Android Q will bring several new APIs and under-the-hood improvements to devices when it rolls out. Some recently uncovered APIs, however, suggest Q could be a significant release for gamers.
First spotted by XDA Developers, the new AudioPlaybackCapture and Thermal APIs will improve Android apps in meaningful ways, especially for gamers.
The first of the two APIs is significant for streamers. Currently, Android doesn’t have a way for third-party apps to record other apps’ audio. There are ways to capture screenshots and record the screen, but no way to get in-app sound. This lead some streaming services to record audio using the device’s microphone, a less-than-ideal solution that hurts audio quality.
Thankfully, the AudioPlaybackCapture API changes this by allowing apps to copy the audio played by another app.
On the other hand, the Thermal API will give app makers tools to monitor and react to CPU and GPU temperatures.
Again, this is a bonus for games — and other apps that require a lot of power — as the apps can now ‘listen’ to the device and back off on complex tasks when things get too hot. This will help performance, as the device won’t have to throttle performance based on temperatures.
Currently, many ‘gaming’ phones include custom cooling systems to mitigate this issue and keep the components operating at peak efficiency.
Source: Android Developers, 2 Via: XDA Developers, Trusted Reviews
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