Android O

The new and upgraded Android, Version 8.0 was launched on Monday as the Solar Eclipse was under way and we played around a bit with the new version - and this is what we found.

Android O’s first beta was launched on March 2017, a few weeks before Google I/O and since then, a lot of rumours came in with its name! A lot of names surfaced ranging from Oatmeal Cookie to Orellete and finally they revealed the name, Oreo on August 21, 2017! 😃

Android O is not a big leap in terms of upgrades but it’s pretty good and a stable one - which means that you cannot see major UX and functionality changes. It looks similar to their previous Android Nougat but has a few feature tweaks and low level tune up that makes Android mature and powerful.

Here’s a look at what Android Oreo has to offer,

2x faster Boot up

Android has confirmed that Android O will have faster boot up speed than their previous Android N. According to the test conducted on Google Pixel, the boot time is 2x faster than their predecessor. They even added a colorful G logo for their Pixel products!

Improved Battery Life

Google is concerned about how their products affect the battery life. They have already reduced Chrome’s power consumption and now they’ve taken steps to improve battery life in Android. Google has implemented automatic limits for throttling the apps that try to consume resources in the background. Google does so by putting a boundary for background services, location updates, and implicit broadcasts.

Notification Channel

Notification channel gives more power for the user to control notifications. Users can easily block or make changes to particular Notification Channels, eliminating the need for managing all the notifications for a specific app. Users can even change sound, light and vibration for separate notification channels. A developer targeting his app for Android O has to define at least one or two channels; otherwise the notifications would act the same way as on Android Nougat.

Notification Dots

A small dot appears on the shortcut for that app. Long-press the app shortcut and you’ll be able to view the notification right there without pulling down the drop-down notification bar. Though they stole this feature from Apple, Android uses Notification dots more effectively.

Notification Snoozing

Android won’t show notifications. Instead of getting removed from the Notifications area, they appear at the time you want. What’s more is that you can snooze individual notifications.

Notification Background

And now developers can adjust notification background and messaging color. Android has changed many things in the notifications and cleaned it with better UI and animation.

Picture in Picture

Picture In Picture featured arrived last year with Android Nougat but is limited to Android TVs. Now Google brings Picture In Picture to mobile devices! This is similar to the split screen feature and is particularly useful for multi tasking. You can watch videos and have video calls and do some other tasks ☺️ 😍

AutoFill

You know how Chrome will auto fill saved information like credit card details in their compatible fields - a similar feature is coming with Android O. This auto fill feature will allow apps to create and manage their own list of auto fill data. 😍 😍

Google Play Protect

This is meant to enhance the security of smartphones. It can scan Android apps and can remove apps in critical situations.

Bluetooth Audio 😛

Now google have added LDAC support. This improves the performance and quality of sound when it’s wirelessly streamed to a device connected with Bluetooth.

Adaptive Icons

Google gives Control to user on app icon in Android O - this allows Android to display icons in a more streamlined way so they can take care of the rest of the UI. It does so by using mask. An icon can have any shape base on that mask, it can be circle on one device and square on another.

Emojis and Downloadable Fonts

Google has added 60 new emojis and fonts that are downloadable eliminating the need for developers to include them in apk.

It looks like Google will add more features in it’s future updates. Android’s already started working with HMD Global, HTC and Samsung for their Oreo updates - I that hope it reaches them fast and I can’t wait to see what else Oreo has in store! 😍

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