LineageOS 15 based on Android Oreo Coming Soon!

 By Vaibhav Jain on August 22, 2017       

With the announcement of Android 8.0 Oreo, Lineage Community has announced that the LineageOS 15 based on the Android Oreo is coming soon.

In case you've been living under a rock or if you don't know what LineageOS is... The LineageOS is the latest sensation among custom rom lovers and developers. Lineage OS is a continuation of what CyanogenMod was. LineageOS is one of the fastest growing community and it is now supporting thousands of devices.

We all know that most of the Android devices won't be getting the Android Oreo and there we have LineageOS to the rescue. 

That said, LineageOS is coming and we've made a Special Article for the LineageOS 15 Custom Rom - LineageOS 15 Android 8.0 O News, Features, and Release Date

Oreo! Let the wait for LineageOS 15.0 start now!! - Lineage

List of Motorola Moto Devices that are likely to get Android O 8.0

 By Vaibhav Jain on August 14, 2017       

With the release of final Android O Developer Preview 4 for the Nexus and Pixel Smartphones, Google has posted that the official Android O is coming soon with new features and interface.

We all know that the Motorola is really quick in updating its device to the latest operating system, and Motorola devices always gets latest Android Updates after Google Nexus, Pixel and, Android One devices.

Motorola Moto Phones will obviously get Android O, but the question is which Motorola Smartphones will get it? So, we have made an unofficial list of the Motorola devices which are likely to get Android O (8.0)

List of Moto Smartphones that may get Official Android O 8.0 Update(Oreo)-

• Moto Z2 Force
• Moto Z2 Play
• Moto Z Force
• Moto Z
• Moto Z Play
• Moto Z Force Droid Edition
• Moto Z Droid Edition
• Moto G5 Plus
• Moto G5

So above are the devices likely to get Android O, We all know that last year Motorola officially announced the list of Moto devices getting Android Nougat and as promised Motorola has update almost all the devices to the latest Android 7.0/7.1.1 Nougat Operating System.

Note that above is the unconfirmed and unofficial list of devices that may possibly get Android O. We will let you know once Motorola announces the official list.

Thoughts?

Android O Launch Scheduled for August 21st, Which phone will get it first?

 By Vaibhav Jain on August 13, 2017       

Google is now all set to reveal the Final version of the Android O along with its name which is very likely to be called "Oreo". According to some tweets from a pair of Android reporters, the Android O launch is scheduled for August 21st.

The devices currently eligible for Android O developer preview will be the first devices to get Official Android O update. Therefore the first devices to receive this public release are the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, and the trio Pixels: Pixel, Pixel XL, and Pixel C.

We don't know when other Android smartphone OEMs are going to update their Smartphones to the Android O. But the premium handsets from the major OEMs are very likely to get Android O before the end of the year.

That said, We all know that Android O or Android 8.0 will be revealed on August 21st.... But the question is What will Android O be called? Oreo? Thoughts?

Via: 1 | 2

Nokia 3 Confirmed to get Android O

 By Vaibhav Jain on August 08, 2017       

Nokia 3, the finnish company's low-end Android Smartphone is confirmed to get Android 8.0 O Software Update. The confirmation came from the Chief Product Officer of HMD Global, Juho Sarvikas.

It's really exciting to see that Nokia is actually taking initiatives to update their low-end Smartphone to the latest Android OS.

A month back, HMD Global CEO Arto Nummela said "What we are now committing (to) is that whenever a consumer buys a device, two years from that we will do the updates" and that's something really great!

That said, Google is due to announce the final version of the Android O and then only we will get to know when Nokia will be announcing the latest Android version for its Smartphones.

Android O 8.0 could be called 'Oatmeal Cookie'

 By Vaibhav Jain on June 23, 2017       

The next iteration of Android could be called "Oatmeal Cookie" according to some recently discovered references in the source code. The code contains numerous references to 'oc-dev' Android-OS, which is being tested on Google Pixel (Sailfish).

In addition to the oc-dev references found in the source code, it’s also been pointed out that there were mentions of “oatmeal_cookie” in sample code that was used in a Google I/O presentation slide.

That said, Android Oreo sounds better, but chances are it probably won’t be the name of Android 8.0. What do you think Android "O" will be named?

Myce (Thanks for tip)

Google Apps confirms Android O version as Android 8.0

 By Vaibhav Jain on June 04, 2017       

Android O is now official and is available as beta for Google's Pixel and Nexus smartphones. Google plans to release the Android O final build later this year for supported devices.


Until now, we were assuming that the Next iteration of the Android will be having Android version 7.2 or 8.0. But, folks at XDA have confirmed that the Android O will be having version 8.0. 

The confirmation came from teardown of Google Photos and Google Keep APKs that were released since June 1st. The code associated with these apps reveals the "platformBuildVersionName" as 8.0.0.

Via: XDA

Android O Cool Feature Will Allow You to Pause a System Update Download and Resume it Later

 By Unknown on May 22, 2017       

Every individual with an Android surely would have experienced this: When you're downloading an Android system update and the power goes off, or your internet connection goes off due to some unknown reason, or maybe you've to go out after starting downloading the update. 

For all these scenarios, the answer used to simple one- download the update from the start again. But that's gonna change with the Android O update as it adds a new 'Pause' feature to the OS allows users to pause a system update while downloading and resume it later.

This feature is already present in the latest Developer Preview 2 of Android O. That's a handy little feature to have around, and Google is bringing it with the Android O update. 

Also, Google revealed that the 'pause' feature comes with a Google Play Services update, but currently limited to the people under Developer Preview of Android O. 

SOURCE

Google is Promising to Fix Slow Android Updates for OEM Phones With the 'Project Treble'

 By Unknown on May 13, 2017       

Google has announced yet another project that will fix the slow Android updates in its partner phones. The 'Project Treble' from Google will fix the slow Android upgrades. Google with the Project Treble will 're-architect' the core Android. 

Google says that it can achieve the same by “re-architecting Android to make it easier, faster and less costly for manufacturers to update devices to a new version of Android.” So, Google will separate out the vendor implementation section controlled by chip makers.  

“With a stable vendor interface providing access to the hardware-specific parts of Android, device makers can choose to deliver a new Android release to consumers by just updating the Android OS framework without any additional work required from the silicon manufacturers,” says Google. 

The Project Treble is already integrated into the Android O Developer Preview. In the past as well, Google started various projects to fasten the Android OS upgrades, but all of them went in vain. Hopefully, the Project Treble should solve the issue. 

Android O gets Substratum theme engine support

 By Vaibhav Jain on April 17, 2017       

Substratum, a theme engine based on Sony’s Overlay Manager Service (OMS) is now available for the next iteration of Android. Android O developer preview users who have achieved root privileges can now theme their system via Substratum.

Substratum latest release "670" brings full Android O theming support. Users can now theme on API level 26 resources/Android O Developer Previews. The source code of the same is readily available for themers.



Along with Android O support, Substratum 670 brings "Dynamic Refresh Mode" which automatically refresh the list of themes installed without triggering a refresh by swiping down. The latest build also fix some errors and adds minor new features.

Android O Developer preview is available for the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Huawei Mate 9 and the official Android Emulator.



Source: Google+

Huawei is Already Testing the Android O in Mate 9

 By Unknown on April 12, 2017       

Chinese smartphone vendor, Huawei is already testing the next iteration of Android O in its flagship phone, the Huawei Mate 9. As per a report from Xda developers, Huawei, once a partner of Google has ported its EMUI based of Android O. 

Google nearly three weeks ago released the first Developer Preview of Android O for the Google Pixel and Nexus devices. However, it will take ages for OEM's to out the next iteration of Android, but it's surprising how Huawei managed to port the latest OS. 



The report further says that the phone is running rooted version of the Android EUI, but the phone is not usable as a daily driver as it is plagued with issues related to Google Play Services and Wi-Fi. 

One of the prominent features in Android O is the picture-in-picture mode, and the feature is reportedly working fine in the Mate 9. So, will Huawei manage to release the Andriod O before Google does? Time will tell. 

Source: XDA

Android O Breaks Apps that Overlay on top of the Status Bar

 By Vaibhav Jain on April 11, 2017       

The Android O comes with some new features such as notification channels, advanced doze mode, self destructing notifications, and tons of other tiny features. We have already listed the completely new features of the Android O here.

With previous Android versions, apps have been able to operate on top of other apps and system UI elements for certain functions. However, with the arrival of Android O, such apps results in huge UI mess and eventually breaks the status bar.



This happens because the TYPE_SYSTEM_OVERLAY is deprecated and replaced with TYPE_APPLICATION_OVERLAY. This means that, while system overlays will still continue to function for the most part, apps will no longer be able to draw over the status bar.

This feature also stops Twilight (Night Mode) covering parts of the screen like the status bar or keyboard, which would defeat the purpose of the application. 

Since this is just the first Developer Preview for Android O, Google might add new or remove some of the existing features in future builds. 



Via: XDA

Android O to Come With Support for Self Destructing Notifications Feature

 By Unknown on April 06, 2017       

A little two weeks ago, Google released the first Developer Preview of Android O to developers. The next iteration of Android is expected to come with some new features such as notification channels, advanced doze mode, etc. We have already listed the completely new features of the Android O here. 

Speaking about the notifications channel feature, Google will allow users to customize what they want to see in the notification shade. For example, you can limit the OS to display a notification when a screenshot is captured.



And now, Google announces a new feature to the developers called 'notification timeout,' which essentially allows developers to push a self-destructive notification. For instance, in India, we love shopping, and there are numerous portals to shop from, and the major one is Myntra. These days, Myntra run several discount offers, and they push notifications for the same now and then. 

Myntra pushes a notification, and you open the app after few hours due to your busy schedule, and by the time you open the app, the offer is long gone. With this self-destructive notification feature, developers can choose a certain time for killing the notifications, and after that time, notifications will be destroyed automatically. 



Nevertheless, this feature will be very much useful for the developers out there. 

[Download] Android O Preview Images for Pixel/ XL, Nexus 5X, 6P, Player, and Pixel C

 By Vaibhav Jain on March 22, 2017       

Android O was surprisingly announced yesterday with tons of new features. The latest OS's Developer preview is now available for the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, the official Android Emulator, and you also get an emulator for testing Android Wear 2.0 on Android O.

Also Read: Google announces Android O: Here's what's new


Download the Android O developer preview firmware images for the Pixel and Nexus devices from the direct link below:

• Nexus 5X "bullhead"
• Nexus 6P "angler" 
• Nexus Player "fugu" 
• Pixel C "ryu"
• Google Pixel "sailfish"
• Google Pixel XL "marlin"

Note that these are strictly development images and they could be very buggy and unstable, and are not suitable for daily use.

You can find the complete instructions of "How to flash a Factory Image" Here

Google announces Android O: Here's what's new

 By Vaibhav Jain on March 21, 2017       

Surprise! Android O is now official with a lots of new features. The latest OS Developer preview is now available for the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, the official Android Emulator, and you also get an emulator for testing Android Wear 2.0 on Android O.

Here's what's new in Android O

• Notification channels: Notification channels are new app-defined categories for notification content. It let developers give users fine-grained control over different kinds of notifications. It also allows users to block or change the behavior of each channel individually, rather than managing all of the app's notifications together.

• Background limits: Android O puts a big priority on improving a user's battery life and the device's interactive performance. It put additional automatic limits on what apps can do in the background, in three main areas: implicit broadcasts, background services, and location updates.

• Autofill: With Android O. Users can select an autofill app, similar to the way they select a keyboard app. The autofill app stores and secures user data, such as addresses, user names, and even passwords.

• Picture in Picture (PIP): PIP display allows users to continue watching a video while they're answering a chat or hailing a car.

• Adaptive icons: With Android O, you can now create adaptive icons that the system displays in different shapes, based on a mask selected by the device. The system also animates interactions with the icons, and them in the launcher, shortcuts, Settings, sharing dialogs, and in the overview screen.

• Connectivity: For the ultimate in audio fidelity, Android O now also supports high-quality Bluetooth audio codecs such as LDAC codec. We're also adding new Wi-Fi features as well, like Wi-Fi Aware, previously known as Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN).

• Keyboard navigation: Android O adds more reliable, predictable keyboard model for "arrow" and "tab" navigation that aids both developers and end users.

• WebView enhancements: Android O enables multiprocess mode by default and adding an API to let your app handle errors and crashes, for enhanced security and improved app stability.

• Java 8 Language APIs and runtime optimizations: Android O now supports several new Java Language APIs, including the new java.time API. In addition, the Android Runtime is faster than ever before, with improvements of up to 2x on some application benchmarks.

• Partner platform contributions: Hardware manufacturers and silicon partners have accelerated fixes and enhancements to the Android platform in the O release. For example, Sony has contributed more than 30 feature enhancements, including the LDAC codec, and 250 bug fixes to Android O.

You can download the Developer preview images for Pixel and Nexus devices from here.

Which Android O feature are you most excited for?

Source: Android Developers

Android Oreo Concept boot animation

 By Vaibhav Jain on November 20, 2016       

Every year, Google reveals a new Android version with a new Sweet name. This year, Google announced the Android "N" (N for Nougat) and in upcoming Next year i.e. 2017 Google may reveal the Android "O" (O for Oreo?), Who knows?

Well, Here's an amazing concept boot-animation of Android Oreo (By Dinesh Kumar)-

You can appreciate his project by going to Behance