Android 14 Developer Preview With New Privacy Features, Passkey Support Released: Details

Google last month released the first Developer Preview of Android 14, and now the company is back with the second Developer Preview. According to GSM Arena, the new release comes with additional enhancements to privacy, security, and performance, and continues to refine the experience on tablets and foldables.

Google's official timeline suggests that following this Developer Preview, the first Beta release will arrive in April, followed by three more in subsequent months.

Android 14 Development Preview 2 includes support for enabling apps to access only specific photographs and videos, or access to all of them, or no access at all.

In Android 14, Credential Manager is a platform API, and this allows apps to sign in using passkeys. In the second DP, there are improvements to the UI styling of the account selector, along with changes to the API based on feedback to DP1, as per the report.

Apps targeting Android 14, which will be a very small subset initially, will need to grant privileges to start activities in the background.

DP2 comes with optimizations to Android's memory management system, improving resource usage while apps are running in the background. There will also be fewer non-dismissible notifications in Android 14, and there are improved APIs for app stores too.

According to the report, the second Developer Preview is still, as the name implies, only recommended for app developers to use for app testing. Once the first beta hits next month, consumers will get easier access too. Android 14 Developer Preview 2 is installable on the Pixel 4a 5G and later Google devices.