Android N Beta 2: New emojis, shortcut launcher and Vulkan support introduced in latest preview

Samsung July security update — Google releases Android N second preview Getty Images

Google has released Android N's second preview or beta 2 version just weeks after it released the first developer version of the upcoming OS. The release is well in line with the company's schedule of beta releases and introduces features such as Vulkan support and launcher shortcuts along with a new pack of emojis.

The major change log in the update as stated by the company are listed as:

VulkanSupport: Vulkan, the 3D rendering API which helps to develop as a member of Khronos, geared at providing explicit, low-overhead GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) control to developers and offers a significant boost in performance for draw-call heavy applications.

Launcher shortcuts: Now, apps can define shortcuts which users can expose in the launcher to help them perform actions quicker. These shortcuts contain an Intent into specific points within your app (like sending a message to your best friend, navigating home in a mapping app, or playing the next episode of a TV show in a media app).

Emoji Unicode 9 support: A new emoji design for people emoji that moves away from our generic look in favor of a more human-looking design. If you're a keyboard or messaging app developer, you should start incorporating these emoji into your apps. The update also introduces support for skin tone variations and Unicode 9 glyphs, like the bacon, selfie and face palm.

API changes: This update includes API changes as we continue to refine features such as multi-window support (you can now specify a separate minimum height and minimum width for an activity), notifications, and others.

Bug fixes: Resolved a number of issues throughout the system, including these fixes for issues that you've reported through the public issue tracker.

The most useful feature from these for users will be the shortcuts, which have been further detailed by the company to include the following functions:

Navigating users to a particular location in a mapping app
Sending messages to a friend in a communication app
Playing the next episode of a TV show in a media app
Loading the last save point in a gaming app

The company has declared no set date when the complete build for Android N will be launched, although the last testing phase for the OS is slated for July, which makes the release possible around that month. The Nexus 7 smartphone is also rumoured to debut at the same time and should come pre-installed with the Android N OS.