Google’s new Android will make your battery last longer

Google says its new version of Android uses artificial intelligence (AI) to learn which apps you use most, then direct battery power to them.

The feature, called Adaptive Battery (pictured), is one of the most useful tools in Android 9.0, also known as Android Pie (the alphabetical successor to Android Oreo). People testing an early version said it increased battery life by about 20 per cent.

It’s part of a revamp, centred on AI, that Google hopes will make “your phone smarter, simpler and more tailored to you”. AI also powers the new App Actions tool, which tries to predict what you’re likely to do next on your phone, and shows that action on screen.

In its blog ( www.snipca. com/28759), Google gives the eπxample of a commuter waking and seeing options on how to travel to work, and an action to resume an audiobook. Then, when you put on your headphones after work, you may “see options to call your mom or start your favourite Spotify playlist”.

As well as adding AI tools, Google has changed Android’s design to make it “easier to use and more approachable”. It has replaced the three navigation icons at the bottom - back (left arrow), home (circle) and overview (square) - with a single home button.

Google says this new design will prove helpful as phones grow taller, and it becomes harder to perform tasks with one hand.

We’ll explain how to use Android 9.0 over the next few months.