Android 8 Oreo : What are new features in Google’s New Android OS?

So many Android developers and Android mobile phone users were waiting for the release of Oreo 8 Android OS. Android Oreo OS has finally released on 21st August 2017 to the public with new features and updates by Google.

We are giving here the key features you should look forward to from Android Oreo when it will be rolled out to your smartphones.

• Picture-in-Picture

If you are looking for Android App Development then make sure the developer makes full use of the new features in Android Oreo like this one feature “Picture-in-Picture”. Google has introduced new picture-in-picture functionality which is one of the most useful changes. This new feature will allow users to continue watching videos on a small virtual screen while getting stuff done within other apps. Google says that apps will be able to put themselves in picture-in-picture mode. The idea is to make you able to watch a YouTube video while you are sending emails in the Gmail app.

• Background limits

For smartphone users, battery life is always a big concern that’s why Google keep on making improvements with the new Android OS. In latest version of Android Oreo also Google has increased the automatic limits on what apps can do in the background in many key areas like background services, location updates, broadcasts etc. Google blog post says, “These changes will make it easier to create apps that have minimal impact on a user’s device and battery. Background limits represent a significant change in Android, so we want every developer to get familiar with them”.

• Amazing Text Selection features

If you want to develop an Android app and want to incorporate this new feature then you can hire Android developers which are expert and can use this feature. Actually Google has been innovating continuously to improve the text selection feature. In Android Oreo, a text selection is more sensitive now. How you will get the benefit? If you sele ct the text which is an address then it will begin to give you direction while if it is a phone number then it will redirect to dial a call.

• Notification Channels and dots

Google plans to group notifications into channels to give more control to the users over their app notification categories.

Google says, “Users can block or change the behaviour of each channel individually, rather than managing all of the apps’ notification together”.

Google is making it possible to snooze individual notifications which is very useful. You can snooze notifications for 15 minutes, 30 minutes or one hour.

Another new feature is notification dots which are visual indicators on app icons which will show if you have any notifications which is waiting.

• Autofill APIs

Google wants to save your time by Autofill APIs. This will allow your favorite password manager apps to work with the Android OS so that you can access them just like you would a third party keyboard.

• Better keyboard navigation

A big change in Android Oreo is the improvement of keyboard navigation. Google says that more users are navigating to apps using a physical keyboard due to the arrival of the Play Store on the Google Chrome OS. Google says, “In Android O, we are focused on building a more reliable, predictable model for arrow and tab navigation that aids both developers and end users”.

• Camera app improvements

Google is spending more time reworking the camera app and now in Android Oreo, Google offers a new double-tap feature which lets you quickly get to 50% zoom. There is also a new dedicated button which lets you switch between photo and video modes. In Earlier version, users were forced to swipe which as per some users was not intuitive.

• Better Audio

Google is adding Sony’s LDAC codec which was donated to Android by Sony. This will improve upon the Bluetooth A2DP protocol which is currently being used. Google is also introducing AAudio which will result in improved low latency audio. Google says that it is a “New native API that’s designed specifically for apps that require high-performance, low-latency audio”.

Conclusion

With these new features and updates in Android 8 Oreo OS, Google intends to make Android more intuitive, user friendly and powerful. This way Google’s Android is going to give more competition to the Apple iOS which is also popular among some category of smartphone users.