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GOOGLE EATS SOME ANDROID PIE
THE Android smartphone operating system formerly known “P” now has a name and is rolling out to compatible smartphones.
Android 9 Pie has no commercial tie-ups (unlike last year’s Android Oreo), and brings a host of improvements to the most popular smartphone OS in the world.
Most of them involve artificial intelligence which tries to learn from how you use it.
It’ll puzzle out which apps you use the most, and optimise battery use to prioritise them, and it’ll adapt the screen brightness to your activity, too.
One feature, called App Actions, looks to predict what you want to do next, based on past actions, and offer up the app actions you’re likely to want at any given time (like offering up a route to work at the time you usually start your commute).
A similar feature, called Slices, is coming in a software update later this year – this will lift the most useful features out of apps and present them in search for quick access.
So, if you start searching, say, for the Lyft app, you’ll be shown prices for a Lyft home, and be able to order your ride without ever opening the actual app.
Pie also introduces a whole new way to navigate through the phone using gestures (yes, a bit like the iphone X).
Gone are the three buttons at the bottom, to be replaced by a single home button, and a series of gestures to help you swipe up, down, left and right, though the various functions of the phone.
Finally, and also a bit like Apple’s efforts with IOS 12, Android Pie now offers a raft of features to help you monitor and limit how often, and for how long, you use your phone.
It’ll tell you which apps you use, and how long you use them for, and allow you to set limits on how much time you can spend on social or gaming.
These features will officially launch later this year on Google’s own Pixel phones.
Android 9 Pie is available for all Google Pixel phones for free now, and will be rolling out to other Android phones over the next few months. Check with your manufacturer for details.