An Android Oreo overview
DIVE IN WITH US TO SEE IF THE LATEST UPDATE REALLY TAKES THE BISCUIT.
MOST NEW AND high-end Android phones are now shipping with, or being upgraded to, Android 8, aka ‘Oreo’. In fact, most Android phones sold in the last year or two are likely to receive an Oreo update this year. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 used in our recent Android Superguide just received its update to 8.0, so it’s an ideal time to do an overview.
OVERALL CHANGES
Oreo does not look radically different, but has many refinements. A wider range of colours are supported, although you are more likely to notice the new adaptive app icons that let you choose what style they take. Android default emojis have been updated, too.
The Settings menu now has items grouped under broader categories. This means some items take more clicks to get to, but overall, the menu system is logical and easy to navigate. And you can still use the Search option at any time to find the setting you want. Under-the-hood refinements include tweaks that let devices boot up twice as fast, and increase battery life by reducing power drain from background processes and apps.
PICTURE IN PICTURE — PIP
Can’t get enough cat videos? Start your favourite video feed going and just tap the Home button to keep it running in a small window while most of your screen is dedicated to what you’re supposed to be doing.
This Oreo feature has so many uses, including the ability to run a video call, monitor a live feed or other app without interruption while you text, browse the web or navigate maps on the majority of your screen. Say you’re on a Duo video call and need to look up a text, website, contact or map. Just tap the Home button to shrink the video and open your other app/s. Your call continues uninterrupted, and you can drag the video window to reposition, or swipe it off the screen to close.
Note that PiP is only available on limited apps at present, including Chrome, Duo, Maps, VLC, WhatsApp and YouTube Red. Samsung phones, which have had their own multi-screen capabilities for some time, allow Maps navigation to go PiP, but not the video sources that we tried.
GET SMARTER
Oreo has Smarter Text Selection, which aims to anticipate the words you want to highlight — such as recognising an address or business name, which can save a lot of tapping and dragging. It will also anticipate what app you might use the highlighted text in, such as Maps, and offer it as the first option for copy and paste.
Beyond this, Android Oreo can learn how you use items, so over time, it will anticipate what you want to do with that photo, video or text, and offer to open the app you will typically use next.
If you use a password manager, Oreo supports autofilling your personal details, passwords, credit cards — everything you need for fast access to your web accounts. Just be very sure of your phone security if you go down this path.
SWIPE RIGHT TO SNOOZE
In Android Oreo, you have the option of snoozing notifications on the home screen — just swipe right (a little) on a notification and tap the clock icon that appears, then choose your snooze. Default time is 15 minutes but you can set up to 2 hours.
APP NOTIFICATION BUBBLES AND SHORTCUTS
When you view the apps screens on recent phones, there may be small dots displayed on the app icons to indicate that there is a notification waiting to be viewed. In Oreo, you can view a pop-up to access these directly. A long press on an app icon also shows you shortcut buttons that you can drag onto your home screen, letting you launch directly into your preferred activity in the app.
TURN OFF YOUR WI-FI FOR GOOD
A great power saving option in Oreo is to set your Wi-Fi to stay off except when in range of a network you’ve used and saved details for, like your home network. The phone recognises locations with such networks, and switches Wi-Fi on automatically. To activate, find ‘Turn on Wi-Fi automatically’ in ‘Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi preferences’.
AUGMENT YOUR REALITY
AR stickers have so far mainly been used to add funny ears or hats to people in your
ANDROID OREO CAN LEARN HOW YOU USE ITEMS, SO OVER TIME, IT WILL ANTICIPATE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH THAT PHOTO, VIDEO OR TEXT, AND OFFER TO OPEN THE APP YOU WILL TYPICALLY USE NEXT.
photos, but there’s some serious processing power behind this tech. Once it becomes mainstream, expect to see, for example, furniture suppliers providing AR stickers that let you position their items in your rooms virtually and share photographs of the results. The possibilities are endless. Phones running Oreo 8.1 can access animated Star Wars characters and objects that you can add to your live camera images and videos, then position, rotate and resize on the screen. Expect a glut of selfies with Storm Troopers.
Just tap on the Stickers tab on your camera screen to see what’s available.
BLUETOOTH UPGRADE
Sony donated its high-quality audio codec LDAC for inclusion in Oreo, which also supports Bluetooth 5 for higher data transfer rates and longer range. There’s still only a trickle of devices that support Bluetooth 5, but it’s expected to grow.
Oreo is designed for higher performance audio all round, and LDAC promises to provide exceptionally high quality audio in compatible devices — such as Sony headphones and speakers.
ACCESSIBILITY ZOOM AND SPEECH
Android has long had Accessibility features, and with Oreo, a new button in the navigation bar provides quick access to them. Features such as magnification and Select to Speak are just a tap away.
Magnification lets you tap on a portion of the screen to instantly expand it, a great boon when you’re finding that tiny text hard to read, or wondering what that obscure emoji means. Go to ‘Settings > Accessibility > Magnification > Magnification Gestures’ to activate.
To hear text information rather than see it, go to ‘Settings > Accessibility’ and turn on the ‘Text-to-Speech Output’ option. You can adjust speed, pitch and volume, too.