The first Android P Developer Preview is knocking on the door. Much isn’t known yet, about the user-facing features. But a lot of reports are saying that Android P might support a typical display type. It might come with a revamped Material Design interface and will also support the Bluetooth HID device profile service. The Bluetooth HID device profile service allows the smartphone to be used as a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse.
It was in 2014 that a member of Qualcomm’s CodeAurora forums submitted a patch. With the release of Android P, the Bluetooth HIDD finally has a chance to get enabled. The relevant APIs for developers to use will not be kept hidden anymore. It makes the applications capable of taking advantage of this functionality. Android P is expected to get introduced to Google Pixel and Pixel 2 devices.
“Bluetooth Profiles” can now be created on any Bluetooth-enabled device. It’s quite similar to the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) and Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). Android does not implement support for HIDD in the Bluetooth stack. That’s why applications that enable you to utilize the smartphone as a basic keyboard/mouse input device can’t be developed. The root-enabled apps on the Play Store patch the Bluetooth framework to enable HIDD. These are then combined with another app to let you use your smartphone as an input device.
But, native support in AOSP ensures that every device running Android P can be used as an input device over Bluetooth. We can now potentially control workplace presentations with this media remote. Using the smartphone as a mobile workstation is something that has been worked on for a really long. It has the capability of revolutionizing the inter-connectivity between Android and other devices.
