Android Oreo: Google has addressed consumer and developer concerns

Android Oreo is finally here. And the industry has reason to cheer.

In today’s day and age, there are just two mobile operating systems in the world that matter – iOS by Apple, and then there’s Android by Google. But today is owned by Google. It even banked on the eclipse with iconography accommodating subtle hints of the date and the occasion. Even promotional videos released by the cookie brand Oreo has scenes of droids witnessing a solar eclipse. It was all planned out down to the finest detail.

Google just rolled out Android Oreo. It was a secret juggled so craftily, we nearly believed it wouldn’t be called Oreo. This is the second time Google has gone with a commercial deal with a well-known product. After Nestle KitKat, and a couple of lesser known desserts, we now have Android Oreo. During the last cycle, I wished it was Nutella. I’d have considered parting with my iPhone for a bit. Such is the love for Nutella in life.

Now I’m not such a fan of Nougat, so I still relish Nutella. When it comes to Oreo, I kinda have mixed reactions. But here, I’ve pondered over the other Oreo. And for Android consumers and developers, it’s the Oreo that matters more. Here’s a list of new developments in Android Oreo that make it an important update for consumers and developers alike.

High time for secure Android

Comparing Android to it fiercest competitor, there are a few areas that really determine which side a consumer would go. In terms of security, Stagefright and Certifigate are some vulnerabilities that have highlighted gaps in the Android ecosystem. And it all could be narrowed down to just one cause. Rogue apps in the Android ecosystem stole sensitive and personal information and shared it with some rogue individuals accessing rogue servers in remote places on the planet. ALSO READ: Android Oreo: List of devices supported and OS rollout plan

Background location updates

Considering security and privacy have gained notoriety in the tech world, companies such as Google have taken corrective measures to ensure that user privacy is safeguarded. With the latest Android Oreo rollout, location details will be updated only when the app is in the foreground. In simple terms, just like Apple decided to give users the option to let apps use location data “While using the app.”

If you use messaging services such as WhatsApp, you’d see a common feature of being able to share your location with your contacts. That’s a useful feature. And hence when the app requests for location data, it’s understandable. But sometimes, if the app in use is a lesser known alternative, then we can never quite be sure, as consumers, whether the location data which we have just allowed access to isn’t being relayed somewhere else.

Account changes

Another concern around Android was how developers could access user data. Sometimes, one app needs data shared with another app. For instance, dating apps would need your age, gender, location, and such similar list of data points, which it could very easily gain from social networking apps. With the Android Oreo update, Google is now granting users the power to limit sharing of such data.

This is a welcome step, because you can now choose whether your account details will be visible to other apps. This would add a few more steps for developers but significantly addresses concerns that consumers would have. For developers, accessing user information was as simple as getting users to allow access to details by responding to the ‘Get Accounts’ permission request. However, developers targeting Android O must now rely on the new ‘Account Chooser’ activity.

Background execution limits

In addressing the problem of rogue Android apps running in the background, Google has added restriction to apps not running in the background. If an app isn’t currently active in the foreground, then it will not be able to launch new services. A good example would be if you are navigating to a location using an navigation or mapping app by a third-party developer, then the app will not be able to launch any new Android service if it isn’t active. Typically, we shut off such apps once we reach our destination. Up until now, we didn’t quite know for sure if the app was sending our location details to some remote server in a foreign country. With Android Oreo, that’s curbed.

Android Oreo loves better displays

Google seems to have accepted that people love better displays. So much so, that it’s focusing on displays in a big way. With Android Oreo, Google now officially supports 16bit PNG, ICC profiles in JPEG, PNG and WebP, Google’s new image file format.

The possibilities with WebP is better animation, richer interfaces, and better reproducibility. And it manages to do all this with small file sizes. Since displays are getting richer and more able and capable, technology and imaging algorithms and standards also need to catch up.

Support for longer narrower screens

Samsung has pretty much set the trend with curved displays, which it refers to as Infinity Display. Samsung is the undisputed leader with curved displays. It began with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, and since then a couple of devices have given Samsung the ‘edge’ in displays.

Instead of staying limited to conventional displays, Android Oreo will support longer, narrower screens. This new focus area could very well pave the way for newer and more innovative ways of interfacing with the device. It’s only understandable then, that newer devices such as the Essential PH-1, and Xiaomi Mi Mix and the anticipated Mi Mix 2 is probably what the future of Android smartphones look like. Android devices supporting Oreo will no longer be limited by a maximum aspect ratio of 1.86.

Project Treble and quicker updates

After recently revealing Project Treble, Android Oreo will ship with Project Treble. What this means is that users will be able to get faster update rollouts from Google. For app developers, they can make the most use of Play Store updates, rather than updating drivers for each rollout.

Hopefully, this will play a key role in arresting the problem of version fragmentation in Android.

Fine control over notifications

Notification dots and channels is a new feature that Google has released in Android Oreo. Users could call it notification categories, but developers would refer to it as notification channels. Similar to your Gmail account, where your email is classified into Primary, Social and Promotions, notifications in your Android Oreo-powered device will also fall into buckets.

So if you’re travelling and have multiple flight and travel related updates, they’d all get clubbed together, while group messaging notifications which typically hog away useful time would get clubbed together so you’d always know where to look for the important things in life.

Addressing the immediate needs

Google has managed to address quite a few pending concerns around Android. With the latest update, Android is geared up to become a more secure operating system, that takes a closer look at the security and privacy concerns of users. Besides, what used to be flagship features should increasingly find its way across the larger fragmented device ecosystem in the Android world. I guess Android Oreo is the first cookie we’re about to bite into, with the rest of the dessert just adding to the sweetness.