It’s that time of the year when the mobile community starts anticipating and speculating about the next Android platform version. We’re expecting it to be announced at the upcoming Google I/O Conference in May. Since February, Google has began teasing us by showing us Android Oreo and Android Pocky. The latter will be for next year but we don’t believe either of the two will use the names.
So far, we heard Android O will receive new assistive and smarter features. We don’t expect confirmation anytime soon but we’re assuming more details will be leaked.
We just read up some rumors about Android O. They’re still rumors at this point so take everything with a grain of salt. Going through the list, we can say this will be another important update complete with picture-in-picture mode, new notifications, smart text selection, and app icon badges for active notifications plus Google Assistant integration.
Unlike last year, Google hasn’t released any Android O Developer Preview yet. You may remember that Nougat preview was ready as early as March. It was the earliest release ever since the Android team would usually release each new version during Summer. The Spring rollout last year was welcome but sadly, release by OEMs and networks have been slower. We’re hoping it will be different this year even if we don’t know much about the Android O yet.
The next Android software will have a number of new features. Most of them are mainly enhancements but Google could be concealing the major ones for now.
Here’s a rundown of the features we can expect on the upcoming Android O as shared by 9TO5Google:
• App icon badges for active notifications. This feature could something we’ve been wanting since forever. This could offer a quicker glance at the number of notifications available for a particular app.
• New notifications. This could refer to a different display of notifications–once again different from Android Nougat. There’s some hint of Andromeda but right now, we don’t have information about what Andromeda really is but we’ve been saying it is hybrid OS.
• Smart text selection floating toolbar w/ Google Assistant integration. Feature is believed to “lessen” copy-paste moves by automatically copying important information found in apps and surfaces. Addresses may also come to text fields. We can also expect some finger gestures.
• Picture-in-picture mode similar to Android TV. This could be the same picture mode that has been ready for the Android TV on iPads. There is a possibility that more devices will receive the same feature and not just tablets.
• Restricted background activities from apps like Chrome 57. There could be changes to the Chrome browser including reduction in power consumption. App packground activities are expected to be more efficient and faster than ever.
• MediaRecorder API improvements. The updated API is said to allow some apps to capture video and audio than save. Major improvements are expected to arrive on Android O but we have no idea how exactly.
• Adaptive icons like Google Pixel. Nothing much to say here except they could be dynamically changing. We don’t know how it will be “adaptive” but we’re guessing they will “adapt” to whatever view or settings are set on default or maybe just any launcher.
• More enterprise features. Last but not the least, since Google is getting more focused on the enterprise, it’s only apt that the developers include relevant features to Android. It has already started by introducing new products and services so now it’s time to upgrade mobile OS features.
VIA: 9TO5GOOGLE
