Despite the current limitations, Instant Run can populate builds up to 50 times faster than before and the overal IDE is about five times quicker when writing apps for Android 6.0 devices, Google tells The Next Web.
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Now that Android Studio has a proper foundation, Cuthbertson emphasized the focus is on the fact developers specifically requested making app builds and deployment faster. New projects created with Android Studio 2.0 will work with Instant Run automatically while those built in earlier versions for Ice Cream Sandwich and later can be modified to use the feature.
The big headlining feature for developers, however, seems to be what Google calls Instant Run. The Emulator allows APKs to be dragged and dropped onto the window and the new toolbar enables volume control, screen rotation, screenshots, and other emulator actions. Android Studio is based on IntelliJ IDEA, a popular Java IDE by JetBrains. Android Studio 2.0 includes early previews of GPU Profiler and Android Emulator both of which are expected to be generally available (GA) in early 2016.
After two years of development, Google released Android Studio 1.0 in December 2014. She said Android Studio 2.0 is 2x to 2.5x faster for building code (for a full build), while incremental builds can be up to 50x faster.
Further, IntelliJ’s approach to “intention action”-suggesting a solution when situations arise when classes haven’t yet been imported or methods haven’t yet been written-is behind the Android Studio capability to test deep links in Android app, said Cuthbertson”. Given the vast number of Android devices out there, emulator testing is key for shipping an app with minimal bugs.
Stephanie Saad Cuthbertson, Google Group Product Manager, Android Studio, told ProgrammableWeb that Android continues to build momentum and the next improvements to Android Studio involve speed and helping developers quickly turn code into finished Android applications.
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Android Studio is also getting a GPU profiler. Now, the freely available integrated development environment reaches version 2.0 in a preview form. Google says that this lets you “record entire sessions and walk through the GL Framebuffer and Textures as your app is running OpenGL ES Code”.
