Best of Android — March 2026

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    Article
    Avatar of androiddevAndroid Developers Blog·5w

    Room 3.0 - Modernizing the Room

    Room 3.0 alpha has been released, marking a major breaking version of the Android database library. Key changes include dropping SupportSQLite APIs in favor of SQLiteDriver, exclusive Kotlin code generation (no more Java), dropping KAPT/annotation processing in favor of KSP only, and making coroutines mandatory for DAO functions. Room 3.0 adds Kotlin Multiplatform support for JavaScript and WebAssembly via a Web Worker-based SQLite driver using the Origin Private File System. The library moves to a new Maven package (androidx.room3). A new @DaoReturnTypeConverter annotation enables custom DAO return types. Room 2.x enters maintenance mode with only bug fix releases planned until Room 3 stabilizes. Migration paths include adopting SQLiteDriver APIs in Room 2.7+ and using the new room-sqlite-wrapper compatibility artifact.

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    Article
    Avatar of braveBrave·6w

    Why Brave is opposing Google’s Android developer registry

    Brave has joined the EFF, Tor Project, and 40+ organizations opposing Google's plan to require all Android developers to register with government-issued ID starting September 2026, even those distributing apps outside the Play Store. The policy would create a centralized identity database of every Android developer, posing serious privacy risks especially for those building privacy tools, VPNs, and software for journalists and activists. Brave frames this as part of a broader pattern of Google leveraging platform control to insert itself into activities where users and developers didn't invite its involvement, alongside past moves like Manifest V2 deprecation, AMP, and Privacy Sandbox.

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    Article
    Avatar of lobstersLobsters·5w

    blog dot information dash superhighway dot net

    A personal essay reflecting on the importance of truly understanding software systems rather than treating them as black boxes. Drawing on a career journey from fumbling with BASIC and DOS in the 90s to eventually embracing deep comprehension as a core skill, the author argues that the instinct to avoid understanding—to just poke at things until they work—is ultimately far harder than committing to learning how things actually function. The author pushes back on Gerald Sussman's famous observation that modern programming is just 'doing basic science on foreign libraries,' contending that open source has made understanding vastly more accessible than in the closed-source 90s. A concrete Android layout bug story illustrates how reading source code beats endless experimentation. The central thesis: understanding is the most powerful tool a programmer can have, and it only gets more valuable over time.

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    Article
    Avatar of androiddevAndroid Developers Blog·2w

    Media3 1.10 is out

    Media3 1.10 has been released for Android, bringing several new features. The media3-ui-compose-material3 module gains a new Player Composable combining ContentFrame with customizable controls, a ProgressSlider Composable, and PlaybackSpeedControl/PlaybackSpeedToggleButton components. ExoPlayer adds support for Dolby Vision Profile 10 and VVC tracks in MP4 containers, plus IAMF binaural output. Ad playback reliability is improved with better HLS interstitial support and IMA SDK integration. MediaSessionService now extends LifecycleService. An experimental dynamic scheduling mode is available via experimentalSetDynamicSchedulingEnabled() for improved playback efficiency. Media editing gets more robust speed adjustments and a new setFrameRate() API. FrameExtractor has been moved to a new media3-inspector-frame module, and LottieOverlay has been separated into media3-effect-lottie.

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