The eighth major update and Android OS’ fifteenth version; Android Oreo is finally upon us. Oreo marks only the second time that Android has used a brand’s name, the first being Android 4.4 KitKat, of course.Internally codenamed Android O and Android Oatmeal Cookie, this version of the OS was released as a developer preview in the March of 2017. The beta version of the update was released to developers in May and another one in June. With the third developer preview release, most of the performance, UI and animation changes were finalized.The fourth preview release came in July and brought bug fixes and optimization. In late August, Android O was officially released to everyone and the name was changed to Android Oreo. Google’s Nexus and Pixel devices eligible for the update, received it on the same day of release.A minor update, Android 8.1.0, was released in December and brought some bug fixes and UI changes to the OS. Needless to say, the name Android Oreo is also used for version 8.1.0. Experts from mobile app development company tell us that today, about 5% of Android devices run Android Oreo but will rapidly increase as more manufacturers start updating their devices.

Why You Should be Excited about Android 8.0

Google uses the name of a world famous dessert or confection for all of its major Android updates, the latest being Oreo. Big updates also mark the beginning of a new version number, which, in Oreo’s case, is 8.What makes major updates so exciting is that they bring lots of improvements and new features with them. From better performance and more efficient power usage to new animations and settings, big updates bring a lot of new and sometimes, much-needed features, to Google’s mobile platform.Following the tradition, Android 8.0 has brought lots of goodies with it as well. Honestly speaking, there are way too many improvements, changes and new features to cover in one post but we will try mentioning the best ones for you. Let’s get started!

1. Power saving restrictions

One of the greatest additions to Android is that Google has started limiting the actions that apps can perform while the device is inactive/ not being used. The Doze Mode introduced in Marshmallow was quite helpful but now Google is taking power saving to the next level.Background execution limits are being imposed to make sure no app can go crazy with its background services. Also, location restrictions are being added so that apps can ask for location updates only a few times every hour. The great thing about location restrictions is that they are being imposed on all apps, not just the ones made for Android 8.0.

2. Fingerprint scanner gestures

With its Pixel phones and then with Nexus devices, Google added the ability to play around with notifications by swiping on the phone’s fingerprint scanner. This is a feature that Google has really built on in Oreo.Now, all third party app developers have the option to incorporate fingerprint scanner gestures into their apps. Of course, all apps will have to ask for permission from the user to use the scanner.The best thing about this feature is that the scanner will detect vertical as well as horizontal swipes. The day when you’ll scroll through your Facebook feed or your phone’s app tray using the fingerprint scanner may not be far away.

3. Connect to Wi-Fi automatically

This one is our personal favorite. We’ve all been in a situation where we have to turn our phone’s Wi-Fi off when we’re headed out so it doesn’t drain the battery and once we’re back home we turn the Wi-Fi back on.With Oreo, your phone will save the locations where you connected with a Wi-Fi in the past and once you’re near those locations, it will automatically turn the Wi-Fi on in order to connect to that router.Just imagine; spending the whole day out, you come back home tired and exhausted and even before you enter through the main door, your phone automatically connects to your Wi-Fi. Isn’t that something?

4. Picture-in-picture

Android has had split-screen multitasking for some time now but with Oreo, Google has found a way to build on that feature. Thanks to the new picture-in-picture mode, users will be able to one app window open over another.This is something that will be particularly useful to those who want to save time by watching videos and performing other tasks on their phone at the same time.

5. Rescue party

No matter how hard you try you can’t find apps without some bugs in them. It’s something that has become unavoidable now. The real problem arises when a bug causes the app to continuously crash or worse, forces the phone to reboot again and again.Google hopes to solve this problem with Rescue Party. This feature will help automatically fix the issue once it detects a bug that’s causing the app to crash or the device to reboot. Rescue Party works by applying a series of escalating fixes in order to get the app to stabilize.

6. Intelligent text selection

With Oreo, Android has earned an updated text selection menu as well. From now onwards, the menu will suggest different helpful option and apps depending on the type of text selected. For example, selecting an address will suggest opening it on maps, selecting a phone number will suggest opening it on the dialer, selecting a URL will suggest opening it in Chrome, etc.

7. Adaptive icons

Android’s default icons were freeform. With its Pixel phone series, Google introduced rounded home screen icons. Samsung, on the other hand, has been using squircle home screen icons. Due to all of this variation, app icons became fragmented. Meaning, app developers have to make the app icon in all different shapes so it can run on all devices.Mobile app development UK experts say Google has finally introduced the solution to this problem in the shape of Adaptive Icons. Thanks to this feature, developers will only need to make one, unified logo for their app and the system will take care of everything else.For apps that provide an adaptive icon, Oreo will read the system instructions and then crop and align the app icon accordingly. In short, once all apps get adaptive icons, all your home screen apps will have the same shape.As we said, Oreo has brought too many great additions to Android to mention all in one post. But, these seven features are definitely what make Oreo stand out.