Android Studio upgrade improves memory profiler

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Android Studio 1.5 also fixes bugs and improves lint checks for static code analysis

By Paul Krill

Version 1.5 of the Android Studio IDE has been released, featuring improvements focused on stability. Chief among the new features is an improved memory profiler that assists developers in detecting commonly known causes of leaked activities.

"This new analysis feature can analyze a heap dump to look for known problems, such as leaked activities," said Reto Meier, of Google, in a video accompanying the release. Several lint checks for static code analysis have been added as well, including one that warns if a developer is attempting to override resources references from the manifest. Also, the theme editor in the IDE now shows previews.

"There's a number of bug fixes in the editor area where we've been working hard to polish code completion for resource and manifest files," Meier said. "For example, you can now use short names when doing code completion for custom views. We also make sure that Android Studio doesn't steal your focus if you switch virtual desktops during the build and run phase."

Known as the "official" IDE for building Android mobile applications, Android Studio has been based on the IntelliJ Idea Java development environment.

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