For many years, supporting a stylus has been a special feature many Android manufacturers have added to their devices. However, Google may take over stylus support on the software end with its next operating system Android N.
The recently discovered Samsung developer’s page , which included details about the still unofficial Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, also featured tidbits of information about Android N. The page details that several S-Pen software features, including Air Button, SmartClip and Writing Buddy, would be “depreciated” in Android N. Many pundits, including XDA Developers , have considered if Samsung is dialing back on various stylus features, then it could be because the features may work automatically on devices running Android N.
Of course, current reports are all speculation, but this theory follows many years of rumors of Google’s plans to bring native stylus support to Android. Samsung was the originator of the stylus-equipped smartphone, with the Galaxy Note line, which first released in 2010. Many manufacturers, such as LG, have attempted devices with styluses; however, the Galaxy remains one of the few high end smartphones on the market to feature a stylus.
Samsung’s S-Pen features were developed specifically for the Galaxy Note series. However, having native stylus support on Android could make more manufacturers consider styluses for the smartphones. Being able to build upon Google’s native code would likely be a benefit to manufacturers, which otherwise, would have to create their own software to support styluses on their devices.
Google has made many other moves toward making once customized features native on Android. Notably, multi window, a software feature that originated in Samsung’s TouchWiz skin, is now native to Google.
After removing native microSD support in Android 4.4 KitKat, Google added the feature back to Android 6.0 Marshmallow in 2015, with the addition of an adaptable storage feature. Adaptable storage allows users to format their microSD card for the devices, which then makes a device read microSD storage as if it were the native internal storage on a device.
Google also added features like native USB Type-C support and native fingerprint recognition to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, in accordance with recent mobile trends. The latest Nexus devices both feature USB Type-C ports and the Nexus Imprint fingerprint scanner. The implementation could see an influx of smartphones using USB Type-C in 2016. Manufacturers could also opt for using Nexus Imprint as opposed to developing their own fingerprint scanner technologies.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow has been available only since last October, so it will be some time before the next Google operating system is released. Google usually discusses details about its new operating systems at its Google I/O conference , which will take place from May 18 to May 20. Google will likely reveal the name of Android N much later in the year.
