Google has released Android Things Developer Preview 8, which it is calling a release candidate.
This penultimate version of Android Things brings with it the final set of APIs in the updated SDK. Google anticipates that there will be no changes to the Android Things APIs before the stable v1.0 SDK is made available. The release candidate includes new features in the Android Things Developer Console to make it easier for developers to build and manage production devices. For example, developers can unpublish the current OTA build if issues are discovered, as well as configure device storage allocations, control supported fonts, and share through Google Groups.
Changes to the library should simplify the process of managing APKs, which no longer need to packaged into separate zipped bundles.
Google also changed the permissions runtime to make it clearer to end users when and which permissions they are granting to Android Things apps and devices. Android Things Developer Preview 8 is available for developers to download via the Google Developer Console.
Android Things is meant to bring smarts to connected devices, such as lamps, TVs, thermostats, and more.
