After a long annoying delay, Xiaomi has finally released Android v8.1 Oreo update to the Mi A1 Android One phone series. As of now, the latest software, which weighs close to 1.12GB in size, is available in select markets including India and Philippines.
However, we'd like to caution our readers that the Android 8.1 Oreo seems to come with a few bugs affecting the user-experience of the Xiaomi Mi A1. Some of the early adopters of the software, who couldn't resist seeing the update notification on their mobile screen, installed the software, only to regret later.
We have come to learn that device upgraded to Oreo 8.1 erases the entire message history if the user just swipes off the message app in the 'Recents' section.
If you have storage backup apps on your phone and really insist on installing the update, we still insist not to do it, as Google's SafetyNet feature in Oreo 8.1 for Xiaomi Mi A1 is broken, rendering Mi A1 vulnerable to hacking.
For those unaware, SafetyNet provides a set of services and APIs that help protect mobile apps in the phone against security threats, including device tampering, bad URLs, potentially harmful apps, and fake users.
What's coming in Android 8.1 Oreo?
- Android v8.1 Oreo update will bring latest Google security patch
- New Browser features to detect when users unknowingly go to malicious URLs; it stops any espionage attempts on the phone.
- It also comes with new biometric security options that will allow the user to disable fingerprint reader if an unregistered fingerprint tries to open the phone more than a pre-set number of attempts.
- New Oreo firmware will bring value-added battery management feature that allows the user to see the battery life status of the wireless earphones, so he or she can know beforehand to charge them before heading out.
- Google's Android team has also added Neural Networks API (NNAPI) support in v8.1 Oreo, which will enable the device's machine-learning capabilities to improve user-experience of Google Assistant's personalized recommendations to the device owners. But, we are not sure if mid-range phones like Xiaomi Mi A1 have the compatible hardware to run NNAPI.
Since there are reports of bugs in the Android 8.1 Oreo update for the Xiaomi Mi A1, we advise the device owners not to install the software just yet.
So far, neither Xiaomi nor the Google's Android team has made any official comment on the issue. We will be tracking the issue to bring you the latest development on the matter.
