Google’s latest operating system has officially been unveiled as Pie. Android 9 Pie is available over-the-air as of Monday for the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL devices as well as the Essential Phone. The system will also soon be available for devices from Sony Mobile, Xiaomi, HMD Global, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus.
Outside of the above-named partners, Android 9 Pie will now begin its slow journey onto Android devices. It will be interesting to see how or if Google’s Project Treble will help get the latest operating system on to more devices. Last year’s Android Oreo is now running on 10 percent of Android devices, while Android Marshmallow, which released three years ago has the largest software distribution at 23 percent.
While the initiative is aimed at getting Android updates out to OEM devices faster than in the past, major Android manufacturers, including Samsung and Huawei, appear to not be among those companies. These smartphone makers are known for having highly customized devices interfaces and long wait times for flagship models to update to the latest software. Google’s Project Treble affiliates tend to have more stripped-down interfaces that are very similar to pure Android.
Rumors have speculated that Samsung’s still unofficial Galaxy Note 9 would release running Android 8.1 Oreo. However, with Android Pie releasing just three days before, it would be rather disappointing to see the Galaxy Note 9 launch with an old operating system. Still, it’s not quite as disappointing as Android P not being called Poptart.
New Android Pie features and updates include:
Adaptive Battery reduces battery consumption on lesser used apps.
App Actions predicts a user’s next app usage based on current functions.
Slices allow users to access functions from an app without opening the full app.
New system navigation that displays recents horizontally instead of the old vertical rolodex orientation.
Top notch support that will allow screens to show apps in full screen in whether in landscape or portrait mode.
Notifications and smart reply updates that allow new messages and a response field to show up in notifications for various messaging apps.
Text Magnifier widget that enlargens highlighted text for easier reading.
Biometric prompt within the Android system, as opposed to a feature app makers, have to customize for their apps.
Gesture enhanced UI with functions including tap the home button for the home screen, swipe up for recent apps and double swipe or long swipe for the app drawer and.
157 new Emoji, including a pie slice, a bagel, and a lobster.
