Google Launches Android 7.0 Nougat
Google has officially launched the latest version of its Android mobile operating system, Android 7.0 Nougat. What new features and improvements can users expect from the latest version of the company’s mobile operating system?
Google CEO Sundar Pichai — Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Google has officially launched the latest version of its Android mobile operating system, Android 7.0 Nougat, which comes with a great look and more consumer-friendly features. The name of the OS was unveiled back in June, and has been available for a while via a developer preview to help people develop apps for it.
Following the announcement by the company, Android “Nougat” is starting to roll out today, Monday. However, it won’t be available on all — or even most — Android smartphones for a while. The new OS is being made available for Nexus devices first, including the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G (Android One). Nexus is a suite of flagship smartphones designed by Google to showcase Android at its purest.
Many Android Users Are Still on Older Versions
As reported on Google’s Android developer dashboards, 15.2% of Android customers were using version 6.0 Marshmallow as of August 1. This is fairly small amount for an update that has been available for over 10 months, although the percentage is twice as much market share as it had in May. Meanwhile, 35.5% of users were on some form of Android 5.0 Lollipop, while 29.2% were on Android 4.4 KitKat that was launched in late 2013.
What’s New in Android Nougat?
Key new features of Nougat include things like multi-window (the ability to run multiple apps side-by-side on the same screen), faster multi-tasking, new emoji improvements to Doze, a battery-saving feature, and support for Daydream — Google’s new virtual reality platform which will be out later this year.
Which Device Gets Nougat Next?
The next non-Nexus phone to get Android Nougat will be the LG V20 that launches in September, and it will come with Nougat pre-installed. We hope that we won’t wait too long to see it on other Android devices.
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