Android N Developer Preview 4 finalizes APIs, teases version number [Update]

The latest version of the Android N Developer Preview is out, and the Developer Preview Program is really starting to wrap things up. Version 4 brings finalized APIs and the final SDK for developers, so the time for serious bug fixing is right now. After this preview, there's just one more version to go until the final release in "Q3 2016."

With the final SDK, the Play Store is also ready to accept apps that are targeting API 24 (the API level of Android N). Devs are encouraged to test backward compatibility on their Alpha or Beta channels and then push full N-ready apps to the Play Store. (Developers, you're totally going to do this, right?)

On the consumer side of things, Google has added a silly joke to the hidden Android N version screen. If you go to the "About Phone" screen and mash on the Android version number section, you'll get the usual "N" logo to pop up. Long press on the "N" logo and instead of an Android version of Flappy Bird, you'll now get an "N" logo with "Namey McNameface" written across it. We're guessing that's not going to be the final "N" name.

Also in the category of dubious hints at the final naming scheme: Google has dropped a hint that the version number for Android N will be "7.0." If you enable the demo mode (which just shows a clean, fake status bar for screenshots) the time now switches to "7:00." The time in demo mode and in official screenshots usually references the version number. 5.0.1 always showed a time of 5:01, and 6.0 showed a time of "6:00," so "7:00" would indicate we're getting "version 7.0"—unless Google is just trolling everyone.

If you want to try the latest version of Android N on your device, you can grab a full image from the developer site (which requires dev tools and wiping your device) or try the fancy new Beta OTA system (which should keep your data).

Update:  Google is trolling in both directions. Android Studio labels the final SDK "Android 6.x."