Earlier this week, Google began rolling out Android 7.0 Nougat, the latest version of its mobile operating system, on its own Nexus devices. With support for more than 250 major features, the OS has started to arrive via an over-the-air software update.
The successor to last year’s release, Marshmallow, Nougat is coming first to the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C, and General Mobile 4G (Android One). Users with supported devices who have signed up for Google’s Android Beta Program can also expect to see the update soon.
Google said Nougat will bring a number of new features and improvements, including better battery life, a charge-saving Doze mode, optimized memory use and changes designed for users with low or impaired vision. The updated OS will also introduce multi-window viewing, a slew of new emojis, file-based encryption and support for Google’s mobile virtual reality platform Daydream.
Designed for ‘Immersive Experiences’
“We took a different approach to building and launching Nougat this year,’ Sameer Samat, vice president of product management for Android and Google Play, wrote in a blog post Monday. Available as a beta release since March, “Android Nougat reflects input from thousands of fans and developers all over the world,” he added.
In a separate post on Google’s Android Developers Blog, vice president of engineering Dave Burke noted that his team is already working on the first “maintenance release” update to Android 7.0 Nougat, which is expected to launch as a developer preview this fall.
Google is also “pushing the Android 7.0 source code to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), extending public availability of this new version of Android to the broader ecosystem,” he added.
What that means is that Nougat will eventually be arriving not only on smartphones and tablets, but on wearables, televisions, cars and virtual reality devices.
“Android Nougat is designed with immersive experiences in mind,” Samat said. With its support for Google’s Daydream platform, “Android Nougat is ready to transport you to virtual worlds with Daydream-ready phones, headsets and controllers — all coming later this year,” he said.
VR Platform To Launch Soon
While users with the most recent Nexus devices can expect to see a Nougat update soon, it’s uncertain how and when many other Android devices will get the new OS. Following the emergence of several severe Android vulnerabilities last year, some, though not all, Android device manufacturers said they would begin making monthly over-the-air software updates.
AndroidCentral yesterday predicted that Samsung, the largest manufacturer of Android phones, would likely update its Note 7 and Galaxy S7 devices first, probably in February. Galaxy S6 and Note 5 devices would see Nougat arrive “shortly after,” according to AndroidCentral. One of the first new devices to come preloaded with Nougat is LG’s V20, which is set to hit the market sometime in the third quarter of this year.
Sometime this fall, Google also plans to release its Daydream platform for mobile virtual reality. Along with the platform, Google is expected to unveil a variety of VR movies, games and other types of content created in-house or in partnership with game developers and other organizations.
“The company is relying on apps, shorts and games to promote Daydream, a hybrid store and software service that Google hopes will be the dominant way people engage in virtual reality, much like Android is for smartphones,” Bloomberg reported yesterday. “The idea is to encourage the growth of the technology and ensure Google maintains a central role in helping people find things to watch.”
