Google announced before the GDC (Game Developers Conference) that the Vulkan graphics API has been granted official status on the Android platform. Google is working on using Vulkan as the main abstraction layer for GPU (HAL, Hardware Abstraction Layer), recommended for use in both games and applications that work with GPUs. Internal APIs and components, such as HWUI, Skia, and WebGPU, will also operate on top of Vulkan.
Currently, efforts are underway to transition Android to a new unified rendering stack based on Vulkan. In the context of game development, Google believes that moving development to Vulkan will allow for more efficient use of GPU capabilities and performance, enabling advanced visual effects in games and features like ray tracing.
Vulkan has been supported in Android since 2016 (Android 7.0), but active promotion of this graphics API only began recently, as previously only a small percentage of devices were capable of running Vulkan. The situation has now changed, and according to Google, the number of devices in use that support Vulkan has reached 85%.
Support for OpenGL ES in future releases will be provided through the ANGLE layer, operating on top of Vulkan. This year, the implementation of OpenGL ES based on ANGLE will be activated by default, and next year it will be the only supported option. In the Android 16 release, scheduled for the second quarter of 2025, some new devices will be transitioned to use ANGLE for games and applications that have been verified and whitelisted.
In Android 17, all new devices and most applications will be moved to ANGLE (instead of the whitelist, a blacklist will be used for apps that encountered issues). The requirements for transitioning to ANGLE will only apply to new devices initially released on Android 16 or Android 17 (devices that update their firmware to the new branches will not be subject to these requirements).
To achieve comprehensive Vulkan support on devices, Google has introduced a Vulkan Profile Architecture (VPA) for Android, defining the minimum essential capabilities of Vulkan that a device must support to pass certification with Google and use new Android releases. For example, the VPA for Android 16 mandates support for the core features of Vulkan 1.3, while the VPA for Android 17 will require support for Vulkan 1.4. If a device does not meet the profile requirements, new Android branches cannot be used on it.
Additionally, the third beta version of the open mobile platform Android 16 has been released. To assess the new platform capabilities, a beta testing program has been proposed. Firmware builds are prepared for devices including Pixel 6/6a/6 Pro, Pixel 7/7a/7 Pro, Pixel 8/8a/8 Pro, Pixel 9/9 Pro/9 Pro XL/9 Pro Fold, Pixel Fold, and Pixel Tablet.
Among the changes in Android 16 Beta 3:
- For Pixel 9 devices, support for audio transmission via Bluetooth in broadcast mode (Auracast) has been added, allowing sound to be transmitted from one source to multiple receivers or for one receiver to receive audio from multiple sources (which is useful for listening to external audio streams, such as airport announcements, without interrupting other broadcasts).
- A text contrast enhancement mode has been added, which removes transparency behind the text (light text is displayed on a black background, and dark text on a white background). This mode may benefit individuals with vision impairment.
- Testing has begun for the Local Network Protection (LNP) mode, which restricts applications' access to internal intranet subnets (192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, etc.) to block attacks on resources within the local network. In this new mode, in addition to having 'INTERNET' permissions, the application will need to obtain separate user consent for access.
Source: opennet.ru
