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    Categories: Reviews

Android’s Next Flavor would be called Nougat, says Google

After all the anxious waits and developer preview releases, Google has finally unveiled the name of Android’s next major OS version 7.0 as Android Nougat.

Previously known officially as Android N, the latest Android version was announced in March and several developer previews have been released since then, as is the usual practice, the latest of them being Developer Preview 4. Prior to announcing Nougat as the official name, Google gave Android lovers and fans the chance to suggest names for the latest OS version using the letter N as guide, since the current version Marshmallow starts with letter M.

Several dessert names were suggested, including New York Cheesecake, Nougat, Neyyappam, Noodle pudding, Nutella, Noghl and a couple of others, of which New York Cheesecake and Nutella seemed to be the most popular. New York Cheesecake was suspected to be the name of the new OS after it was used as a code name for one of the developer previews.

On another occasion, Nutella was teased as the name by an Google official. So it came as a bit of a surprise to everyone that Nougat finally made the cut, bringing to question whether Google actually took the majority’s suggestions into consideration. Well, let’s wait for the data about that.

With the latest Android Nutella (oops! It’s now Android Nougat!) developer preview (no. 4) recently released by Google, some features of the latest version of Android have been made known to those who got opportunity to receive it on their devices. And while we’re still one preview away from seeing Nougat on any device, we’re sure of some features of the OS that would (or would not) finally make the cut. Here they are.

Features of Android 7.0 Nougat

Here are some features which are expected to launch with the final release of the Android Nougat.

3D Touch

The 3D Touch feature, which is already present on Apple iPhone’s from iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S, was discovered in the Developer Preview 2 release of Android Nougat in April. References to the feature were found in the code of the developer preview, and it was listed among the features in the official developer preview 2 documentation.

However, the 3D Touch function isn’t going to come with the official release of Android Nougat, according to a report by tech website Re/code. This was a big blow to people who had been envying the feature on iPhone’s and were wishing it’d come to Android with Android N, but we expect that the feature would be integrated along the line, probably in an over-the-air update.

Google Camera: Slow-Motion Video Recording and More on Android Nougat.

 

The Google Camera app which is available on the Google Play Store, has gotten some new interesting features in readiness for Android Nougat. The features vary based on the version of the app available for each phone, but they are intriguing nonetheless.

With the app update, it is now possible to take photos of on-screen objects while watching a video. Also, you can now record videos in slow-motion mode. The latter has to be supported by your phone for it to work, and the speed of recording varies from phone to phone.

The icons and design of the app have been made over too, in readiness for Android N. It’s now easier to access the app features in the hamburger menu, and you have the option of taking a photo while recording a video.

Free form Mode

With OEM’s like Samsung already churning out devices with multi-window support and picture-in-picture layout, it is not surprising that at last, free form mode is coming to Android. The reality of the feature coming to Android N was made known at the Google I/O 2016 event, and the feature seems stable enough to make the final cut.

Free form mode is basically a feature that allows you to view and operate multiple apps at the same time on the screen, and gives you the power to move them to any desired position, and to resize the apps to fit whatever dimension you want. This feature would most definitely make it to the final release of Android N.

Emoji Unicode 9 Support on Android Nougat

 

This is one feature that every Android fanboy has been craving for since its inception. Really, Android emojis look scary. This is in contrast to those found on its rival OS, Apple iOS, which are better looking and have become the favorites of many. Google has decided to address this issue in Android N, including native support for Emoji Unicode 9.

What this means is that Android Emoji’s will now look more human and less scary. There’s also support for skin tone variation, a feature already implemented in various apps like Whatsapp messenger.


To view the full unveiling of the Android Nougat statue by Google, follow them on Snapchat. For those that haven’t already installed Android Nougat Developer Preview 4 on their phones, the above features and more will be included, and it is now up to Google to decide which features would finally make it to the official release of Android 7.0 Nougat. What is important is that Android has got a new flavor, Nougat, and has a new version, 7.0.

Ojo Stephen:
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