Just like Google announced Android Nougat last year, months ahead of it, the company has just dropped the first developer preview for Android O. This developer build of Android O is available for the official Android Emulator and it can be manually installed on Nexus Player, Pixel C tablet, Nexus 5X, Pixel and Pixel XL.
Android O is spreading like wildfire now and developers are struggling to bring new features to their applications. There is still a long way to go for its release but developers are already trying out exploring, inventing and playing with new features around the rumors and speculations running around it.
Here are some suggested names for Android next version. Come participate and have your say in this survey!
Let us get into the next version of Android a little more.
It was August 2016 when the final version of Android N was released as Android Nougat and with almost the same time frame in 2017 Android O will be witnessing its release.
A- Important Dates And Events
Que 1- When Is Google I/O 2017?
Ans 1- 17 – 19 May 2017
Traditionally Google uses Google I/O for announcing its new updates to its Android OS. 17 and 19 May 2017 will witness the 11th Annual I/O conference at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California.
Que 2- When Is The Android O Release Date?
Ans 2- According to sources, Android O UK release date: August/September 2017.
Let us see what Android O has in its store:
B- Rumours And Speculations
1. Battery life – Improving Life With Purpose
A very powerful, biggest and most welcomed feature of Android O is its improvement in its battery life. While multiple applications are open, Android O will be limiting and managing what applications can do in the background with way less overheating and smarter utilization of chips with better algorithms.
Such a feature can be understood as ‘behind the curtain’ feature which you can just appreciate but can’t see how it exactly works. This can be well understood that if you are using Instagram actively, but you also have Google Maps open in the background now what will happen is that location services will update the location less frequently, or in some smart fashion for Google Maps to save battery. Therefore, in Android O, the operating system will go smarter to conserve more power than before.
2. Notifications – Groupify With Buzz
Another strong feature which is expected to come in Android O is the Notification Channel. In Android O you can now group your notifications into channels. Developers can easily group the notifications from their apps into groups. So if you have a news application and want to group notification by ‘politics’ or ‘technology’, you can easily group the same. Users will then be able to manage notifications based on those channels.
Android O will observe many user-customizable notification channels and alerts are grouped by their type. Users will be able to snooze notifications and developers can even set limits for notifications to time out. Also, background colors of notifications are adjustable and even the messaging style can be modified.
3. Picture-in-picture – Watch Uninterrupted
Picture-in-picture video is common for iPad but not fully functional on phone yet. Android O claims to bring for you the ability to keep watching the video while you are interacting with another application. It is yet to be disclosed that to what extent this feature is incorporated by video applications like HBO and Netflix. We wish that you will soon be able to watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones while you can still check the weather with Android O. 🙂
Such feature is already available on Android TV and is expected to show its wonders in Android O. Such features are commonly used for video playback. It will be one of the most exciting additions to Android O, but it is still under it testing phase. Let’ hope we get it!
4. Autofill System Wide – Detailing Meticulously
So, now if you use a password manager application, Android O gives you an easy and secured way of accessing your password across your device via autofill feature. You will, therefore, be able to select which password manager application you want as a password manager app so as to take advantage of a system-wide autofill feature.
It is very much similar to the way you choose which keyboard you want to use across your applications on your phone. There are times when users easily get frustrated with such applications which require repetitive tasks like filing credit card information, account creation, login etc. Android O simplifies such process, therefore, it will now easy to login, fill details and this is possible with the introduction of Autofill Framework.
5. Cutting Short The Keyboard – Scribbling Is Fun
Android O comes with a good news that it is getting better keyboard support for improved application navigation. It offers great navigational shortcuts which can be easily used via a physical keyboard. Google is focussed on building a reliable, predictable model for ‘arrow’ and ‘tab’ navigation for Chromebooks.
It is essentially an awesome feature for Android Apps on Chrome OS and offers developers great support for arrow and tab navigation in their applications. Android O will not be restricted to phones, therefore improved arrow and tab key navigation will be with a physical keyboard.
6. Wide Range Of Colors – Colors Tells Story
The display of your phone is getting better and better with the new version, so says the Android O fans. Not only the colors are brighter and crisper, but the range of colors is just wide. You will get more expressive and intuitive designs in your applications with wide-color gamut (WCG) support. Such support also means photos and videos will look even better on WCG supported scenes.
Displays will improve tremendously with newer phones and tablets and your applications will be able to take full benefit from a full range of colors. Just imagine how vibrant your cat pics will look.
7. Wireless Audio – Qualitative Sound
Wired headphones in Android work well. Using wireless headphones can be crap but Android O has brought for you a new Audio API, where wireless sound gets a boost, therefore, higher performance codecs. You will get cleaner sound with less latency. Ever used wireless headphones to watch videos on your Android? You will realize that sound and video goes off the track and does not sync well. But now your phone will be able to wirelessly stream high-quality audio. For all audiophiles out there, this can be really a great news.
Open Arms Await Android O
While these eight features are definitely worth getting excited for but the speculations are unending. Be ready for more goodies and Google will make your summer more breezy and cool. Gear up for flashy features in the store. Another humdrum is now opening address in a text message will directly open on Google’s Maps which was not available in Android N. But it is still unknown that will this be functional only in Google’s Message app or in all messaging applications on Android O. Also, you can draw on screen the letter C to open your contacts menu.
Anyways, I shall end my type right here! Get ready for more. Share with us what more you want from your Android O. Go Crazy, Go Creative, Go Techie. Go O.
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References: developer.android.com, androidpolice.com, pcadvisor.co.uk, stumbleupon.com, cnet.com, techcrunch.com
Rachit Agarwal
