Well, just to be clear about everything, Android O, the upcoming newest version of Google’s Android mobile operating system, has actually already been made available for several weeks now but as a developer preview, which meant that only app developers can access it. But during Google’s annual I/O conference, the tech giant took the opportunity to announce to the rest of the world that it is now releasing a beta version of Android O.
Android O Beta essentially comes with most of the features already present in the earlier developer preview. For instance, notifications has been updated with new enhancements, including the integration of Notification Dots, which appears as a small circle that is located in the corner of an app’s icon, basically letting people know that that app has received a new note. When users perform a long press on that app icon, a preview window will appear (reminiscent of iOS), which means people will not need to leave the desktop in order to read the notification.
As for the Autofill feature, it pretty much self explanatory, but nonetheless provides for a more improved user experience when typing on mobile. The Smart Text Selection, on the other hand, detects for specific details like brands or shop names or addresses from the world wide web, and then proceeds to highlighting that information, sparing the user from having to highlight manually. Then there is the Picture in Picture feature which displays a little video box on the desktop while leaving the other apps still open.
Meanwhile, as the Android OS hits a couple of billion handsets across the globe, Google is initiating a new project called Android Go. This is basically a simpler and lighter edition of Android O, and is designed for the most basic Android mobile devices. As a matter of fact, Android Go can work on phones with less than a gigabyte of memory, providing connectivity and even support for mobile apps, particularly those compatible with Android Go.
Google is actually planning on shipping all future editions of its Android OS with Android Go. The objective here is to provide an Android version that can cater to those handsets that offer only low end specifications, basic connectivity, and multilingual compatibility. It is not a surprise at all that Google is looking to roll out Android Go mostly to developing mobile markets. So, it is safe to say that Android’s usage will likely hit 3 billion sooner than we think.
