Android O
Google launched the fourth and final developer preview of Android O, the latest version of its mobile operating system. As expected, there are no major changes in this release and, according to Google, the launch of Android O remains on track for later this summer. There’s still some time left before the official end of the summer (that’s September 22, in case you wondered), but given that Android Nougat was on a very similar schedule, we expect we’ll see a final release in August.
The Android O developer preview 4 has a few minor tweaks and visual changes from the previous version, which we’ll cover in further detail below. Visually though, you can expect the final Android 8.0 build to look a lot like the current developer preview. Here are all the new changes, features and things you should know about Android O.
The final APIs for Android O arrived with the third preview release, so the update is all about incremental updates and stability. All of the major Android SDKs, tools and the Android Emulator will get minor version bumps in the next few days and the Android Support Library (version 26.0.0) is now considered stable, but, like before, the focus here is on making sure that developers can test their apps before the final version rolls out to users.
Once Android O hits your phone, expect improved battery life, thanks to Google's Vitals initiative. Google's adding what it calls "wise limits" to create automatic caps for what apps can do in the background. These limits will curtail excessive use of background services and location updates, so your apps won't be able to do too much damage to your battery when you're not using them.
Adaptive notification dots
Performance and bug fixes
Picture-in-Picture
A familiar phrase and tool in many televisions, within the YouTube app on Android and, yes, in iOS. Google is adding a Picture-in-Picture mode to Android O. With a YouTube video playing, just tap the Home button and the video will pop into a small window that can remain on screen as you navigate other apps on your device. You can slide the video around for best placement, then simply slide it off the screen to terminate. Available now in the Android O Beta.
Faster boot times
While speedy boot times are usually associated with a step-up in hardware. But Google unveiled that Android O will bring those benefits to all phones that run the software.
And it's not just the operating system that becomes faster to load up, but the apps on your phone can start running faster, too.
The Vitals project driving Android O development will also bring more speed and greater performance to Android devices. At the Google I/O 2017 developers conference in May, Android product manager Stephanie Saad Cuthbertson explained that the company has seen its Pixel handsets boot twice as fast, with similar gains in the Google Sheets app.'
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is the first Android phone to come installed with Bluetooth 5, a technology that will widen the bandwidth and raise the speed limit in the wireless pipeline for your content to travel through and thus, enhance the quality of audio content sent wirelessly between your phone and headphones.
And while many devices will follow suit, audio quality on Android is going to get yet another boost thanks to Android O’s native support for LDAC, Sony’s hi-res Bluetooth audio codec.
In the developer options, we’re already seeing tons of options for tweaking the bitrate for audio and we expect more advancements to come down the line. This one could be a big deal, especially for those holding out on buying into the best wireless headphones.
Bluetooth headphones offer the freedom of wireless connections, but that can sometimes come at the cost of sound quality. Android O looks to change that by supporting higher-quality Bluetooth connections, such as Sony's LDAC codec for hi-res audio.
Camera app
In the camera app double-tapping zooms in 50 percent and there’s now a dedicated button for switching between the photo and video modes. Previously you could only swipe between the modes, which might have kept it a bit of a secret for some users. Now a camera button appears to the left of the record button in video mode, and a video button appears to the right of the shutter button in photo mode.
Enhanced Security with Google Play Protect
The more we rely on our smartphones, the more our mobile security becomes important. That's why it's great to see Google Play Protect, a new service suite that will scans your apps for threats, and constantly checking for the latest risks, which will be found and detected via machine learning. If such an app is found on your device, it will delete the dangerous app from your handset or tablet.
More Colorful Displays
Certain Android smartphones offer displays capable of rendering what's called wide-gamut color. With O, Android gains the native ability to show off those colors. While it will depend on developer and smartphone maker support, we hope to see even more vivid images from apps such as Instagram as a result of this.
New emoji's
Persistent background apps notification
While having a quick and easy way to see which apps are running in the background (and potentially draining your battery) sounds like a good thing, the implementation introduced in developer preview 3 is less than ideal. An Android system notification lives in your tray near-permanently, constantly reminding you how many apps are running in the background.
More Keyboard Shortcuts
Pixel C users and anyone else who loves to pair a Bluetooth keyboard with their Android device can rejoice: Google says Android O will feature an improved version of keyboard shortcuts for its tab and arrow keys. This could make jumping around a Google Doc so much easier.
Auto-Fill
For your most used apps on your device, Android O will help quickly log into services. The Auto-Fill feature needs to be coded in by the app devs, but once installed, Android O will remember your usernames, and in some cases your password, to quickly and easily jump into apps on your device.
Android TV
Android TV, Google's smart TV platform gets a new look for its home screen with the Android O update. The emphasis is now on channels — rows of content that call out specific shows and even offer quick previews. A Watch Next row highlights additional episodes of programs you've already watched or shows and movies you've started but haven't finished. A Favorites row highlights your top apps. And, as befits Google's AI-driven focus as of late, Google Assistant will be part of Apple TV, letting you look up shows with the sound of your voice.
System UI options removed
Should you install the Android O developer preview? WHy Not!!
Now that we're at the fourth Android O Developer Preview, and the third public beta, the build is considered a Release Candidate, and is safe to use for everyday activities. Developers can not only update their apps to support the latest Android O APIs (in fact, Google is forcefully encouraging them to do just that!) but users can expect a very stable experience using old apps and new.
Will your phone be updated to Android O?
There's a good chance that if you have a phone that debuted in 2017, your phone will eventually be updated to Android O when it's released. It may not be until 2018, but it will happen. If your phone is from 2016, the chance of it being updated to Android O is less, but some manufacturers Samsung, Motorola, will be updated.
If you have a Pixel or Pixel XL or a Nexus 5X or 6P, your phone will be among the first to receive the final version of Android O.
GooGle's Android O
Google launched the fourth and final developer preview of Android O, the latest version of its mobile operating system. As expected, there are no major changes in this release and, according to Google, the launch of Android O remains on track for later this summer. There’s still some time left before the official end of the summer (that’s September 22, in case you wondered), but given that Android Nougat was on a very similar schedule, we expect we’ll see a final release in August.
Since the first previews of Android O came out, we've gotten a pretty good look at what to expect from the updated OS. The update starts with better battery life and increased performance and will also include new security measures, easier text selection and a picture-in-picture feature for improved multitasking. Here's what Android O will do for you when it arrives later this summer.
Better Battery Life
Once Android O hits your phone, expect improved battery life, thanks to Google's Vitals initiative. Google's adding what it calls "wise limits" to create automatic caps for what apps can do in the background. These limits will curtail excessive use of background services and location updates, so your apps won't be able to do too much damage to your battery when you're not using them.
Android O allows users to see notifications they've missed without pulling down the drop-down menu from the top of your screen. Apps with missed notifications will sport a badge that draws its color from the apps icon, so you can quickly scan your home screen to check out the state of affairs. (iOS users are familiar with this, with the red badges on their app icons.) A long-press on an app with a Notification Dot will open a menu (that looks like 3D Touch) of those missed notifications.
A lot of early adopters have noted several performance improvements and bug fixes in the final dev preview. The battery drain issue that put a lot of folks off the third developer preview seems to have been corrected and the camera launch delay has also been fixed. Multiple other improvements have been mentioned around the interwebs, so hit the comments and share yours if you’ve noted anything in particular.
Picture-in-Picture
A familiar phrase and tool in many televisions, within the YouTube app on Android and, yes, in iOS. Google is adding a Picture-in-Picture mode to Android O. With a YouTube video playing, just tap the Home button and the video will pop into a small window that can remain on screen as you navigate other apps on your device. You can slide the video around for best placement, then simply slide it off the screen to terminate. Available now in the Android O Beta.
Faster boot times
While speedy boot times are usually associated with a step-up in hardware. But Google unveiled that Android O will bring those benefits to all phones that run the software.
And it's not just the operating system that becomes faster to load up, but the apps on your phone can start running faster, too.
The Vitals project driving Android O development will also bring more speed and greater performance to Android devices. At the Google I/O 2017 developers conference in May, Android product manager Stephanie Saad Cuthbertson explained that the company has seen its Pixel handsets boot twice as fast, with similar gains in the Google Sheets app.'
Boosted audio performance
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is the first Android phone to come installed with Bluetooth 5, a technology that will widen the bandwidth and raise the speed limit in the wireless pipeline for your content to travel through and thus, enhance the quality of audio content sent wirelessly between your phone and headphones.
And while many devices will follow suit, audio quality on Android is going to get yet another boost thanks to Android O’s native support for LDAC, Sony’s hi-res Bluetooth audio codec.
In the developer options, we’re already seeing tons of options for tweaking the bitrate for audio and we expect more advancements to come down the line. This one could be a big deal, especially for those holding out on buying into the best wireless headphones.
Bluetooth headphones offer the freedom of wireless connections, but that can sometimes come at the cost of sound quality. Android O looks to change that by supporting higher-quality Bluetooth connections, such as Sony's LDAC codec for hi-res audio.
Camera app
In the camera app double-tapping zooms in 50 percent and there’s now a dedicated button for switching between the photo and video modes. Previously you could only swipe between the modes, which might have kept it a bit of a secret for some users. Now a camera button appears to the left of the record button in video mode, and a video button appears to the right of the shutter button in photo mode.
Enhanced Security with Google Play Protect
The more we rely on our smartphones, the more our mobile security becomes important. That's why it's great to see Google Play Protect, a new service suite that will scans your apps for threats, and constantly checking for the latest risks, which will be found and detected via machine learning. If such an app is found on your device, it will delete the dangerous app from your handset or tablet.
More Colorful Displays
Certain Android smartphones offer displays capable of rendering what's called wide-gamut color. With O, Android gains the native ability to show off those colors. While it will depend on developer and smartphone maker support, we hope to see even more vivid images from apps such as Instagram as a result of this.
New emoji's
Google is finally replacing the gumdrop emoji style from older versions of Android and is now making rounder face icons for Android O.
There are also new emoji in the form of starstruck, throwing up, fairy, mermaid, giraffe, wizard and even more options.
If you have any questions about Android O as the beta presses on, feel free to send me a message on Twitter and I’d be more than happy to help out.
There are also new emoji in the form of starstruck, throwing up, fairy, mermaid, giraffe, wizard and even more options.
If you have any questions about Android O as the beta presses on, feel free to send me a message on Twitter and I’d be more than happy to help out.
Persistent background apps notification
While having a quick and easy way to see which apps are running in the background (and potentially draining your battery) sounds like a good thing, the implementation introduced in developer preview 3 is less than ideal. An Android system notification lives in your tray near-permanently, constantly reminding you how many apps are running in the background.
More Keyboard Shortcuts
Pixel C users and anyone else who loves to pair a Bluetooth keyboard with their Android device can rejoice: Google says Android O will feature an improved version of keyboard shortcuts for its tab and arrow keys. This could make jumping around a Google Doc so much easier.
Auto-Fill
For your most used apps on your device, Android O will help quickly log into services. The Auto-Fill feature needs to be coded in by the app devs, but once installed, Android O will remember your usernames, and in some cases your password, to quickly and easily jump into apps on your device.
Android TV, Google's smart TV platform gets a new look for its home screen with the Android O update. The emphasis is now on channels — rows of content that call out specific shows and even offer quick previews. A Watch Next row highlights additional episodes of programs you've already watched or shows and movies you've started but haven't finished. A Favorites row highlights your top apps. And, as befits Google's AI-driven focus as of late, Google Assistant will be part of Apple TV, letting you look up shows with the sound of your voice.
System UI options removed
The System UI Tuner is one of those geeky playgrounds nerds like us love poking around in. Unfortunately for us, in the third developer preview Google removed access to several options previously available, including my personal favorite. Fortunately for anyone that had set up custom navigation keys in earlier previews, they continue to appear ad work, but don’t expect that to last forever. Lock screen and picture-in-picture options are now gone, presumably until Android 8.1 or the first Android P developer preview.
Now that we're at the fourth Android O Developer Preview, and the third public beta, the build is considered a Release Candidate, and is safe to use for everyday activities. Developers can not only update their apps to support the latest Android O APIs (in fact, Google is forcefully encouraging them to do just that!) but users can expect a very stable experience using old apps and new.
Will your phone be updated to Android O?
There's a good chance that if you have a phone that debuted in 2017, your phone will eventually be updated to Android O when it's released. It may not be until 2018, but it will happen. If your phone is from 2016, the chance of it being updated to Android O is less, but some manufacturers Samsung, Motorola, will be updated.
If you have a Pixel or Pixel XL or a Nexus 5X or 6P, your phone will be among the first to receive the final version of Android O.
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