An exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the most significant privacy and security changes on the way with Google’s Android P release.

ot yet clear if or when any such system will actually launch on a device.

User-facing warnings for outdated API use

When we talk about Android OS updates, the shiny marquee features tend to get the most attention. Beneath the surface, though, new releases always contain important foundational improvements — including sets of new APIs, or interfaces developers use to access data and tap into features within their apps.

Newer APIs can provide more advanced possibilities as well as more effective privacy and security — and so when an app doesn’t take advantage of such opportunities and continues to target older APIs instead, it can be bad news for you as the user.

“We tighten down the API year after year,” Xin says. “A lower API level might not be as secure.”

In Android P, Google is proactively working to keep developers using the latest tools available — and to keep you aware of any instances when they might be failing to do so. How? Simple: The P-level operating system will actually show a warning to you anytime an app is targeting older-than-acceptable APIs.

(Side note: I hope this warning will be phrased in a way that explains the potential problem in plain English and thus actually means something to a typical user — because if a message pops up on an average person’s phone about an “app targeting outdated APIs,” I can’t imagine it’ll be effective at much other than befuddlement.)

This change actually goes hand in hand with an effort announced for Google Play late last year. On that side of the equation, any new or updated apps will be required to use recent API levels starting this summer. Xin tells me this two-prong approach is designed to allow for ongoing support of older apps that haven’t been updated — but also to make sure users are aware of the potential downsides of using any such titles.

And that, dear friends, is what’s new in terms of security with Android P. We’ve got a lot more to discuss with this release as it continues to take shape in the weeks and months ahead, so stay near — and don’t miss out on the newsletter, below, as we’ll be exploring P’s most significant intricacies there tomorrow (and on plenty of other Fridays in the future).