The latest version of Android, the Android Oreo is the talk of the town ever since its released 10days back on Aug 21^st 2017.  It has been preceded by Android Nougat and it is the 8^th major version of Android.

Okay I know that you guys are already aware of all these facts by now, let’s dig-in a bit deeper shall we.

As it happened I visited the Android website to learn more about the new software and I was greeted by the Oreo cookie with the android symbol on it! It says Oreo is “Smarter, faster, more powerful and it is sweeter than ever. The world’s favorite cookie is your new favorite”

sounds promising?

Let’s find out what are the upgrades from the successful Nougat. If you’re an Android Developer, these features should give you an Idea on what you need to be prepared for.

Some features are always hidden under the hood and some are on the surface just to impress you. The Oreo has already been introduced to in the Pixels and Nexus phones which always run on stock Android.

Starting with the updates under the hood!

• It provides better battery life, updates which solve issue and impeccable security
• Applications and reboots are much faster now
• Applications are better because of Google play protect
• All new Autofill update, helping in better password management
• Bootloop prevention with Rescue party. 

Improved Battery Life

For longer battery life and better performance, google has adapted automatic limits on app background activities in the new software.

These background limits will specifically include implicit broadcasts, background services and location updates. Which means less energy consumption and do I have to say it? LONGER BATTERY LIFE!

Oreo makes it easy to find applications that consume most of the battery. No surprise Facebook and WhatsApp end up being the most used applications. And Oreo is the only software which can show you if your battery is consumed by the background applications or while actually using an application.

Faster reboot and applications are faster

Improvisations or Optimizations in the system should always cut the device start time in half and dramatically increase app performance. This is evident from the independent reports from top tech reviewers XDA and Android Police.

Better Applications

Background service for android apps is Google Play Protect which will optimize security on Android software by analyzing the behavior of apps to detect any availability or signs of malware and eliminate it from both your device and also from the play store.

There is an additional pressure on app developers from Google to increase the performance and stability of their applications, setting standards for the upcoming applications. If an application fails to qualify the new standards there are chances of being removed from the Play Store.

WI-FI Aware

My favorite and the coolest software update till date, so here’s how it works.

You can get the information of all the Wi-Fi devices with in your vicinity, devices with compatible hardware can communicate when they are close, using Wi-Fi Aware without necessarily having to use an internet connection.

And the best part is, even if the Wi-Fi is password protected all you have to do is scan the product code or the stickers under the Wi-Fi modem and you’re automatically logged in.

How cool is that!

The New Autofill Update

An all new system-wide Autofill API has been introduced with Android Oreo, which allows all of your usernames and passwords to be managed at one place, this means convenience and security when logging into apps and filling out forms, there would not be a need of copy/pasting of usernames and passwords anymore. 

Bootloop Prevention with Rescue party

The rescue party will help prevent bootloops, which has been a terror of mobile phone issues. When core system components are crashing over and over again, Android will notice and take steps to recover the device. As a final resort, it will reboot into recovery mode and give the option to factory reset the device. This feature will be enabled by default and doesn’t require any special hardware, though it’s only for phones running on the all new Android Oreo.

And what are the updates which are visible? 

The surface features in the other words, and they are

• Smarter text selection
• New round emoji
• Adaptive icon
• Notification channels and dots
• Widgets are easy to integrate
• Search and find app info
• Picture in picture 

Smarter text Selection

The whole copy/pasting thing on your phone is going to get a lot easier, all thanks to machine learning, Oreo will recognize when you’re trying to Copy/paste something like an address or an URL and preselect for you automatically.

All new Emoji’s

(Image source – Android Blog)

Oreo comes with all new characters of emoji’s in addition to the old ones.

New Adaptive Icons

App icons will adapt automatically to the manufacturer’s user interface. The appearance of app icons differs across the wide range of devices running Android. So, an app icon may appear to be circular in the launcher of the one device and square in another.

That, of course, depends on the manufacturer’s skin, but it’s cool to see that google will now offer a standard for adapting application icons to the UI, only if the develop does too.

 (Image source – Android Blog)

Notification channels and Dots

Google is bringing changes to the notification like always, with the introduction of notification channels and Notification Dots. Notification channels are new categories for notifications that give users very detailed control over notifications. Block or change notifications settings not just by an application but also by channel or topic. These channels are visually grouped together on the notification shade.

Easier to integrate Widgets

Integrating with widgets to your home screen is an easier task, instead of digging through the alphabetical list of widgets as in previous versions of Android, all you have to do is long press on any icon you want a widget for and then select one of its available widgets. As simple as that!

Search and find app info

This may not be something new because it was first introduced in Android Lollipop, the settings menu has had a search function. With the update to Android Oreo, the search gets a new feature. App info now appears in the search result for installed apps.

Now, you can quickly access an app’s App info menu to quit app, delete its cache or manage its permissions.

Picture in picture

(image source – Giphy)

Kidding! Not like this one of course.

Picture in picture is the new exiting feature where you can run two applications simultaneously, not all the applications ofcourse, only the apps which support this feature almost like the split screen introduce in nougat.

(image source –Google)

Okay! So after going through all of the Oreo’s features, how would you prepare yourself as a developer? 

If you are an Android developer, you must be most definitely wondering what are the strategies to be implemented to shift your Android app development towards Android Oreo.

All these new features and inclusion can very well change the behavior of your app even without changing anything, so learn more about the compatibility of the features and changes implemented with Oreo, I’m sure you would get a break through on how you would want to go forward with it.

Making an App compatible with Oreo is the key to your future in development. 

Also take look at all the devices compatible with the new software, it was first introduce in Google Pixel and Nexus 5X/6P during the testing period, which adds these devices to the list. By the end of this year manufacturers like Essential, OnePlus, Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, LG, Sony etc. are all geared up for the new and exciting software update.

Alright! If you are someone who is looking for some of the best Android developersfor your dream application, I know someone who could help you find the best for you. 

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