The mobile space is evolving very fast, call it lightning speed. Android has become very fluid, and it is evolving rapidly with this mobile space to deliver better customer satisfaction. The latest release of Android, which is assumed to be referred as Android 8 Oreo, is the greatest ever version with significant changes compared to the previous Android Nougat. Here is a complete review of this new Android OS update from Google.
What is Android O?
Android O is the fourth and latest developer preview of the last Google’s mobile operating system. It is a beta version released ahead of the commercial version which is expected to released by the end of September. The first and second beta versions were released in March 2017 while the third one was made available in June.
Android O, which is likely to take the name Android Oreo, is targeted at giving developers the opportunity to carefully check all functionality before the final version to be launched in September. The main Android O features include the following.
Background limits
Commencing with Android 7.0, Android was able to limit specific activities in various applications while in the background. Now, Android O enhances this limitation with the focus on power saving and extending battery life without the need to install anything.
The additional limits allow Android to prevent implicit broadcasts, background services, as well as locational updates. With Google android Oreo, a developer can design apps that have no or very little impact on the smartphone’s battery life.
Android Oreo Beta new channels
The previous Android Nougat came with a new framework for notifications from developers. Now, Android Oreo beta has a new notification channel that group notifications based on their type. Though the applications carrying them will still manage the notifications, users can control everything and display on every-channel. Therefore, the user can determine how the notification is done.
The new picture for smartphones
PiP display support that is currently only in Android Televisions is being moved to Android smartphones. With Android O, developers can shrink the view of any application into a relatively small window positioned by a user at runtime. For instance, the Youtube window can easily be shrunk and even moved allowing the user to open a second app and take notes.
Android O users can now also enjoy a new way of handling screen overlays and launching new apps on remote displays. This means that an application on the smartphone can operate on different displays at any moment. An Android developer can now decide which screen to run a specific app depending on whether the user starts it.
Highly adaptive badges and icons
Initially, adaptive icons were only available in Google Pixel Launcher. However, they are now supported by Android system wide and natively. The new Android Oreo beta makes it possible to design different shaped masks for defining outside borders and icons’ animation. The adaptive icons in the Android O are supported in the launcher, app review screen, and sharing dialogs. These have been crafted in a manner that is very simplistic; stitching together a normal icon and a background using a well-defined home launcher. These new icons are also supporting badges called Notification Dots.
Fonts are now a full resource
The Android O update has excited the developer community for promoting fonts to full resource. What this means is that users can now define fonts the same way they do with colors in all layouts that use XML. Developers have gotten a new type of control to define fonts and styles without following complex procedures. All the Google fonts will now be available in a downloadable package for applications such as emojis.
New generation Autofill APIs
Using the latest Autofill API, Android O users can now select preferred sources for Autofill info. Besides, apps that require storage and access this type of data will not have to operate as Accessibility service. Therefore, an application such as password manager can consolidate its own activity for applying the Autofill API.
Connectivity to other devices
Connectivity is perhaps one of the most notable android 8.0 features because of many communications required with other devices. The main changes on connectivity include.
- Better Bluetooth audio using Sony LDAC codec.
- Neighboring Aware Network (NAN) connectivity with Wi-Fi Aware specification.
- The telecom framework has introduced new methods that third parties can work with each other and even user’s carrier features.
Developers have referred to the new Android Oreo as the best ever since its debut in 2008. The changes from Android O developer preview 3 and 4 will ensure that it is stable, more secure, and ready for the final commercial version in Autumn.