What's New in Android O and How It Improves Your Phone

Android O is here, and it's packed with exciting features that will improve your phone experience.

One of the standout features is Project Treble, a new modular architecture that allows for faster and more reliable updates.

With Project Treble, you can expect faster updates to your operating system, which means you'll get the latest security patches and features sooner.

This is a game-changer for Android users, who often have to wait for months for updates to roll out.

Android O also introduces a new feature called Picture-in-Picture (PiP), which allows you to multitask like never before.

With PiP, you can watch a video or take a call while still using other apps on your phone.

The new notification system in Android O is also a major improvement, with features like notification dots and snoozing.

These features make it easier to stay on top of your notifications and manage your time more efficiently.

Notifications can be snoozed and batched into topic-based groups known as "channels", making it easier to manage your alerts.

The 'Major Ongoing' feature orders the alerts by priority, pinning the most important application to the top slot, so you'll never miss a crucial notification.

Android Oreo contains integrated support for picture-in-picture modes, allowing you to multitask with ease.

The "Settings" app features a new design which has been reduced in size, with a white theme and deeper categorization of different settings, making it simpler to find what you need.

Notification alert sounds are also limited to one per second for each app, reducing the noise and distraction.

Developers will have the ability to enable background colors for notifications from their app, but only for ongoing tasks that are critical for a user to see at a glance.

Android 8.1 update supports the display of battery percentages for connected Bluetooth devices, keeping you informed about your device's power usage.

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Cleaner Icons are a game-changer for user experience. Android developers can now create an array of icons to match the styles for different devices.

This means if you use a phone that defaults to round app icons, apps that have typically used square icons now have the ability to use round ones instead.

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Developers can now enable background colors for notifications from their app.

This feature is recommended for ongoing tasks that are critical for a user to see at a glance, such as navigation or phone calls.

You won't see a rainbow of colors in your notifications tray, but it's a useful tool for developers to convey important information.

Notification background colors are meant to help you quickly identify the type of notification, making it easier to prioritize and manage your notifications.

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Picture-in-picture is a game-changer for multitasking.

It's been supported on Android O, which means you can use it with any app, not just YouTube. This is a big deal, because it opens up a whole new world of possibilities for how you use your phone.

The feature is still a bit buggy in the current developer preview, but it's definitely worth exploring. With picture-in-picture, you can have multiple apps open at the same time and switch between them seamlessly.

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Android Oreo's platform is built on a solid foundation, with several key features that enhance the overall user experience. Android Oreo adds support for Neighborhood Aware Networking (NAN) for Wi-Fi based on Wi-Fi Aware.

The operating system also introduces Bluetooth 5, which offers improved range and speed. Wide color gamuts in apps are now supported, making for more vibrant and immersive visuals. Android Oreo features an API for autofillers, making it easier to fill out forms and login credentials.

The Android Runtime (ART) has been improved for better performance. Android Oreo contains additional limits on apps' background activities to improve battery life. Apps can now specify "adaptive icons" for differently-shaped containers specified by themes.

Android Oreo adds native support for Advanced Audio Coding, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC Bluetooth codecs. This means you can enjoy higher quality audio on your Android device. A new emoji font was introduced in Android Oreo, which redesigns face figures to use a traditional circular shape.

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Support for downloadable fonts was introduced in Android Oreo, making it easier to customize your device's look and feel. The underlying architecture of Android was revised to make it easier to develop and deploy Android updates for devices. This new architecture, called Project Treble, allows vendors to make necessary modifications to their bundled software.

Android Oreo has a robust security feature called Google Play Protect, which includes automatic scanning of apps from the Google Play Store and sideloaded apps.

Google Play Protect also includes Android Device Manager, now re-branded as Find My Device, which helps you locate your device if it's lost or stolen.

A single system-wide setting for enabling app installations from outside the Google Play Store is no longer available, instead, you grant individual apps permission to install apps from third-party repositories.

Verified boot now includes Rollback Protection, which prevents you from rolling back your device to a previous version of Android, a feature aimed at preventing thieves from bypassing security measures.

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Android O brings a slew of exciting updates and features to the table.

Background execution limits are now in place to prevent apps from running in the background and consuming system resources unnecessarily.

The picture-in-picture (PIP) mode is a game-changer for multitaskers, allowing you to watch videos or take calls while browsing the web or working on other tasks.

Notification channels help you manage notifications more effectively by grouping them into categories.

Smart text selection is a feature that makes it easier to copy and paste text from any source, including images and websites.

Android O's new keyboard features include a more intuitive design and easier access to additional keys.

The Autofill framework makes it easier to fill out forms and other fields with your personal info.