Android N isn’t all about notifications and multi-window mode, even if they are the biggest and most noticeable features. (credit: Google)

Android N has a bunch of big new features in store for its users—the ones who eventually receive the update and don’t have those features torn out or replaced by their phone’s manufacturer, anyway. We’ve already covered a lot of the biggest user-facing stuff, including the multi-window multitasking mode, the revamped notifications and quick settings, and the new UI customization options.

But every year there are a few smaller or hidden features that are important to the platform but don’t get as much of a spotlight, either because they’re hidden under the covers or they appeal to a narrower audience. As we’ve done for Android L and M, we’ve looked at the developer docs and come up with a handful of new additions that you ought to know about as you’re playing with these early developer builds.

ART JIT

Google formally switched from the Dalvik Java runtime to the Android Runtime (ART) back in version 5.0, and it has continued to make new changes and optimizations since. Android N introduces a big one with far-reaching consequences—after switching entirely to ahead-of-time (AOT) code compilation in the first versions of ART, this version re-introduces just-in-time (JIT) compilation under certain circumstances to speed things up in areas where ART slowed down.