Android O Developer Preview Releases; Better Battery Life, New Notification System, And More

The latest entrant in the series Android O is unveiled by Google yesterday, and it adds better battery life, new notification system with an option for snooze it, new autofill API, picture-in-picture display, and more. The developer preview version released for engaging the app developers to make apps designed for the new version of the mobile OS.

The significant change is the way how the background apps are running. The background apps are being categorized into three which are background services, implicit broadcasts, and location updates. Since these three are draining the battery most, there will have a restriction on what they can do in the background. For instance, the location services would be updated few times in an hour and won't be every now and then. This is working in a similar way how iOS is managing the background apps as Apple bans every background process it didn't create.

The notification system has received a revamp in the upcoming mobile OS. The background of the phone will change according to the high-priority alert, to bring the attention of the user. Also, there is an option to categorize the notifications better. Additionally, the notifications can be snoozed, and it can be set for 15, 30, and 1 hour according to user's choice. This is always considered to be a great option for people who depend on mobile notification system.

The version also comes with new autofill APIs that permit users to keep their personal data in particular apps like the way password managers work and use the autofill option. The new picture-in-picture display option allows users to watch videos at the same time using other apps. New Bluetooth codecs are supported to ensure better audio fidelity while using Sony's MDR-1000x headphones and others of similar kind. The app developers now can add adaptive icons, and it would help the icons to match to the style of the Android version.