The agenda for Google’s upcoming Android Dev Summit contains a major Easter egg: Android 18. Although the company hasn’t officially announced a major OS update yet, the event’s schedule makes it clear that one is on the horizon.
One summit session is called “Elevate your apps with the latest graphics features in Jetpack Compose and Android 18.” According to the description, the session will cover new graphics features for apps using Jetpack Compose, Android’s UI toolkit. In addition to visual effects, panelists will go over how to maintain good performance, battery life, and frame rates.
“We’ll show you how to build new visual effects, from delightful mesh gradients to progressive blurs, using the powerful new graphics features in Android 18,” the description reads.
Mesh gradients are colorful, smooth backgrounds; with progressive (or multi-layer) blur, they can achieve impressive depth. Because Google hasn’t said anything publicly about what to expect from Android 18 (or even when it will arrive), it’s unclear whether the OS update will use these effects throughout the system interface or mainly help third-party app developers create richer visuals.
The Android Dev Summit is scheduled for October 28 and 29 in Mountain View, California. While in-person attendance is strictly limited to a handful of Android developers, you can watch the livestream from home.
