Digiato Review: Android Nougat; The beginning of an evolution

After about a year, Android Marshmallow has lost its freshness and polish, and it is time for users to update their mobile devices to the latest version of this operating system; The version that always has the name of a dessert and this time this link and after entering the Google account (which you have already entered on your smartphone), select the desired mobile device from the available list and download the final version of Android Nougat on it.

Although the beta name seems a little daunting, it is necessary to point out that the size difference of this version with the official updates provided by Google to Nexus devices is less than 50 MB, so it can be said that it is more or less the same You will see the final version.

Of course, you should note that it may take up to 24 hours to receive the update notification on your smartphone after you enter the relevant page and choose your mobile name, but generally this happens immediately.

If you want to leave the program to receive beta updates and preview versions of Android, it is enough to same Page is returned and select the option of not receiving.

But in this version, Google has not found a solution for the main problem of its mobile software platform, and accordingly, if you are a user of non-Nexus devices (Samsung, Huawei, and others), it will take you a few months to get Android New to you.

Until then, we invite you to check out Digiato to take a look at the new features and the most important changes in Android 7 or The same nougat.

In the seventh generation of the Android operating system, battery consumption has reached its most optimal form and notifications are more effective than ever thanks to their new features.

One of the big weaknesses of Android was that as the screen got bigger, only the size of the icons got bigger and the optimal use of more space available on the screen was not done, a problem that is now solved thanks to the ability to split the screen into two. The part has been partially lifted.

The new graphical API of this operating system is called Vulcan, which supports Google’s virtual reality platform known as Daydream and is supposed to improve Google platform games.

The most used mobile operating system in the world is now faster than ever and due to Google’s work in recent years, its user experience is at its highest.

Next, we will go into more details of the most important features and capabilities of Android in the Nougat version.

Notifications better than ever

As we said, most of the improvements made in the new version are behind the scenes and you won’t see their appearance. However, notifications are one of the few parts that have undergone significant changes.

Android Nougat notifications are wider than ever and now cover the entire screen width of your mobile device. The extra and separating space between notifications has also been eliminated as much as possible so that the available space can be used to the maximum extent.

In the new version, the notifications related to each application are displayed in an integrated form next to each other so that they are more orderly when viewing and it is possible to dismiss them with one movement.

But the most interesting change is that now when you receive a message, you can reply to the message through the same application without opening the corresponding application, a feature that was previously provided for Hangouts and Messenger applications, but now all Communication applications have been extended.

The procedure for doing the work is as follows: after receiving the message, you can select the “reply” option and start typing the answer after the keyboard appears.

Finally, it is necessary to mention that in this mode, it is also possible to view a number of previous messages so that the user does not need to refer to the messenger application to continue the discussion.

Quicker access to the Quick Settings section

In Android devices, generally by swiping once from the top of the screen, you will encounter the notification bar, and with another swipe (or if you swipe with two fingers from the beginning), the so-called quick settings section will appear, where the icon There are some to control system functions, including disconnecting and connecting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and flashlight.

But Google has made some changes in this section in Android Nougat so that access to a number of shortcuts can be done faster. Now, when you swipe down the notification bar, a number of icons from the quick settings section will also appear above them.

In addition, the quick settings section is now fully customizable and it will be up to you to choose which icons are present at the top of the notifications, because the device has the first 5 icons of the quick settings section in the same order. The episode will show.

In addition, it is necessary to mention that this section is now more compact than before and new options have been considered for controlling new sections of the operating system, including the new Data Saver option, which is activated It prevents applications from running in the background and requires them to consume the least amount of data possible to reduce user costs.

More than one window

If you have ever used an Android tablet or even phablet, you have come across the fact that in Google’s mobile operating system, as the screen gets bigger, everything just gets bigger and the extra screen space is practically wasted. Road (regardless of the few manufacturers such as Samsung or Sony who have thought of solutions for this issue in their user interface).

The empty space of the ability to split the screen into two parts was felt in Android

Now, in the latest version of Android, Google has finally added the possibility of dividing the screen into 2 parts and using 2 different applications at the same time by default to its operating system, a feature that is also used in smart phones. But it will be most effective in products equipped with a large screen.

To activate this mode, just press the square Android navigation button at the bottom of the screen and drag the application you want from the colored bar above it to the upper part of the screen.

In this case, the upper half of the screen will be assigned to the application you want, and a list of open applications will be displayed in the lower half, and you can also assign the lower half of the image to one of them.

After the image is divided into two parts, the possibility of choosing how much of the screen is dedicated to each of these two applications also depends on your decision, and you can control this issue by dragging the black bar in the middle of the screen. Do it.

Currently, most of the applications available on Nexus mobile phones support this feature, and this includes some third-party applications, for example, you can play music in a window with Spotify. And in the other window identify it with the Shazam application.

But at the same time, many applications do not support this feature, including games and the Instagram application, although it is expected that this problem will be solved soon by providing an update by the developers.

Split screen is not yet fully supported by all applications

In addition, sometimes the windows of both applications are not updated live and it is necessary to enter the application itself to see the latest changes, a problem that is expected to be resolved soon in the next updates.

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To get out of this mode, just press the square Android navigation button at the bottom of the screen for a few moments. In general, it should be said that the void of such a feature was completely felt in the Google operating system, and the manufacturer, by adding this new feature, allowed users to make the most of the screen space of their mobile device.

Return to the previous application with two pointers

In the new version of the Google operating system, moving between applications is done in the easiest way, and if you touch the square Android navigation button twice, you will quickly return to the previous application you were using. .

We have seen this feature before in the products of other manufacturers, such as OnePlus 3, but now that this feature has been added to the Android operating system by default, all users of this operating system can benefit from it.

For example, imagine you need to copy a code from an email and enter it into an application, just open the email application and after copying the text, quickly enter the application by double-touching the square button. Go back to the previous one and enter the copied text.

Longer battery life than ever thanks to the second generation of Doze

In Android Marshmallow, we saw the addition of a feature called Doze, which stopped unnecessary functions of the device, such as connecting to the Internet, when the smartphone was stationary, including when the user was sleeping at night, so that the battery energy was not wasted and the standby time of the device to increase by 30 percent.

Now in Android Nougat, this feature is no longer reserved only for when the smartphone is stationary, and the operating system generally controls the access of applications to the Internet connection when the screen is off.

Now Android does not allow applications to connect to the Internet or take the smartphone out of standby mode except for the necessary ones, and this issue can reduce the battery consumption of the device by another 20%.

Silent system update in the background

Android Nougat supports 2 different partitions, one for performing daily functions and the other for updating the system. In fact, thanks to this new feature, Android downloads its updates in the background and informs the user after the download is complete that the device will be updated to the latest version on the first restart.

The existence of this feature makes updating much more straightforward than before and you no longer need to wait for downloading, installing and synchronizing applications with the new version after each update is released.

Of course, this feature, which is called Seamless Updates, still does not work completely and without problems even on Nexus 6P and 5X, and of course it will not be supported by old devices, but it is expected that the current problems will be solved over time. And at least in the next Nexus, we will witness the evolution of this useful feature.

Improvement of facial recognition system

Google’s operating system has been able to disable the device’s lock screen in unnecessary situations by using sensors and in various ways. For example, when the user is at home, the system will know this based on the location or connection to the home Wi-Fi, and if you want, it will disable the device lock.

The facial recognition system looks like one of the improved parts in the background

Recognition of the user’s face is one of the methods used to unlock the device, which will be especially effective for devices that are not equipped with a fingerprint sensor, including tablets. But the main problem in the way of using this feature is its lower accuracy compared to other methods (such as the fingerprint sensor), which makes you give up the gift of using it.

Now it seems that the manufacturer has significantly improved the efficiency and accuracy of the facial recognition system in Android Nougat, and now it seems that the device has a problem with correct recognition except when you have glasses or big headphones on your phone. It will not have your face.

Accordingly, if you are a user of a tablet or mobile device that does not use a fingerprint sensor, Android Nougat can significantly improve your user experience thanks to its efficiency in this area.

More diverse emoticons

Emoji or emoticons are one of the features in operating systems that, although they don’t seem very important, most of us use them frequently throughout the day.

On this basis, it is not bad to mention that the number of emoticons in the new version reaches 1500, of which 72 are new. In this version, in addition to this, users can change the skin color of smileys by holding their finger on the smiley, a feature that we have seen before in Apple’s mobile operating system.

Block annoying calls

The capabilities of Android 7 in the field of blocking annoying calls are better than ever and the user can now have full control over this issue. The biggest advantage of the new system is that now all blocked numbers are collected in a single list so that all applications can use it if needed.

Vulkan, Java 8, OpenJDK