Android O launching August 21

[IntMD]

6 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

there never was one

 

6 hours ago, Denis Rakhmanov said:

What happened to A?

1.5 was Cupcake, 1.1 was Petit Four and earlier ones didn't have official codenames

[porina]

Anyone trying to watch the livestream? Got an intro and... not a lot else.

[LAwLz]

So far it doesn't seem like Android 8 is that big of a release, but I haven't read through all the new features yet.

Here is the announcement video (basically just the intro, no proper video yet):

Not that much to say. I will be adding new features to this thread as I discover them.

 

 

 

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Speed improvements (quoted as 2x faster startup time for "favorite tasks"). My guess is that this will be like SuperFetch in Windows, where it will learn what programs you use the most often, and then load that into RAM before you need it (using prediction, not just loading it in at all times).

 

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Automatically minimize background activity for apps you don't use often. Hopefully, this will help with apps draining your power in the background.

 

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Autofill passwords inside apps. It's basically like Chrome's autofill function, where you can tell Chrome (and now Android) to remember your account name and password for websites (and now apps). So if you, for example, reinstall an app, or switch phones then it can remember your password.

 

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Picture-in-picture mode. I don't know much about how this will work, but the example Google shows is a video call in the lower right corner of your phone, and then calendar being fullscreened behind the video. Not sure how useful this will be since there is already multi-window support.

 

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Notification dots on icons, which are interactive. Now when you get a notification from an app, the icon will display a dot in the corner. By quickly tapping the dot a speech bubble will appear showing you the notification. You can also dismiss notifications from the icon.

This is what it looks like:

 

 

 

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Support for "instant apps". Basically, when you visit a website such as BestBuy, it can "stream" the BestBuy app to your phone. So instead of ending up at the BestBuy website in your browser, it will open the app (which is not actually installed on your phone). Not sure if this will lead to an increase in data usage, but it will probably be very useful. No more need to install a billion apps for each individual website you visit, just because their mobile page sucks ass.

Might still be best to install the app though since it will probably save you a bit of data.

 

 

 

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Over 60 new emojis... yay...

 

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Background execution limits

More control over how apps run in the background for better overall system performance.

 

Background location limits

Limits the frequency of location updates in the background for better overall system health.

 

 

 

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Color management! Finally proper support for different color gamuts in Android. It's per-app as well.

It seems like there are still some limitations though, for example, the color space will be hardcoded to the app and can not be changed by the user. A properly programmed app shouldn't need the user to intervene but it would have been nice to have regardless.

1

 

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Support for Mopria-certified printers.

 

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New share API which allows you to "share files across the Internet via web links". My guess is that it will upload a file temporarily to Google Drive and then generate a link for it.

 

 

 

 

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Snooze notifications. You can now temporarily hide notifications, which will appear later again.

 

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More granular control over notifications, with "notification categories". This to me seems like a developer feature and not a user-facing feature. If I understand it correctly, developers can now assign notifications to different categories which can be used to for example bundle them (no need to have 5 notifications if you got 5 new text messages).

 

 

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Project Treble!

Making Android a bit more modular which will help chipset makers reuse code for Android updates. What this means is that (hopefully) updates for phones will get developed faster and become more common. I wouldn't bet on it though.

More reading about it here.

 

 

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API for tooltips in apps. They are small popup windows which text describing things.

You could already do this if you wrote your own code, but now there is a first party API for it which will help with consistency in apps.

 

 

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Wi-Fi Assistant

It's been a Nexus feature before but now it seems like it is coming to all Android phones.

What Wi-Fi Assistant does is that, when turned on, your phone will automatically connect to open Wi-Fi networks which are deemed "high-quality" (not sure how this is determined). In order to protect you from attacks (because open networks are not secure) you also establish a VPN connection to Google, so your traffic is encrypted.

 

 

 

 

Plus lots and lots of other stuff.

• Improvements to WebViews (safe browsing and multiprocess)
• VoIP apps can now be more deeply integrated.
• Support for Sony's LDAC codec (new codec for Bluetooth audio, which actually seems pretty good).

[Sniperfox47]

15 minutes ago, porina said:

Anyone trying to watch the livestream? Got an intro and... not a lot else.

...that was the livestream... A 40 second "Hey it's the name everyone figured it would be, we actually licensed another name after the disaster that was KitKat" video...

[Djole123]

So after a lot of teasers, hints, speculations and rumors, it's finally here-Android 8.0 Oreo.

 

So what does 8.0 Oreo bring to the table? Aside that it's brand-named just like 4.4 KitKat, it brings quite a bit of new features. Some of those are:

quick boot (up to 2x faster than 7.0), picture-in-picture for videos,

notification dots (similar to 3D Touch), new emojis,

better battery life and so much more...

 

The update will first roll out on the Google Pixel (XL), Nexus 6P, and Nexus 5X, and then the rest of the phones that can support it.

 

Sources:

https://9to5google.com/2017/08/21/android-8-oreo-name-unveiled/

 

https://www.android.com/versions/oreo-8-0/

[ProjectBox153]

Repost. But it looks cool! Although I'm on Android 5, so I'm not too likely to get 8. 

[Djole123]

1 minute ago, Jamiec1130 said:

Repost. But it looks cool! Although I'm on Android 5, so I'm not too likely to get 8. 

Ah such a shame, it looks very cool...

 

Also, it's NOT a repost, it's just that me and @LAwLz were typing at the same time. Mods will probably merge the two posts because they were posted just 2 minutes apart.

[Hiitchy]

Too bad you can't twist it, lick it, dip it and then eat it. You might end up voiding your warranty. /s

 

I've always been a fan of new OSes though, can't wait to see what this one brings.

[AshleyAshes]

*stares at Nexus 5X until it updates*  o___________________o

[porina]

7 minutes ago, Sniperfox47 said:

...that was the livestream... A 40 second "Hey it's the name everyone figured it would be, we actually licensed another name after the disaster that was KitKat" video...

Thought they were gonna talk about features and stuff. Don't need a livestream to show a short vid like that...

[captain cactus]

Like it matters when the vast majority of Android users are on OSs released in 2014 and 2015. Those devices didn't even get 2016's Android.

[The Benjamins]

8 minutes ago, lots of unexplainable lag said:

Like it matters when the vast majority of Android users are on OSs released in 2014 and 2015. Those devices didn't even get 2016's Android.

and due to the updating model it is the manufacture and carriers fault for them lagging behind on it, Glad I have a pixel.

[vorticalbox]

32 minutes ago, Djole123 said:

better battery life

Google claim this release after release yet battery life is still a concern.

[WkdPaul]

Android Oreo (8.0) threads were all merged.

[WereCat]

Now lets hope Huawei will push update for my Mate 8.

[MoonlightSylv]

On 8/19/2017 at 4:17 AM, hey_yo_ said:

-snippo-

Cupcake, also Jelly Bean is 4.3 as well.

[Sniperfox47]

Sounds like Project Treble will be a mandatory part of the Android 8.0 CDD though so at least we have that to look forward to :3

[FakeNSA]

On 8/19/2017 at 2:13 AM, porina said:

Source: https://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2017/08/android-o-is-o-fficially-launching-august-21/?comments=1

 

If Intel's announcement of 8th generation CPUs competing with the total solar eclipse in North America wasn't enough, you can also add the launch for Android "O" to the list. Preview test versions have existed for some time, but let's see how quickly it gets released to the masses. I hope my 5X isn't too old to get it.

 

Personally, if I were within reach of the line of totality of the eclipse, I'd prioritise that as chances don't happen often unless you make a big effort on travel. Partial eclipses are less rare and relatively meh. Tech comes and goes.

Unless your college class made you miss the whole thing.... 

[Trixanity]

1 hour ago, lots of unexplainable lag said:

Like it matters when the vast majority of Android users are on OSs released in 2014 and 2015. Those devices didn't even get 2016's Android.

So what you're saying is that Google should halt all Android development until all phones run Nougat?

 

There is no reason for Google not to soldier on. They can't fix existing devices although they're certainly trying to fix it for new devices while maintaining legacy support.

All they can do is hope OEMs will use the tools that are available to push updates to their customers but as we know they can just ignore that and sell you a new phone instead (and they will). Project Treble will eliminate a significant roadblock but there is still work to do for the OEM, so we'll probably still run into a lot of devices not being updated or only getting occasional security updates despite the changes in Oreo.

 

With all that being said: they have put a lot of stuff into the Play Services framework so users on older devices will still see some benefit from development.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, vorticalbox said:

Google claim this release after release yet battery life is still a concern.

Not really, it got vastly better. It's the fault of putting middling batteries in flagships, of course you're going to get 1 day battery life, but standby with Doze has been massively improved. No denying that. Try a Moto Z Play or Lenovo P2.

[rashdanml]

13 hours ago, Denis Rakhmanov said:

What happened to A?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history

 

That's actually more accurate. 

[Drak3]

2 hours ago, vorticalbox said:

Google claim this release after release yet battery life is still a concern.

I've yet to see a phone that benefited from Google's "battery saving" techniques over the OEM or custom ROM solutions.

 

2 hours ago, Sniperfox47 said:

Sounds like Project Treble will be a mandatory part of the Android 8.0 CDD though so at least we have that to look forward to Dread

I can honestly say, I'd rather use an iPhone 3G or a Windows Phone 7.5 device before any Android phone that has a major version of Android other than the one it shipped with. Unless the OEM spends a year fixing and replacing shit, so I don't have to deal with Google's latest abortion.

[suicidalfranco]

great vid from android central showing off the new features

 

[Sniperfox47]

11 hours ago, Drak3 said:

I've yet to see a phone that benefited from Google's "battery saving" techniques over the OEM or custom ROM solutions.

Umm... The Nexus 5 got a pretty hefty screen-off battery life boost from doze, and the 6P got a pretty decent one from doze on-the-go. Not to mention that pretty much every Android 6.0 phone that's come out since has had doze enabled because of the battery life boost...

 

11 hours ago, Drak3 said:

I can honestly say, I'd rather use an iPhone 3G or a Windows Phone 7.5 device before any Android phone that has a major version of Android other than the one it shipped with. Unless the OEM spends a year fixing and replacing shit, so I don't have to deal with Google's latest abortion.

Abortion is a bit strong. Not sure what glaring flaws you see in the latest version of Android, but the Pixel was really strong out of the box, as were the other phones that were 7.0 or 7.1 at launch. If you're using the version that came on the device you're also subjecting yourself to glaring security holes that get fixed in the monthly updates. It's no different than iOS in that regard.

 

But that's the whole point of Treble anyways. It's there so that they don't *need* a year to tweak, all their tweaks will either work out of the box with the next major version or gracefully fall back. That's what all the work on RRO, OMS, and treble has been for. So all the OEMs can have their own flavor of Android, but still benefit from the latest security patches and under the hood fixes.

[Klovnious]

Hopefully it pops up on my 6P soon