Google Announces Android O Developer Preview

[randomhkkid]

http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/21/14990876/google-android-o-8-update-developer-preview-release-battery-life-notifications-api

Developer preview can be found here: https://developer.android.com/preview/index.html

 

From the Google developer page:

 

Quote

What is Android O?

The next version of Android, with new power and performance optimizations and many new ways to extend your apps.

* NOTIFICATION CHANNELS 

* PICTURE-IN-PICTURE 

* AUTOFILL 

* ADAPTIVE ICONS

 

 

From the verge:

 

Battery life

Quote

Google isn’t yet telling us everything that’s coming in O, but the marquee feature is meant to address a perennial smartphone problem that has seen equally perennial attempts at fixing it: battery life.

 

For O, Google is continuing its trend toward aggressively managing what apps can do in the background (as iOS has long done) to ensure that runaway processes don’t destroy your battery. As Android VP of engineering, Dave Burke, puts it: “We've put additional automatic limits on what apps can do in the background, in three main areas: implicit broadcasts, background services, and location updates.”

Notification Channels

Quote

Easier to judge: changes in the notification system in Android. It seems like notifications get tweaked with every iteration of smartphone software, but Android’s approach has generally been better than the competition’s. For O, the big change is that apps can “group” their notifications into categories called “channels.”

 

Picture in Picture

Quote

The update will allow users to continue watching a video on a corner of the screen while simultaneously using another app. For example, you can continue watching YouTube while also watching where your Lyft driver is on a map without swapping between the two. The feature is similar Samsung’s multi-window support, but Android O will let users set their own aspect ratios, and you’ll get custom interaction buttons like play / pause to directly support video display. “Other new windowing features include a new app overlay window for apps to use instead of system alert window, and multi-display support for launching an activity on a remote display,” Google says.

 

Autofill

Quote

Autofill APIs, which will make it easier for password managers to register themselves as the official autofill app for punching in your oft-entered yet still-sensitive information into other apps

 

Adaptive Icons

Quote

Google is also letting app developers create “adaptive icons,” which will change their look and shape depending on what home screen theme the user has opted for. That’s either a sign that theming is going to be a bigger deal than it used to be on Android, or it’s a sign that all those Android icon packs are getting popular but are still too confusing to set up for most users. Let’s go with both.

 

Miscellaneous Extras

Quote

 

• I’ve been told that the plan is not to allow Android on Chrome OS to stay a generation behind, but that after it exits beta this spring, it will be kept at parity with the current phone release.
• A new pop-up window that apps can use instead of the system alert window (actually that sounds terrible)
• New ways to support keyboard navigation, including especially arrow and tab button navigation
• Support for fonts as full Android resources, so they can be used and defined more simply in XML layouts.
• “Wide-gamut color for apps,” so that they can take full advantage of the stupid-good screens on flagship phones
• A “telecom framework” so third-party VOIP apps can act like first-class phone apps as far as the OS is concerned
• WebView (the thing that lets apps use the Chrome rendering engine to display web content) is going to work a little more smoothly because apps will have “multiprocess mode” enabled by default and handle crashes themselves. They can also use Google’s Safe Browsing verification to ensure users aren’t caught on phishing sites.
• New Java stuff, including “Java 8 APIs and runtime optimizations” and “the new java.time API.” Google also claims the “Android Runtime,” the code behind the code that runs your apps, will be “faster than ever before, with improvements of up to 2x on some application benchmarks.”
• Something called “Network Aware Networking,” which should allow Android devices to communicate directly with each other over Wi-Fi, even if the network isn’t connected to the internet
• Google is aiming to improve sound quality with wireless headphones with “high-quality Bluetooth audio codecs,” as well as Sony’s LDAC codec.

 

Thoughts:

Looks pretty cool, lots of interesting new stuff as Google looks to be laying the groudwork for a merge between ChromeOS and Android. I'm especially excited about the wide colour gamut support and battery life push. Hopefully this means more apps will take advantage of some of the incredible screens out there and solve many of the 'Android OS' battery drain issues.

 

I've probably missed stuff, let me know if you spot anything and I'll add it to the OP.

[Ezio Auditore]

Any guesses what O means? 

[Aaron Duce]

This is really interesting! Is it for all phones or only for specific devices such as Pixel because I have a OnePlus 3T.  Looking great, have they announced a name and has Lineage said anything about Lineage 15?

[orbaxter]

When your contract gave you an non-google phone so you can't install the developer previews anymore ;(

[The Sloth]

1 minute ago, Ezio Auditore said:

Any guesses what O means? 

Oreo http://www.techradar.com/news/android-o-is-this-the-oreo-feature-list-well-see-at-google-io-2017

[NumLock21]

2 minutes ago, Ezio Auditore said:

Any guesses what O means? 

Awesome-O

[ProjectBox153]

And I'm still running Gingerbread and Jelly Bean. 

[DocSwag]

Android Oreo... LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!

[iamdarkyoshi]

12 minutes ago, Ezio Auditore said:

Any guesses what O means? 

Well every version of android is named after a sweet, and in alphabetical order, so some tasty treat starting with O

[NumLock21]

Any other dessert or sweets that starts with the letter O, besides Oreo?

Next build P, probably won't be Pizza.

[TidaLWaveZ]

If they were able to use Kit Kat with no legal trouble Oreo is probably correct.

 

Oatmeal Cookie is the only other feasible option I've heard, but it easily takes a back seat to oreo. Orange slice is another candy but even less feasible.

 

[Master Disaster]

What's funny is my Shield Tablet & Shield TV have both had Nougat for months and both have had multiple N updates too while my phone is still rocking Marshmallow with no Nougat in sight.

 

By the time my S6 gets N it will already have been superseded. Great job Samsung *slow clap*

[Silentprototipe]

2 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

What's funny is my Shield Tablet & Shield TV have both had Nougat for months and both have had multiple N updates too while my phone is still rocking Marshmallow with no Nougat in sight.

 

By the time my S6 gets N it will already have been superseded. Great job Samsung *slow clap*

I was just about to comment that. Im like GJ Samsung, whats worse is that while having Samsung's slow updates I also have to deal with the reluctance of AT&T to give updates as well. 

[Nowak]

14 minutes ago, TidaLWaveZ said:

If they were able to use Kit Kat with no legal trouble

That's because they licensed KitKat from Nestlé.

[Master Disaster]

5 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

What's funny is my Shield Tablet & Shield TV have both had Nougat for months and both have had multiple N updates too while my phone is still rocking Marshmallow with no Nougat in sight.

 

By the time my S6 gets N it will already have been superseded. Great job Samsung *slow clap*

I could make this up, literally as I pressed save on this ^ post my phone went off, the update to N has just been pushed by Vodafone UK and I'm downloading it right now!!

[TidaLWaveZ]

Just now, Master Disaster said:

I could make this up, literally as I pressed save on this ^ post my phone went off, the update to N has just been pushed by Vodafone UK and I'm downloading it right now!!

Big Brother is listening.

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, TidaLWaveZ said:

Big Brother is listening.

[JuztBe]

 

20 minutes ago, TidaLWaveZ said:

If they were able to use Kit Kat with no legal trouble Oreo is probably correct.

 

Oatmeal Cookie is the only other feasible option I've heard, but it easily takes a back seat to oreo. Orange slice is another candy but even less feasible.

 

Everyone was expecting Nutella for "N", so don't be so confident about oreo, pretty sure there's more sweets from "O" letter.

[TidaLWaveZ]

2 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

 

[Master Disaster]

Just now, JuztBe said:

 

Everyone was expecting Nutella for "N", so don't be so confident about oreo, pretty sure there's more sweets from "O" letter.

None that are English. Google it if you don't believe.

[TidaLWaveZ]

7 minutes ago, JuztBe said:

 

Everyone was expecting Nutella for "N", so don't be so confident about oreo, pretty sure there's more sweets from "O" letter.

Yeah but Oreo's are Nabisco, owned by Kraft Foods, owned by Nestle who makes Kit Kat. So it's essentially a company that's already done this with android in the past.

 

Not saying it's set in stone, but it just makes Oreo even more likely of a choice.

[Guest Kloaked]

Hopefully this means Bluetooth 5 in most new mobile devices including in-ear monitors by the end of the year. Am excite.

[handymanshandle]

1 hour ago, Ezio Auditore said:

Any guesses what O means? 

My hopes and dreams lie with it being this...

[handymanshandle]

15 minutes ago, TidaLWaveZ said:

Yeah but Oreo's are Nabisco, owned by Kraft Foods, owned by Nestle who makes Kit Kat. So it's essentially a company that's already done this with android in the past.

 

Not saying it's set in stone, but it just makes Oreo even more likely of a choice.

Wouldn't Google only have to go through Nabisco. I mean either way it's totally possible that because of Nestle they may do it again. I'd love to see there be some sort of promotion done with oreos and android.

Like either a free year of Youtube red or some Google play gift cards and maybe like a pixel and pixel xl giveaway that's be cool

[TidaLWaveZ]

Just now, wcreek said:

Wouldn't Google only have to go through Nabisco. I mean either way it's totally possible that because of Nestle they may do it again. I'd love to see there be some sort of promotion done with oreos and android.

Like either a free year of Youtube red or some Google play gift cards and maybe like a pixel and pixel xl giveaway that's be cool

Or a free year of Oreo's with a Galaxy S8 purchase