Android 8.0 Oreo It represents one of the most profound and influential updates to Google's operating system, becoming a milestone for millions of users and developers around the world. Its advancements not only result in a more fluid and secure user experience, but also lay the groundwork for the future of mobility, artificial intelligence, and cross-device integration.
The official arrival of Android O, finally renamed as Android Oreo, was the result of months of work and previous versions, an update focused on both internal optimization and providing innovative features and better integration between apps, services, and hardware. Below, you'll find the most exhaustive and detailed analysis of all the new features, improvements, and enhancements included in Android 8.0, with clear and complete explanations of each so you can get the most out of your device.
Key new features of Android 8.0 Oreo
Android 8.0 Oreo has been designed to optimize the user experience in every aspect. Its most notable new features include:
- Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode: Allows you to watch videos or make video calls in a small floating window while using other apps.
- Channels and notification improvements: New hierarchy, ability to snooze notifications, colorful notifications, and notification dots on icons.
- Native autocomplete for passwords and forms, streamlining logins and personal data management.
- Adaptive icons and renewed, with greater customization and uniformity on the home screen.
- Background process optimization: Battery saving and overall performance improvement.
- Security and privacy updates Enhanced, specifically designed for business use, web browsing protection and granular permission control.
- Connectivity improvements: Wi-Fi Aware (NAN), Bluetooth 5.0, and support for new technologies and peripherals.
- Complete emoji makeover and a more polished and modern interface.
Improvements to the business environment and security
Android 8.0 strengthens its commitment to conquering the professional and business sector, where the security, privacy and management are critical elements. The following characteristics stand out:
- Work profiles and fully managed devices, allowing you to separate personal and professional data, as well as control applications, backups and security options (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.) from centralized policies.
- API Delegation so that administrators can assign applications responsible for managing devices and profiles.
- Advanced network controls and activity logs for comprehensive monitoring.
- Greater control of permits: New classified dangerous permissions, more limited access to accounts and user data thanks to improved AccountManager, and account visibility tracking by app.
- Secure authentication and browsing in applications and WebView, integrating the Google Safe Browsing directly in apps to avoid malicious sites.
- Faster security updates, powered by Project Treble (see below), minimizing the risks of fragmentation.
These features put Android on par with the demands of large enterprises, improving device protection, communications, and data integrity.
Revolutionary notification management
Notification management in Android O has reached unprecedented maturity, becoming not only one of the system's strong points, but also a global benchmark:
- Notification channels: Each app can now categorize its notifications into channels (e.g., sports, technology, messages), allowing the user to define priority, sound, and visibility separately for each type.
- Snooze notifications: You can swipe any notification to the right and snooze it for 15, 30, 60, or 120 minutes, making it easier to manage important reminders and messages.
- Colors and visual hierarchy: Multimedia notifications automatically adapt their background color to the content, while the notification bar differentiates between ongoing notifications (calls, music), person-to-person messages, general notifications (events, reminders), and unimportant notifications.
- Notification Dots and points on iconsApp icons display a dot to alert you of pending notifications. Long-pressing the icon will show you a shortcut to the associated notifications.
- Other visual improvements: Subtle animations and a cleaner notification panel, especially on devices with Ambient Display.
These improvements aim to give users precise control over what they receive, how they receive it, and how they manage it, minimizing distractions and personalizing the experience to their liking.
Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode: advanced multitasking
The integration of the mode Picture-in-Picture represents an essential leap in the multitask for Android smartphones and tablets. With PiP, you can shrink a compatible app (e.g., YouTube videos, Duo video calls, Google Maps, or Chrome) into a small floating window while you reply to messages, browse the web, or perform any other task simultaneously.
- Compatibility: PiP mode is initially available in apps like YouTube (subscription required), Google Maps (navigation), Duo, and Chrome (video playback), but developers can easily implement it across all of their apps.
- Intuitive controls: You can move the window around the screen, resize it, or return it to full screen with a tap.
- Efficient interaction: When you minimize a video call, you can still see the image without losing control over other phone functions.
This feature is especially useful for those who use their mobile phone or tablet for work, study, or intensive entertainment, and marks a new era in managing windows and information simultaneously on mobile devices.
Adaptive icons and visual customization
Android Oreo introduce adaptive icons, with the goal of maintaining a uniform and highly customizable aesthetic, regardless of the device model or customization layer:
- Uniformity- Icons are made up of two layers (icon and background) that can be automatically cropped and adapted to shapes such as circle, square or drop, depending on the user or manufacturer's preference.
- Support for animations and effects: During navigation or when displaying notifications, icons can move, expand, or apply advanced visual effects, providing a more attractive and modern experience.
- Developer-friendly: - Responsive icon creation is natively supported by the system, simplifying the maintenance of visual consistency.
This allows users to enjoy a clean and tidy home screen, without the disparity of sizes, colors, and shapes that characterized previous generations of Android.
Native autocomplete and smart text selector
With Android 8.0, Google introduces two essential productivity features:
- Autocomplete forms and passwords: The system allows you to automatically store and fill in username and password fields in apps and websites, thanks to a new native API (Autofill Framework). You can select your preferred password manager from the settings, saving time and improving security when managing complex passwords.
- Smart text selector: When you select an address, phone number, email, or website, the system recognizes the type of data and automatically suggests contextual actions (open in Maps, call, send email, etc.). It also selects all relevant items at once, making it easy to copy and use information efficiently.
This technology is powered by Google's artificial intelligence and machine learning, achieving a smoother, safer, and smarter user experience.
Updated emojis and customizable fonts
The differences in the emojis Cross-platform support was one of the most criticized areas in previous versions of Android. With Oreo:
- More than 2.000 redesigned emojis, leaving behind the “drop” style to adopt round and expressive faces compatible with international standards (iOS, WhatsApp…).
- EmojiCompat: Developers can bring new emoji to older versions of the system using a dedicated library.
- Customizable and downloadable fonts: Apps can request external fonts, reducing APK size and ensuring that all users see text and emoji correctly, even if their operating system is older.
This update addresses compatibility and update issues, allowing users to enjoy the latest emoji features without relying on full system updates.
Battery optimization and background process management
One of the biggest challenges for Android has always been the energyOreo incorporates dramatic improvements in process and resource management to maximize autonomy:
- Limits for background appsApps can now only perform specific tasks (such as listening to music or positioning) in the background. All other processes are suspended to avoid unnecessary battery and data consumption.
- Restrictions on broadcast services and receivers, encouraging migration to JobScheduler, a more efficient and controlled system.
- Automatic Wi-Fi: The system can activate Wi-Fi when it detects a saved network, even if it's turned off outside the home, avoiding surprises on your data bill.
- Greater efficiency in memory use and background garbage collection, resulting in faster startup times and less lag.
These strategies, combined with improvements in cache and storage management, consolidate Android Oreo as a version optimized to maximize battery life on all types of devices.
Connectivity improvements: Wi-Fi Aware, Bluetooth 5.0 and more
Android 8 consolidates its leadership in mobile connectivity, integrating cutting-edge technologies that improve communication between devices:
- Wi-Fi Aware (Neighborhood Aware Networking, NAN): Allows two Android devices to communicate with each other via Wi-Fi without the need for an Internet access point, ideal for sharing files or playing games on a local network.
- Sony's Bluetooth 5.0 and LDAC: Support for high-quality wireless audio, increased coverage and transfer speed, simultaneous connection to multiple Bluetooth devices, and expanded compatibility with headphones, speakers, and cars.
- Extended accessory compatibility (keyboards, controllers, external displays, etc.), facilitating professional and recreational use of the system.
- Synchronizing complementary devices: APIs to customize the pairing process and secure information exchange between connected devices.
These advancements position Android 8.0 Oreo as a benchmark in mobile connectivity, preparing the ecosystem for IoT, smart cities, and advanced networking.
Project Treble: Fragmentation solution and faster updates
One of Android's biggest challenges has been the version fragmentation and the slowness in receiving updates. Project Treble is Google's big bet to solve this bottleneck:
- Separation of the operating system layer and the manufacturer's drivers: allows you to update Android without depending on Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek or others to adapt the drivers for each device.
- Standard interface between hardware and system: Processor and phone manufacturers can work in parallel to accommodate updates, reducing wait times and facilitating ongoing support.
- Greater ease for developers, which can ensure the compatibility and security of your apps and devices for longer.
The goal of Project Treble is to deliver both security and system updates to all users faster, improving the overall Android experience and cohesion.
Personalization and interface updates
Android Oreo completely revamps the user interface, focusing on clarity, minimalism, and visual efficiency:
- Settings app redesign: White background, gray icons, and optimized organization to easily find each function.
- White navigation bar and auto-dimming of the buttons to go unnoticed when not in use.
- Auto Light/Dark Theme depending on the wallpaper, providing greater customization and adaptability to the user's taste.
- New search bars in settings and reminder of recent searches, facilitating quick access to frequently used menus.
- Multiple displays and multitasking support: You can move apps between screens on compatible devices, such as tablets or Chromebooks, expanding the possibilities for professional and multimedia use.
All of this translates into a more polished and coherent visual experience, positioning Oreo as one of the most refined releases to date.
Developer Innovations and New APIs
Android 8.0 introduces a multitude of improvements and new APIs that allow developers to create richer, more secure and efficient applications:
- Official support for Kotlin in Android Studio, allowing you to develop cleaner, more secure, and modern apps.
- Downloadable fonts and XML fonts: Developers can request external fonts, reducing the size and increasing the visual compatibility of their apps.
- Auto-sizing TextView and color management for high-gamut displays.
- WebView Improvements, including safe browsing APIs and more control over how web pages are integrated into apps.
- New APIs for instrumentation testing, shared memory and JobScheduler, facilitating the management of background jobs and critical services.
- Neural networks and machine learning: Android 8.1 adds support for TensorFlow Lite and new APIs that power embedded AI.
These new features facilitate the continuous evolution of applications, pushing the mobile ecosystem toward the technological forefront.
Advanced accessibility and usability tools
Android 8.0 reinforces its commitment to accessibility, integrating features and services that enhance the experience of people with different abilities:
- Keyboard Cluster Navigation: Better organization of interface elements so users can quickly move between logical groups of controls using hotkeys.
- Default focus: assigns which element should receive focus after returning to an activity or when using physical keyboards.
- Improvements to the text-to-speech engine, with precise playback tracking and the ability to highlight words in real time.
- New gestures supported on the fingerprint reader and more customization options in accessibility services.
The combination of these improvements makes Android more usable, inclusive, and efficient, both for people with disabilities and those seeking advanced customization.
Multimedia improvements: audio, video and playback
Android Oreo boosts multimedia capabilities with new features and greater control over audio and video playback:
- VolumeShaper: Smooth volume transitions for fade and crossfade effects.
- MediaPlayer renewed: Support for DRM-protected content and new precise search modes within a video or audio track.
- Efficient access to remote media files through improvements to the Storage Access Framework (SAF).
- Media Metrics API: : Tracking performance and playback quality.
- Advanced simultaneous playback management and pay attention to the battery status of connected Bluetooth devices (on Android 8.1).
These capabilities enable a more immersive, accurate, and industry-standard audio and video experience.
Android Go: Optimization for entry-level devices
Along with Oreo, Google introduces Android Go, a lightweight variant of the system tailored for devices with 1GB of RAM or less:
- memory optimization to improve fluidity on low-resource terminals.
- Google Go Apps specially designed to consume less data and storage.
- Shared Memory API and improvements to autocomplete and storage.
- Security and adapted updates to the profile of emerging users and expanding markets.
In this way, Android 8 extends its reach, allowing the latest technology to reach everyone, regardless of the price of the device.
Additional features and curiosities
- Notification Badges: Quick access to the content of a notification from the app icon by long pressing.
- New shortcut and widget management: Fixation and customization to improve productivity.
- Easter eggs: Hidden mini-games, animated octopus, and user experience improvements for the most curious and enthusiastic.
- App categories: Smart sorting for better organization in the system and app stores.
- Improved support for instrumentation testing and running apps in non-default processes to facilitate advanced testing and development.
Android 8.0 Oreo marks a turning point for the platform, not only for the integration of new technologies but also for its commitment to security, efficiency, customization, and openness to artificial intelligence and IoT. Whether you're a regular user, a professional, a developer, or simply looking to get more out of your smartphone or tablet, Oreo offers a modern, refined, and constantly evolving experience, ready to adapt to the challenges of the next mobile generation.
