Android Nougat — Sweetest Release of Android So Far!
Android Nougat, the 14th release of the mobile operating system, marks a decade of Google’s foray into the smartphone industry. Nougat builds upon the drastic changes that Lollipop (Android 5.0) and Marshmallow (Android 6.0) introduced and championed, by focusing on user experience and convenience. The key areas that Nougat focuses on are notifications and multitasking with other improvements to virtual reality support and gaming performance.
Multitasking:
Nougat finally brings native split-screen multitasking to Android devices. Users can run two of their favourite apps side by side and take full advantage of the large, high-resolution displays that Android flagships are known for. Nougat also allows the user to quickly switch between two apps with a double-press of the recent apps button.
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The ability to run two applications side-by-side is finally natively built into Android.[/caption]
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YouTube and Google Chrome running side-by-side on a Nexus 6P.[/caption]
Notifications:
Android 7.0 aims to refine the way through which we interact with notifications by adding a number of handy new features. These features allow the users to really fine tune their experience with notifications. One notable addition is the ever-presence of notification toggles in the notification shade. Users can also rearrange quick setting tiles so that the relevant settings can be reached more quickly.
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Nougat adds the ability to rearrange quick setting tiles.[/caption]
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Quick toggles are accessible without pulling the notification shade twice.[/caption]
Nougat also brings “Notification Direct Reply” to Android. It is simply the ability to quickly reply to messages and emails by allowing the user to type their reply in the notification shade itself — similar to quick reply on iOS. Another addition to improve users’ interaction with notifications is “Bundled Notifications”. As the name suggests, “Bundled Notifications” essentially groups all the notifications from an app into a minimalistic and clean card that can be expanded or contracted at will.
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Notifications from the same application are “bundled together”.[/caption]
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Nougat allows the user to reply to messages from within the notification shade itself.[/caption]
Miscellaneous Additions:
Nougat adds support for the Vulkan API which promises to deliver console-grade gaming performance on supported devices. Vulkan, in essence, allows high-performance 3D graphics and allows for more particle and light effects in mobile games.
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The addition of Vulkan API allows developers to push mobile graphics to the absolute limit.[/caption]
Nougat also focuses on incorporating virtual reality as a part of the operating system. Google Daydream aims to bring all your favourite apps into the virtual reality realm. Hulu, YouTube, Google Photos, Google Play Store and two games — Wonder Glade and Home Run Derby VR — are listed as some of the applications that are compatible with Google Daydream.
Nougat also brings “Doze on the Go” to further improve the battery life of your smartphones. “Doze on the Go” essentially allows your phone to go into a low power mode when it is inside a pocket or a purse, thereby helping it conserve battery when you’re not using it. Other smaller changes include the addition of 72 all new emoji and the ability to switch between more than two languages when using Google Keyboard.
The LG V20 will be the first device to run Android Nougat out of the box; however, Android Nougat is also being rolled out to the following devices — Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, Pixel C, Asus Nexus Player and the General Mobile 4G. Android Nougat is Google’s flagship software for 2016–2017 and will go head to head with iOS 10. Overall, Nougat focuses on simplifying user experience, whereas iOS 10 places emphasis on emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. In terms of features, I feel that both iOS and Android are on par after this year’s release — this adds more importance to each operating system’s exclusive features such as Android’s customisability and iOS’s tight integration with the hardware running the OS.
