Google today announced during an event that the official name for Android 8.0 was Oreo. It remained unclear at the time when the update would begin rolling out, but since then the company has released a blog post and stated the update is now rolling out to Pixel and Nexus device owners over the air. It’s also making its way to carriers for verification, while its factory images have also been uploaded to the World Wide Web.
Android Oreo, while isn’t the biggest update for the OS, brings some welcome enhancements. There are new Notification Dots to indicate when one of your apps has pushed a notification to your phone, redesigned App Shortcuts, picture-in-picture mode for compatible apps like YouTube and Google Duo, improved security and speed, better battery efficiency, smart Autofill, and redesigned emoji that trashes the previous blob look. It’s a pretty healthy suite of improvements that’ll no doubt be welcomed by anyone who installs the new software.
According to Google, they’re already “working closely with our partners, and by the end of this year, hardware makers including Essential, General Mobile, HMD Global Home of Nokia Phones, Huawei, HTC, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp and Sony are scheduled to launch or upgrade devices to Android 8.0 Oreo.” That’s a pretty big promise. Therefore, we may see Oreo’s numbers jump higher than Nougat’s did when it launched last year. Of course, it’ll still take time for present devices to receive the upgrade to Android 8.0, but this at least gives us some hope that Oreo won’t take as long to roll out to an extended set of users besides the typical Nexus and Pixel owners.
Visit the Settings app on your device to see if you’ve received Oreo yet. It may take a little while for the update to hit every, so be patient. It’s worth noting if you’re enrolled in the Android Beta Program, you’ll see the update immediately.
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