Google launched its first ‘developer preview build of Android O’ with multiple new features in hand.With the only drawback being ‘Fastboot to manually install the updates’. This was the major talking points until Google announced the new Android O Developer Preview 2 available to download as a beta release for the public. Through this new version you can get to know about all the upcoming features of the successor Android Nougat.
Supporting devices:
Android Beta is currently available to the Google devices: Nexus 5X,Nexus 6P,Pixel C tablet,Nexus player set-top box,Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones.
Installation procedure:
Android O Beta updates are available with few restrictions at the time of installation.If the base Android software is anyway modified you won’t be able to apply for Android beta updates.If you have a phone with Android O then you can go to the Android Beta website by signing in through your Google account and enrolling for the same.
Here,you are asked to enter your password for verification.
Scrolling down the page you will see the list of beta eligible devices.Simply tap on ‘Enroll Device’ button.
Tick the next to ‘I agree’ and select ‘Join Beta’.
Google sends you an OTA(Over the air) update to flash android O on your phone.
If you do not find any notifications then head to About phone under Settings then tap ‘System Updates’ and click ‘Check for update’.However,it arrives within 24 hours.
Now once you have it tap on the ‘Download’ button to start installation.
This may take long hours so better to supply your phone with charge and also see to it that your device is connected to a Wifi network.
With the eligible phone on hand,your phone will restart to flash the update.There would be plenty of updates happening and once all done your device will prompt you to restart to boot Android O.
Pitfalls:
Your data is fully retained even after you enroll for the Android Beta Programme because of Google’s OTA service.Still it is advisable to take a complete backup,just to be safe
As the OS is in beta state so there can be tons of bugs and app crashes.Existing working apps may stop working.Therefore it is not advisable to try and install Beta on your primary device.
New features:
It brings a new collection of fantastic set of features aiding to almost all fields.For fluid experiences,Google introduced picture in picture, Auto-fill with Google,smart text selection and notification dots.Smart text selection keeps your phone context aware,so selecting a phone number will give you a call option,tapping on an address will give you directions instead.Meanwhile notification dots are used to inform users about the app activities.
