The L Developer Preview was the first time Google gave developers an Android release before launch. Google announced it in the Google I/O keynote on 25 June 2014 and opened the downloads on 26 June. Its launch post says: “For the first time since we launched Android, we’re giving you early access to a development version of an upcoming release.”
| Released | 26 June 2014 (the preview’s release notes date it 25 June, the day of the keynote) |
| Build | LPV79 (hammerhead-lpv79-preview, razor-lpv79-preview) |
| Devices | Nexus 5 (GSM/LTE) and Nexus 7 (2013) Wi-Fi, flashed by hand; emulator images |
| API level | None. Apps compiled against it could not be published on Google Play |
| SDK | L Developer Preview SDK tools, 32-bit emulator image, Android TV emulator image |
What the L Developer Preview included
Google’s posts list what developers could try months ahead: the Material
theme, lock-screen and heads-up notifications, document-centric Recents,
JobScheduler and Battery Historian (Project Volta), Bluetooth LE peripheral
mode, the android.hardware.camera2 API, OpenGL ES 3.1 and the Android
Extension Pack, 64-bit ABIs, and ART as the default runtime. The 64-bit
emulator image was announced as “coming soon”.
The preview’s release notes warned that camera2 and android.bluetooth.le
worked only on the Nexus 5, and that AudioTrack.write(float[], …) did not
work yet. Google said the APIs were not final and to “expect minor API
changes over time”. Android Police’s hands-on the same day found the new
lock screen and notification cards, but KitKat-style status bar icons and a
version shown only as “Android L”.