10 Major Android O features !

Google is surely coming out with its new high-calorie name for Android O, mean while techies are thinking about the possibilities for O.......

Google could come ahead with Oreo, Orange, Oatcake.(Most probably Oreo)

The very first developer preview of android O is out now, ahead of its annual Google I/O developer's conference and like every other update of Android I am excited.While I don't know what Android O will be called , but I do know about all the features that Android O will bring.

Google could come ahead with Oreo, Orange, Oatcake.(Most probably Oreo)

So here are 10 cool Android O features that you should definitely know.

Improved Notification

The first Android O feature I'm going to talk about is the improved notifications.

Google has been refining the notification center since Lollipop and they are not done yet . Android O brings notification channel which lets you customize notifications for different categories of an app. Let me explain it to you. For instance there is a notification from android system , lets say battery notification. Well you can just press and hold on it to see different notification customization options. Here you can setup the notification for all the categories like you can ensure that you don't get any notification of screenshot but get notifications of storage alerts. You can even set the parameter if you want to see the badge, led light or not, there is so much control. While no app currently support the same but we hope after the release apps will release with this feature.

Another cool notification feature is the ability to snooze the notification. You can just slowly swipe the notification tap the clock icon and can snooze it.

Other than that there is also support for notification badges, something that users have demanded Google over the years like the badge feature on iOS and several launchers available for Android.

Quick Settings Update

Like Nougat, Android O brings improvement to the quick settings. In Android O tapping on the wifi or Bluetooth tiles in settings tray simply toggles the WiFi or Bluetooth On or Off. However you can still access the complete settings with all options by tapping on the texture under the icon.

Custom LockScreen Shortcuts

You must have seen 2 shortcuts on the bottom of lock-screen on your Android device. While they are handy, specially the camera one. You must have wished there was an option to add custom shortcut. Well google has heard you.In the system UI tuner option there is a lock-screen option where you can set custom shortcut for the left icon and the right one. You can set it to launch an app, toggle a setting or head to particular page in an app. You can also choose to unlock your phone through any of the shortcut.

Navigation Bar Customization

Yeah we finally have some navigation bar customization in Android O. Its not much but its there. In the system UI tuner page you can change the layout of navigation bar to compact , left leaning or right leaning. You can also add extra buttons like clipboard , keyboard switcher.

Picture in Picture Mode

Android TV has support for Picture in Picture (PIP) mode and its finally coming to phones and tablets through android O.So you can now be able to shrink an app to floating windows and multitask between another apps.

Battery Life Improvement

Google has been trying to improve battery performance on Android devices since Marshmallow and the trend continues in Android O there is high level of restriction placed on app activities when device is sleep . Background apps in Android O will be able to ask for location a few times in an hour. There will also be limitation when it comes to broadcast and background services . There is lot of technical jargon involved, but the truth is Google is working hard to extend battery life.

New Settings Page

Another change in Android O is newly designed setting page, which is an update or downgrade you decide. It is now more organised now with various option bundled in one option, Also the new minimal interface looks good. However there is no hamburger menu in the settings which was earlier introduced in nougat update, that's why I was saying to decide whether it is update or downgrade and I don't like the fact that About phone and Developer options are being moved to a new system page .

Adaptive Icons

Android O brings the new adaptive icons and while you cant see the option in the 1st developer preview it seems awesome Adaptive icons as the name suggests the icons will adapt according to different home screen themes. So if you are using a theme with rounded icons, all the icons with adaptive icons will switch over to round shapes.

Ambient Display

Ambient display has received some improvement in Android O . In Nougat it displays detailed information about the respective notification but on the Android O it opts to show only small icons . While it will surely preserve battery,but it seems little inconvenient .

Installing Apps

Installing apps from sources other than Play Store is pretty simple till now. Well, its changing with Android O we will have to allow installation from another source per app basis.Means you have to allow the permissions every time you are installing any other app from any other source. You might not like it much but is supposed to enhance the security.

Android O brings various other minor changes and under the hood improvements, but these are the major updates in Android O. Considering it the first developer preview , we can expect more features in future updates.