Android O Update: Another Game Changer for Android OS

The soon-to-be successor of Android Nougat - Android O has received a lot of attention lately. Although most android based smartphones are still in the process of receiving Nougat to replace Marshmallow, Android O is said to make its debut on the upcoming Google Pixel 2, which speculated to be revealed at the end of this year.

The official name of Android O is still not yet confirmed, but it could be Android Oreo. Regardless the name, Android O is going to have some pretty significant changes from Nougat, according to Slashgear. The next Android software will be much more incredible when compared to the changes that Nougat brought from Marshmallow.

For instance, official picture-in-picture support (PIP) will finally be a native function of the device. The PIP related code has been introduced in Android Nougat but it was not enabled by default. With PIP, tablet or even smartphones users will be able to play videos while working on other apps such as spreadsheets or word document at the same time.

In terms of graphic interface, the icons on the home screens, as well as the launcher, will be getting an upgrade. Active notifications on emails or chat apps will be part of Android O, even though this feature has been introduced by third-party launchers for a while now. Since it has never an official Android software feature, this feature does not always work across all apps. However, it will be improved with its integration with Android O.

In Android O, icons can change what they are showing depending on some conditions - a new feature which is known as "adaptive" or dynamic icons, similar to the ones introduced in Pixel Launcher. Some changes that Android O will bring is also reportedly to adopt Chrome 57's recently announced background throttling feature.

Of course, all of these are based on leaks, so take them with a pinch of skepticism. If Google does choose to reveal of some these new features, it would probably do so at the upcoming Google I/O Developers Conference on May 17 to 19.