At present, Android 7.0 Nougat has a much lower adoption rate than several older versions of the mobile operating system. But Google has been upgrading Android regularly to keep its massive worldwide mobile operating system market share intact. The company has revealed its plan to roll out Android 8.0 Nougat officially this fall. Google has already released four developer previews of Android Oreo, along with the final APIs. The developer preview versions help developers to understand the important features of Android Oreo provided by the upcoming version of Android.

Important Features of Android Oreo Mobile App Developers Must Make Note of

Picture-in-Picture Mode

Android Oreo will support picture-in-picture (PiP) mode. The multi-windows mode will enable users to access two apps simultaneously on the mobile screen. While developing apps for Android Oreo, the developers need to ensure that it continues to show content in both running and paused mode. They have to use specific methods to include activities in the PiP mode, decide the activity’s configuration setting and aspect ratio, and specify the screen to be displayed at the time of app launch.

Redesigned Notifications

Android 8.0 will come with redesigned notifications. While developing apps for Android Oreo, the developers have to focus on new features like notification dots, channels, snoozing, timeout, and settings. They have to use notification channels to create custom display channel for each notification, and dismissal dots to display the notifications as a dot or badge on the app launcher icon. Likewise, they have to use specific methods to snooze the notifications and set timeout for notifications, and allow users to dismiss the notifications.

Autofill Framework

The upcoming version of Android will come with an autofill framework. The framework will enable users to speed up repetitive tasks like login and account creation without typing the information. The developers must take advantage of the framework to improve their app’s user experience accelerating repetitive tasks like filling out login or credit cart forms. However, the developers need to ensure that the app uses the autofill framework only if the option is enabled by the end user.

Font and Text Customization

Android 8.0 requires developers to use new fonts and customize text in a different way. The developers are no longer required to link fonts to the APK. They can request apps directly from the provider app and enable multiple apps to share the same font. Also, they can use the font in XML features to use fonts as independent resources and prevent bundling fonts as assets. At the same time, Android Oreo comes with an autosizing TextView that automatically changes the text size or contrast automatically.

Adaptive Launcher Icons

Android Oreo provides a new feature called adaptive launcher icons. The mobile app developers can take advantage of this functionality to create adaptive icons that display varying shapes and support varying visual effects across different device models. But they have to customize the look of the adaptive launch icon through its background and foreground layers. Also, they need to ensure that the icons can be used seamlessly in shortcuts, overview screens, and sharing dialogs.

Smart Text Selection

Android 8.0 uses machine learning technologies to make text selection process easier and smarter. It has the capacity to recognize the selected text and display the relevant options. For instance, Android Oreo can understand if the selected text is an email id, address, or phone number. It will further display the relevant option according to the nature and type of text. If the selected text is a phone number, the mobile OS will display option to call the number directly from phone dialler. While developing a new mobile app, the developers needs to ensure that it supports and facilitates smart text selection.

Background Restrictions

Android Oreo comes with a number of new features to extend battery life. It enables users to reduce strains on the device and improve battery life by restricting background activities. The user even has option to restrict the number of apps running in the background. Android 8.0 further imposes restriction on the activities an app can perform while running in the background. While developing apps for the upcoming version of Android, the developers must focus on background and broadcast limitations. They need to ensure that app performs the required tasks without consuming additional memory while running in the background.

Speech Output

Android 8.0 comes with an improved text-to-speech engine. It enables various services and activities to dictate and pronounce content using instances of public call TextToSpeech. The developers must make their apps deliver speed output by synthesizing speech through source files. While developing apps for the upcoming version of Android, the developers must use the text-to-speech engine to register an instance as part of the registration process. They can even use the engine to track the playback in progress.

Cached Data Management

The upcoming version of Android will allocate specific amount of disk space for cached data to each app. Once an app’s cached data exceed the allocated quota, the mobile operating system will automatically delete the cached files while making disk space free. Hence, the developers have to focus on cached data management to make the app deliver personalized and rich user experience. They can use specific methods and APIs to allocate adequate disk space to large files.

Google Play Protect

Android Oreo helps developers to keep their mobile apps secure by providing the Google Play protect service. The service aims to protect Google Play from malicious apps and games. It users artificial intelligence to identify both existing and emerging risks related to Google Play. The developers can take advantage of the Google Play protect service to get their mobile apps scanned consistently and identify all issues in the app quickly. The service makes it easier for developers to improve the app’s user experience and prevent user abandonment.

Initially, Android Oreo will come to Google Pixel, Google Pixel XL, Nexus 65, and Nexus 5X. But a number of leading mobile device manufacturers will gradually launch new devices or upgrade existing devices to Android 8.0 Oreo. Hence, mobile app developers start creating new apps and upgrading existing apps for Android Oreo to beat competitions. The app developers should also keep a tab on iOS 11 vs Android Oreo to know how this version of Android fares as compared to the iOS latest version.