Everyone knows about Android Oreo’s big changes, but a lot more is going on if you dig deeper. Check out improvements to notifications, sideloading and more.
Google is pushing Android 8.0 Oreo to Nexus and Pixel devices as device makers scramble to get their phones updated. Google’s devices will be the only ones running the new software, at least for a while. What’s this Oreo update all about, anyway? Everyone knows about the big stuff, like picture-in-picture and autofill apps, but a lot more is going on if you dig deeper. Here are six awesome hidden Oreo features to get you started.
Google has changed the location and appearance of the home screen widget picker several times, and Oreo brings yet another alteration. This one might make using widgets much easier, though. All of an app’s widgets are accessible with a long-press on the app icon. This works in the app drawer as well as on the home screen.
The long-press menu is the same one that shows pending notifications via notification dots, one of the high-profile changes to Android 8.0. Less well-known is the icon that looks like four small squares. That’s the widget shortcut. It’s at the top of the popup for apps that have launcher shortcuts, but it has a full line with a label on those that do not. Tap the icon (wherever it may be), and a panel appears at the bottom of the screen with just the widget or widgets for that app. You can long-press and drag any of them onto your home screen.
Android 8.0 comes with a new raft of tweaks to background processes that prevents apps from bleeding your battery dry. There’s a big catch, though: These background limits are enforced only on apps that target the new API level in Oreo. You can force an older app to abide by the new background limits, however.
Android is great at delivering a ton of information in notifications, but you don’t always want to pay attention to a notification immediately. In Android 8.0 Oreo, you can snooze notifications until later. You don’t have to dig into any menus to set this up, but it’s still somewhat hidden.
In past versions of Android, the „unknown sources“ permission was all or nothing. Either every app on your phone could install apps as sideloaded APKs, or none of them could. Android 8.0 changes that to make sideloading a per-app setting. It’s safer, sure, but it’s also a bit of a pain to manage.
Oreo includes several changes to notifications, including notification dots and notification channels. If you want to filter out some of the noise, both these features include some handy customization options.
Oreo has plenty to keep you busy when you factor in all the hidden features. Keep all these tips in mind when you pick up your Oreo device, and you’ll master it in no time.
