Android 8.1 Oreo Release Date, Beta, Features and Details

Google has confirmed that the next version of Android Oreo and Android 8.1 will come for Pixel devices and select Nexus devices later this year.

The first major update work for Google’s Android Oreo operating system continues. Android 8.1 Oreo missed the company’s Pixel 2 launch event in November, but Google has confirmed a lengthy changelog, an Android 8.1 Developer Preview for Nexus and Pixel devices, and the official Android 8.1 release window for Nexus and Pixel devices.

Now that Android 8.1 has been confirmed, we’d like to bring you a few things you need to know right now about Google’s first major Android Oreo update.

Will My Device Get Android 8.1 Oreo?

Google’s Android 8.1 Oreo update will be the first maintenance release for the operating system. Google has designated it as MR1. announcement.

Devices like the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P are getting old, but it looks like all Nexus and Pixel devices running Android 8.0 Oreo will get the software.

Android 8.1 Oreo update confirmed for Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Pixel C, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.

Android 8.1 Release Date

Last year, Google released Android 7.1 Nougat update Alongside Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. Android 7.0 became available in August (like Android 8.0) and Android 7.1 in October with a version of Android 7.1.1 in early December. Google is doing things a little differently this year.

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL arrived on October 19th, and the official Android 8.1 release date will arrive sometime in December. The company has not confirmed a specific date.

Google’s version of Android 8.1 seems to be going as planned. The company recently released Android 8.1 Developer Preview 2 and it still says targeting A December release for the official software.

Rogers, a Canadian carrier, announced that Android 8.1 Very soon although he did not confirm a specific date.

Android 8.1 Developer Preview

Google has published Android 8.1 Developer Preview It gives Nexus and Pixel users a chance to try the software before it’s generally available.

Those who want to try the Developer Preview can achieve it in one of two ways. You can enroll your device in automatic OTA system updates through Google. Android Beta Program. This is the simplest way to get the Android 8.1 update on your Nexus or Pixel device.

If you prefer to manually install the software on your Pixel or Nexus, you can download the appropriate Android 8.1 Developer Preview system image and flash it on your device.

Android 8.1 Update: What’s New

The update is in beta, which means an official changelog is out of reach. That said, we do have some information about the changes in the Android 8.1 update.

The current version of Android 8.1 Oreo includes several major improvements for Notifications and Autofill. Here is the changelog in the first developer preview:

The Neural Networks API (NNAPI) provides hardware-accelerated applications for machine learning operations on the device. The API supports model creation, compilation, and execution on the device. Applications generally do not use NNAPI directly; instead, NNAPI is meant to be invoked by machine learning libraries, frameworks, and tools that allow developers to train their models and deploy them on Android devices.

Apps can now only sound a notification alert once a second. Warning tones exceeding this rate are not queued and are lost. This change does not affect other aspects of notification behavior and notification messages continue to be sent as expected.

Android 8.1 (API level 27) adds two new hardware feature constants, FEATURE_RAM_LOW and FEATURE_RAM_NORMAL to Package Manager. These constants allow you to target distribution of your apps and APK partitions to normal or low-RAM devices. These constants allow the Play Store to offer a better user experience, especially by highlighting apps that are well suited to a particular device’s capabilities.

The Developer Preview adds support for custom annotations that the Android System displays in the autofill save UI instead of the original representation of the data. This is useful, for example, when you want to mask a credit card number and show only the last four digits. See the CustomDescription class for more information.

Using the WebView implementation of the Safe Browsing API, your application can detect when an instance of WebView is trying to navigate to a URL that Google has classified as a known threat. By default, WebView displays an interstitial ad, as shown in Figure 1, that warns the user of the known threat and gives them the option to still load the URL or return to a previous safe page.

Android 8.1 Developer Preview (API level 27) adds support for managing wallpaper colors. This feature allows you to create a WallpaperColors object from a bitmap, a drawable object, or using the first three most visually representative colors. You can also get the details of the first three colors of a wallpaper that stand out.

FingerprintManager class introduced the following error codes:

Beta testers also discovered some additional changes, including: Colored navigation bar that dims in Settingsa new power menu design, a new Oreo icon in System Notifications, and automatic dark and light themes. Google brought some of these features from Pixel 2.

Google recently released a second beta of Android 8.1, and Developer Preview 2 fixed a few bugs and issues in the first version. Highlights include enabling Pixel Visual Core for Pixel 2 devices and a new Hamburger emoji. Cheese is now in the right place.

Google says the final version of Android 8.1 will include new features, APIs (API level 27) and the company’s latest optimizations, bug fixes and security updates.

December Android Oreo Update

If Android 8.1 doesn’t arrive tomorrow, Nexus and Pixel users will receive another security patch before the Android 8.1 update arrives.

Google usually releases the monthly security patch on the first Monday of the month, but the December security patch will be released on Tuesday, December 5.

If you’re interested in the security patches coming to your Nexus or Pixel device this month, you can check out the full list of changes. right here.