We agree.
The main difference seems to be that
while Wi-Fi Direct is essentially Wi-Fi
peer-to-peer (P2P) between two devices,
Wi-Fi Aware acts more like a publishersubscription
model. In fact, this is the
terminology Google uses in its code —
to make a service discoverable to other
devices, you ‘publish’ it and to connect to
a published service, you ‘subscribe’ to it.
The Wi-Fi Alliance calls Wi-Fi Aware
an ‘efficient mechanism for always-on
102 www.apcmag.com
service delivery’, meaning devices can
auto-discover available services as soon
as they come within range, but leave it
to the user to opt-in and connect — that
connection is then made using Wi-Fi
Direct. More importantly, you can
apparently control your privacy and
choose whether or not to disclose your
identity to another Wi-Fi Aware service.
NEW NOTIFICATIONS CONTROL
Android has also given notifications a
makeover, providing the user greater
control in how and when they appear.
The changes include a new ‘snooze’ option
that defers notifications until a more
convenient time. They still appear with
the same importance level, but you get
to choose when.
Developers can also set a timeout
for notifications, thanks to a new Java
method called ‘Notification.Builder.
setTimeout()’. This will set the time, after
which, a notification is automatically
cancelled. Android O will also support
changing the background colour to
indicate particular notifications.
Google says this could be used for setting
driving directions or a phone call in
progress (tinyurl.com/kmqr4ko).
BLOCKING RANSOMWARE
Other less visible features in Android O
include changes that could protect
against some ransomware apps.
Ransomware, malware apps that encrypt
a device and demand money for the
unlock key, aren’t that common in
Android, but Google appears to be closing
off at least one attack vector in new ‘O’.
The changes were identified by
Symantec (tinyurl.com/ll23v6r), finding
Google had disabled or ‘deprecated’ a
number of ‘TYPE_SYSTEM’ window
options. TYPE_SYSTEM windows appear
on top of all other applications, as in the
case of important alerts. However,
ransomware coders have used these
windows to lock-down a device and force
the user into ransom payments.
Google has not only removed three such
TYPE_SYSTEM options from Android O,
it’s given users the ability to pull down
the systems settings page over the top
of system-style screens and turn off any
rogue app. Unfortunately, this won’t help
devices stuck on Nougat or older Android
releases, nor will it stop other
ransomware apps using other attack
vectors. But still, it can’t hurt.
NEW MEDIA FEATURES
Aside from new Bluetooth audio
enhancements, Google is also tweaking
its major media functions or ‘classes’,
MediaPlayer and MediaRecorder.
MediaPlayer gets improved seek control,
now allowing you to seek to a time
position in a video file right down to the
nearest frame, not just the closest key
frame. It also provides simpler tools for
developers to playback media with digital
rights management (DRM) protection
(although fewer will be excited by that,
we’re sure).
More interesting are the changes
coming to MediaRecorder. For starters,
you’ll now be able to record H.264 video
and AAC audio into MPEG2-TS, the
streaming file format used by broadcast
TV networks. Expect to also see more
advanced AV editor apps, thanks to the
removal of Android’s one audio/one video
track limit. The ‘MediaMuxer()’ class now