Android Developers Backstage

Learn how the latest Android Studio AI features can streamline your daily development tasks. While the original agent mode chat was helpful, we rebuilt it with a re-architected experience that supports parallel tool calls and background sub-agents. For instance, you can now have an agent analyze code in the background while you continue working on a different feature. Try out the updated Journeys feature to see how plain text instructions can automatically test your critical user paths.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel → https://goo.gle/AndroidDevs
Speakers: Tor Norbye, Chet Haase, Xavier Durcohet, Esteban de la Canal

Discover the origin story of Jetpack Compose and how it changed the way Android developers build applications. We discuss the original challenges of unbundling the UI toolkit from the operating system to deliver faster updates. By adopting Kotlin and a declarative approach, the team reduced the boilerplate necessary to build user interfaces. While earlier systems relied heavily on XML, Jetpack Compose shifts to a code-first model for easier iteration. Listen to the team share their insights on modifiers, performance improvements, and the future of Android design.
 
Resources: Android is Compose-first → https://goo.gle/compost-first
Jetpack Compose overview → https://goo.gle/compose-overview
 
Subscribe to our YouTube channel → https://goo.gle/AndroidDevs
Speakers: Clara Bayarri, Tor Norbye, Chet Haase, Romain Guy

Join hosts Tor and Romain as they sit down with Søren Gjesse, Chris Craik, and Shai Barack.
This week, the team dives into R8, the whole-program optimizer that handles the "last mile" of your code before it runs on a device. Learn why implementing R8 is effectively like giving your users a "free hardware upgrade" by making their current devices perform like models that are years newer.
Enable app optimization → https://goo.gle/R8-Optimizer

Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:23 - What is R8?
1:16 - R8 vs D8
1:40 - Tree Shaking & Dead Code
4:14 - Handling Reflection
10:10 - Performance Co-Optimization
13:03 - Kotlin-Specific Gains
16:22 - Real-World Impact
41:50 - Jetpack Compose & R8
50:51 - Keep annotations
1:03:49 - The "Free Hardware Upgrade"

Join hosts Tor, Chet, and Romain as they sit down with Diego Perez (Android Studio) and Patrick Fuentes (Developer Relations) to explore the new frontiers of Android XR.
This episode of Android Developers Backstage breaks down the latest announcements and Developer Preview 3, offering a technical look at how developers can start building for spatial environments today.
Resources:
Hello Android XR sample → https://goo.gle/3Nbnrre 
Build for AI Glasses with the Android XR SDK Developer Preview 3  → https://goo.gle/49lUjGr 
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
4:42 - Latest announcements
5:46 - AI Glasses
8:28 -Developer preview 3
16:13 - Spatialization
18:29 - Tools team perspective
24:07 - Using the XR Emulator
29:00 - What is an Orbiter?
37:33 - What hardware is currently available
38:39 - Final thoughts

In this episode Tor and Chet chat with Raluca Saucic and Eugene Yakavets about the new "Bring Your Own Model" feature in Android Studio which allows using other models than Gemini for agent mode, including models from Anthropic,  OpenAI, and more. We also discuss using local models via Ollama and LM Studio.
Resources:
Use a remote model → https://goo.gle/43N2Z5E
Use a local model → https://goo.gle/3Xij27V  
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - Bring your own model
4:13 - Bring your own key
7:24 - Anthropic model
13:17- How often do you need to remind the model of the context?
17:40 - Thinking vs planning
20:25 - What happens when the API needs to give multiple answers to a complex question?
24:14 - Supported models
31:18 - Are there any barriers when using a different model?
34:07 - Support for code completion
38:16 - GitHub's relationship with agents
44:35 - Using agents for development
56:36 - Studiobot
57:56 - Wrap up