Android 8.0 Oreo Arrives As Google's 'Open Wonder' Mobile Operating System
As the most popular operating system in the world, Google has a lot riding on the success of Oreo and its proliferation throughout the Android device ecosystem. And Google no doubt wants to ensure that smartphone OEMs stop dragging their feet when it comes to upgrading legacy devices that should otherwise be capable of running the operating system, which has long been a problem. Even though Android 7.0 Nougat has been on the market for roughly a year, it’s still installed on less than 14 percent of the over 2 billion Android devices around the globe according to Google’s own stats, leading to fragmentation.
Oreo brings a lot to the table for Android users, including a newfound focus on performance. According to Google, Oreo boots up to twice as fast as Nougat (using a Google Pixel as a testbed) and limits on background app activity should not only help improve overall system performance, but also help keep battery consumption in check. Other features include intelligent Autofill, which stores your credentials for your favorite apps so that you can quickly login and get going (be it with your banking applications or your social media accounts), and Picture-in-Picture allows you to watch videos (for example) while you’re working in another app on either your smartphone or tablet.
There are also additional little touches spread throughout the operating system to make your life easier including an ambient screen mode, adaptive icons, on-demand and downloadable fonts, integrated printing support, notification snoozing, and Wi-Fi Assist.
Android 8.0 Oreo is being pushed out to AOSP right now for manufacturers, and will soon be pushed out to “legacy” Nexus and Pixel devices. As soon as it is available for consumers, we’ll be sure to let you know.
