Android O: Google Releases First Preview of Features of Upcoming Software

By Jessica Ferrera, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, March 26, 2017

Shortly after rumors about the next Android operating system version surfaced, Google suddenly released the first-ever preview of its upcoming features.

Google temporarily calls the upcoming mobile software the "Android O." The letter O makes reports, such as TechCrunch, hope that it actually stands for Oreo, considering the company's affinity for sweets in naming their brand of mobile software.

However, Google is noticeably approaching the early days of Android O in a different way. With the Android Nougat, it was introduced by directly inviting people to try out the beta version. Meanwhile with Android O, Google is creating a first layer of trials before they open the registration for beta testing. Developers with the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel C, Pixel, and Pixel XL units will have to manually download the corresponding .zip file to install Android O's beta version.

Along with the installers, Google has also announced a preview of the features to be added to Android O. "In Android O, we've redesigned notifications to provide an easier and more consistent way to manage notification behavior and settings," Google said.

Android O will introduce that Notification Channels that will make the notification panel more customizable with the use of categories. The option to assign background colors will also be added so smartphone owners will easily identify which notice belongs to which app. Google also aims to beef up this area by adding a Snoozing function where people can opt for app reminders to re-appear within their chosen time.

The Picture-in-Picture (PIP) mode has already been added to Android smart TVs and will soon be provided for mobile devices through Android O. This is mainly useful for video playbacks. When switching from a media player to another app, the video will continue playing in the background.

In relation to adding the PIP mode, Google obviously wants to expand the ability of Android phones in working with multi-window support. "If an activity supports multi-window mode and is running on a device with multiple displays, users can move the activity from one display to another. When an app launches an activity, the app can specify which display the activity should run on," Google explains.

As per the Android O preview, Google aims to launch the next software version sometime in the third quarter of 2017.