Android 5G

5 min readMay 23, 2021

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Android 11 adds functionality to support 5G in your apps. This topic covers the functionality and gives you an overview of how adding 5G-specific functionality to your app can improve the user experience.

What is 5G, and what can we expect from it?

5G networks are now available in much of the world, promising faster data speeds and lower latency to consumers. Smartphones are some of the first devices to support 5G, starting with premium-tier handsets but now quickly reaching less expensive models too.

In addition, this latest networking technology opens up avenues to new industrial applications and is a critical element to build widely connected “smart cities.” 5G is the next step to provide better networking in our increasingly technological world. However, not every country, region, or even national carrier has its 5G network up and running yet. If you’ve been wondering what is 5G, here’s everything you need to know about the current state of the industry and what to expect.

There are quite a few new components to 5G, so here’s a breakdown of some of the key phrases:

mmWave — very high-frequency spectrum between 17 and 100GHz and high bandwidth for fast data. Most carriers are targeting use in the 18–24GHz range. Reasonably short-range technology that will be used in densely populated areas.
Sub-6GHz — spectrum operating in WiFi-like frequencies between 3 and 6GHz. Can be deployed in small cell hubs for indoor use or more powerful outdoor base stations to cover medium range much like existing 4G LTE. Most 5G spectrum will be found here.
Low-band — very low frequencies below 800MHz. Covers very long distances and is omnidirectional to provide blanket backbone coverage.
Beamforming — used in mmWave and sub-6GHz base stations to direct waveforms towards consumer devices, such as bouncing waves off buildings. A key technology in overcoming the range and direction limitations of high-frequency waveforms.
Massive MIMO — multiple antennas on base stations serve multiple end-user devices at once. Designed to make high-frequency networks much more efficient and can be combined with beamforming.

Build for 5G

When deciding how to engage with 5G, think about what types of experiences you are trying to build. Some ways that 5G can enhance your app include:

Automatically make current experiences faster and better because of the speed and latency improvements of 5G.
Up-level the user experience, such as by showing 4k video or downloading higher-resolution game assets.
After confirming that the increased data usage won’t cost the user, include experiences normally only provided over Wi-Fi, such as proactively download content typically reserved for unmetered Wi-Fi.
Provide experiences unique to 5G that work only with high speeds and low latency.

5G functionality

Android 11 introduces the following functionality changes and enhancements:

· Meteredness

· 5G detection

. Bandwith estimation

5G detection

Starting in Android 11, you can detect if the device is connected to a 5G network using a callback-based API call. You can check for whether the connection is a 5G NR (standalone) or NSA (nonstandalone) network.

Note: While you can detect if you are connected to a 5G network, you cannot assume meteredness, connection speed, nor bandwidth from this signal.

Some uses for this API call may include:

Displaying 5G branding in your app to highlight that you’re offering a unique 5G experience.
Activating a unique 5G experience in the app only when on a 5G network. You should pair this status check with checking for meterdness.
Keeping track of 5G connections for analytics purposes.

To test 5G detection without a 5G device, you can use features addedd to the Android SDK emulator.

Detect 5G

Call telephonymanager.listen(), passing in LISTEN_DISPLAY_INFO_CHANGED, to determine if the user has a 5G network connection. Override the onDisplayInfoChanged() method to determine the type of network used for display purposes. One exception is that if the carrier opts to show 5G as the RAT for their mmWave network, OVERRIDE_NETWORK_TYPE_NR_NSA is returned.

The following table shows the networks that correspond to the values:

Return typeNetworkOVERRIDE_NETWORK_TYPE_LTE_ADVANCED_PROAdvanced pro LTE (5Ge)OVERRIDE_NETWORK_TYPE_NR_NSANR (5G) for 5G Sub-6 networksOVERRIDE_NETWORK_TYPE_NR_NSA_MMWAVE(5G+/5G UW) for 5G mmWave networks

Note: Your app must have the READ_PHONE_STATE permission in order to use this API.

ANDROID 12

Google this week announced its next generation mobile operating system Android 12 during the ongoing Google I/O Keynote conference. Android 12 brings a huge design overhaul to the Android UI. There is a new lock-screen, bigger quick settings tiles, and much more. The lock-screen features a larger clock with no notifications, just a small date and the temperature indicator is placed on the left side. The volume slider is also bigger now, and has a rounded profile instead of a more square shape in Android 11. The brightness slider also takes the same shape in the quick settings. The quick settings menu is also in the form of tiles on Android 12 as opposed to the button-type layout previously.

-QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON 778G 5G SOC

American chipmaker Qualcomm has launched its latest chipset for mobiles, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G SoC was launched at Qualcomm’s 5G Snapdragon Summit and sits between the Snapdragon 750G and the Snapdragon 780G. The chipset comes as a successor to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 768G chipset and is designed to deliver an enhanced multimedia experience using a new configuration. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G is based on a 6nm process and the company claims that it is capable of delivering up to two times better artificial intelligence (AI) performance improvement over its predecessor. It will be available commercially in the second quarter of 2021 itself, Qualcomm said in a blog post announcing the new SoC.