Google's Android Nougat is yet to cover a lot of ground, but rumours of its successor are already making the headlines. Going by the company's traditional naming strategy, we know that Android 8.0 will be named after a sweet starting with the letter "O". But there's more, as a new report suggests features that will be a part of Google's next big Android release.
We've known for a while that Google is already working on Android 8.0, which will make its debut at the upcoming I/O developers conference in May. With only a few months to go for the official launch, it is evident to get a sneak peek at what's happening behind the scenes.
9to5Google has learnt from sources that Android O will bag series of new features as it is going to be a "substantial update." As per the report, Android O will significantly change the layout of notifications, app icon badge and introduce several new features to enhance the overall user experience.
Android O's new notifications are said to be displayed across various devices owned by the user. Active notifications will only be pushed to whichever device the user is currently on. The latest OS is expected to merge Android and Andromeda notifications. Andromeda is a rumoured Google OS that integrates features from both Android and Chrome.
The next major improvement in Android O noted by sources is the revamped app icon badge that will display active notifications. For instance, some Android devices display the current time on the app badge itself. So a similar integration will be seen across multiple apps like the Calendar app icon to display dates and more.
Users are also expected to have an improved battery optimisation, which is reportedly similar to Chrome 57's restricted background activities. Android O is also to come with new features like picture-in-picture mode and a smart AI-based text selection toolbar, which would make copy-and-pastes easier than ever.
Finally, there are a lot of enterprise-centric features coming to Android O and improvements to MediRecorder API. 9to5Google has rated these rumours 7 out of 10 based on the legitimacy of the source, but the publication also throws in a word of caution before fully believing these changes.
