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Android Developers Backstage

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Android Backstage, a podcast by and for Android developers. Hosted by developers from the Android engineering team, this show covers topics of interest to Android programmers, with in-depth discussions and interviews with engineers on the Android team at Google. Subscribe to Android Developers YouTube → https://goo.gle/AndroidDevs

Latest episodes

Android AI Tools: Vibe coding, sub-agents, and the Android CLI

Learn how the latest Android Studio AI features can streamline your daily development tasks. While the original agent mode chat was helpful, we rebuilt it with a re-architected experience that supports parallel tool calls and background sub-agents. For instance, you can now have an agent analyze code in the background while you continue working on a different feature. Try out the updated Journeys

5 Aug 2026 · 1 h 16 min
The inside story of Jetpack Compose

Discover the origin story of Jetpack Compose and how it changed the way Android developers build applications. We discuss the original challenges of unbundling the UI toolkit from the operating system to deliver faster updates. By adopting Kotlin and a declarative approach, the team reduced the boilerplate necessary to build user interfaces. While earlier systems relied heavily on XML, Jetpack Com

29 Jul 2026 · 1 h 7 min
What's so great about R8?

Join hosts Tor and Romain as they sit down with Søren Gjesse, Chris Craik, and Shai Barack. This week, the team dives into R8, the whole-program optimizer that handles the "last mile" of your code before it runs on a device. Learn why implementing R8 is effectively like giving your users a "free hardware upgrade" by making their current devices perform like models that are years newer. Enable app

18 Feb 2026 · 1 h 6 min
XR: Virtually here

Join hosts Tor, Chet, and Romain as they sit down with Diego Perez (Android Studio) and Patrick Fuentes (Developer Relations) to explore the new frontiers of Android XR. This episode of Android Developers Backstage breaks down the latest announcements and Developer Preview 3, offering a technical look at how developers can start building for spatial environments today. Resources: Hello Android XR

14 Jan 2026 · 43 min
Bring your own model - Android Developers Backstage

In this episode Tor and Chet chat with Raluca Saucic and Eugene Yakavets about the new "Bring Your Own Model" feature in Android Studio which allows using other models than Gemini for agent mode, including models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and more. We also discuss using local models via Ollama and LM Studio. Resources: Use a remote model → https://goo.gle/43N2Z5E Use a local model → https://goo.gle/

10 Dec 2025 · 58 min
From natural language to UI tests: A deep dive into Journeys for Android Studio

Hosts Tor and Chet are joined by Adarsh Fernando, a Product Manager, and Ray Buse, a Software Engineer, to discuss Journeys for Android Studio. Powered by Gemini's vision and reasoning, Journeys aims to simplify end-to-end test creation and maintenance by converting the natural language you provide to describe the steps and assertions for each test, resulting in actions and evaluations performed d

14 Oct 2025 · 44 min
Android developer verification

To protect users from malware and scams, Android has announced a new layer of security: developer verification. While this is nothing new for Google Play Store apps, Android is extending this to the entire Android ecosystem. Host Tor is joined by Matthew, Patrick, Naheed, and Raz to discuss this latest security update that deters bad actors and creates a safer environment.

30 Sep 2025 · 45 min
Autofill in Compose

In this episode of Android Back Stage, Hosts Tor, and Chet are joined by Melba and Ralston, Software Engineers on the Compose Team, to talk about Autofill in Compose. Learn about Autofill services, best practices, and more! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 0:40 - What is Autofill? 1:21 - Autofill team journey and semantics 2:15 - Defining semantics in Compose 3:29 - Bridging views and Compose for Autofill 4

13 Aug 2025 · 44 min
Back it up, bring it back: No data left behind

It can be a draw when setting up a new device. Some info transfers, while some don't. Learn how developers can ensure the best user experience when people backup and restore an Android device. Hosts Tor and Chet are joined by Graham and Piyush on the Android Consumer Experience team and Alon on the Android Studio team to discuss Android backup and restore. Chapters: 0:00 - Introduction & the user

10 Jul 2025 · 48 min
Bot to the Future: Two Years Later

Join Tor and Siva Velusamy and Sandhya Mohan from the Android Studio team to learn about the latest updates to Studio Bot (Gemini in Android Studio) that dropped at Google I/O 2025 including Agent Mode. Building on their conversation from two years ago about the Studio Bot, they explore Gemini's role in every stage of development, from design to building, testing, and maintenance, the future of co

13 Jun 2025 · 46 min
​​Kotlin Multiplatform: Have your code and eat it too

Software Engineers Dustin Lam and Yigit Boyar join host Tor Norbye to chat all about Kotlin Multiplatform. Resources: Tor's Bluesky → https://goo.gle/4iLXEAg Yigit's Bluesky → https://goo.gle/4dmsYVj

7 May 2025 · 58 min
Linting on the Side of Caution: Safety & Security

What is app safety for Android? What is the Android team working on to ensure developers and users alike enjoy safe and reliable apps? Watch along as Tor Norbye, Chet Haase, Romain Guy, Theresa Khuu, Naheed Vora take a deep dive backstage and discuss what's new in the Android safety space. Resources: Enhanced Tools for Secure & Efficient Development → https://goo.gle/42lo3i8 Watch more Android Dev

10 Apr 2025 · 50 min
Episode 213: Compose runtime and performance

In this episode, Tor and Romain chat with Leland and Chuck from the Compose team about performance -- recent optimizations, upcoming optimizations, and challenges. Leland: @intelligibabble.bsky.social Chuck: @chuckjaz.bsky.social Tor: @tornorbye.bsky.social Romain: @romainguy , @romainguy.dev , [email protected] Catch videos on YouTube → https://goo.gle/adb-podcast Subscribe to Android D

4 Mar 2025 · 56 min
Episode 212: Happy birthday, Android Studio!

In this episode Chet, Romain and Tor chat with Xav and Jamal from the Android Studio team to talk about the history of Android's IDE. Chapters: Intro (00:00) Topic of the day - Android Studio releases (00:59) What was before Android studio? (2:33) Eclipse (7:22) Jamal joins Android (13:56) Android studio 1.0 (16:40) Android studio 1.0 - launch (21:56) Android studio 3.0 (25:17) Differences after t

24 Jan 2025 · 1 h 0 min
Episode 211: Rules about performance tools

In this episode Chet, Romain and Tor chat with Shai Barack about how the Android platform team studies performance and understands system health - and what is system health anyway? We talk about measuring performance, deciding trade-offs, and our favorite tools such as Perfetto, Compiler Explorer, and Android Studio's Memory Profiler. Chapters: Intro (00:00) System health (0:27) Efforts to make ap

26 Nov 2024 · 1 h 10 min
Episode 210: Studio Jewelry

In this episode Chet, Romain and Tor chat with Sebastiano about how the Android Studio team builds UIs. We talk about how Compose for Desktop is used in parts of Android Studio and how the Compose Markdown renderer available in the Jewel library makes Studio Bot tick. Chapters: Intro (00:00) Android Dev UX team (00:39) What kind of libraries and languages are used to build Android studio? (1:52) S

24 Oct 2024 · 50 min
Episode 209: Compose animations

In this episode Chet, Romain and Tor chat with Doris Liu from the Compose team about animations in Compose -- covering everything from the basic primitives up to the recently added Shared Element Transitions. Chapters: Intro (00:00) Animation capabilities of Compose (1:06) Different types of animation specs (3:43) Layers of functionality, transitions (7:49) TargetBasedAnimation (9:48) Vectors & ve

12 Sep 2024 · 59 min
Episode 208: Micro optimizations

In this episode Tor and Romain find themselves without a guest and decide to chat about micro optimizations and writing custom tools. Tor and Romain Chapters: Intro (00:00) Micro optimizations (00:32) Kotlin explorer (3:25) Avoiding object allocations (6:49) Code Inefficiencies (8:10) Compilers (12:13) Understand assembly with AI (18:39) Layout opt (21:20) Programmers writing tools (21:52) char.is

18 Jul 2024 · 51 min
Episode 207: AI development assistance

In this episode we talk with Kathy Korevec from the AIDA team at Google about AI assisted developer tools, such as Android Studio -- which is using Gemini AI models provided by AIDA. Romain, Kathy, and Tor Kathy: twitter.com/simpsoka Romain: @romainguy , threads.net/@romainguy , [email protected] Tor: threads.net/@tor.norbye and [email protected] Check out → https://goo.gle/3wK

20 Jun 2024 · 52 min
Episode 206: Make it faster

In this episode we cover ADB -- not "Android Developers Backstage", but "Android Debug Bridge", the technology powering device connections. Romain and Tor talk with Fabien Sanglard from the Android Studio team on his work to improve the debug stack -- including the new USB speed detection feature recently unveiled at Google I/O. Chapters: Intro (00:00) You may know Fabien from… (00:50) Applying re

22 May 2024 · 1 h 0 min