Google launches Android 8.0 Oreo

During the solar eclipse timeframe Google figured it to be a nice marketing moment to launch Android 8.0 Oreo. Named after that delicious Oreo biscuit, that must have been quite a deal  for Oreo.

Oreo will see some big enhancements, but they are to be found mainly in the background as the focus fotr Oreo is primarily security and power saving.  Oreo introduces 'notification dots', the Android version of Apple's red notification badges in iOS showing the number of un-dismissed notifications on each app icon. Long-pressing an icon in Oreo offers a short summary of notifications linked to a badge. Users can switch off this feature if they want.

For multitasking, it also has a picture-in-picture feature that displays video on a small window once the home button is pressed, allowing users to complete a task in another app. Whether you have installed the Android Oreo developer preview or if you’re still playing it cool with the more stable Android Nougat, the update will arrive and install without much effort at all. If you aren’t notified, you can try to check for the update in the settings menu, but keep in mind that Google is rolling the update out in phases. Of course, we’ll be keeping you abreast of when it officially debuts. 

Android 8.0 Oreo has to be rolled out to Google's own Pixel and Nexus devices, the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, and Nexus Player. In the future, Android updates should also be available on new devices faster, Google has introduced a new framework under the name of Treble on Android O.

Google’s VP of Engineering Dave Burke, who penned the announcement, said that Google worked with various hardware makers, including Essential, Huawei, HTC, Kyocera, Motorola, HMD Global Home of Nokia Phones, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony on Android Oreo upgrades and new releases. These companies are supposed to launch Oreo devices or upgrade existing ones by the end of the year.

New

• Accessibility button: Allows you to quickly access from the navigation bar accessibility features, like magnification, functionality and accessibility within services like Select to Speak.
• Accessibility volume: Accessibility services can optimize the audio experience for users with disabilities.
• Adaptive icons: Developers can now providence a full-bleed square shaped icon and OEMs will mask the icon to ENSURE intra-device consistency.
• Ambient screen: Highlights the incoming notification with larger font, highlighted app name and immediate access to actions.
• Background execution limits: More control over how apps run in the background for better overall system performance.
• Background location limits: Limits the frequency of location updates in the background for better overall system health.
• Deep color: Enables applications to render richer visual content with more vibrant colors and subtler gradients. Støtter fullkvalitetsadministrasjon som tillater applikasjoner å gi bilder i format og kvalitet de var ment.
• Downloadable fonts: Applications do not need to bundle custom fonts, which helps reduce their size.
• Install unknown apps: Hostile downloader apps can not operate without permission; Users now allow the installation of APKs per-source.
• Integrated printing support: Compatible with all Mopria-certified printers, which make up 97% of printers sold worldwide.
• Linkable files: API that allows you to share files across the Internet through web links.
• Native C / C ++ API for high-performance audio: API function for high-performance audio including native C / C ++ audio API.
• Notification categories: More granular and consistent control over which notifications can appear and how intrusive they are.
• Notification snoozing: Lets users hide notifications for a period of time, similar to Inbox Snoozing.
• Pointer capture: Pointer capture allows the app to capture all mouse input.
• Project Treble: The biggest change to the foundations of Android to date: a modular architecture that makes it easier and faster for hardware makers to deliver Android updates.
• TextView autosizing: Developers can now let the size of their text expand or contract automatically based on the size and characteristics of the TextView, making it much easier to optimize the text size on different screens or with dynamic content.
• Tooltips: Support for tooltips (small popup windows with descriptive text) for views and menu items. 
  Wi-Fi Assistant: Auto-connects you to high quality open WiFi and secures your connection with a VPN back to Google.