Google announced a slew of major new features for Android P at yesterday’s I/O 2018 keynote. Developer Preview 2 equally included a number of design changes as led by the new gesture navigation and new Recents view. However, there was also a number of smaller tweaks, with one of them being weather on the lockscreen.
It seems like every time we get a new version of Android, we also get a new take on the quick settings menu as well. It’s evolved a lot over the years, but with the second Android P developer preview, Google is actually taking a step back…
In previous versions of Android, when you held down on an empty portion of a homescreen, the Pixel Launcher would load a shelf with options for the Home settings, Widgets, and Wallpapers. That has changed with Android P DP2.
Google’s second release of Android P adds quite a lot of new features to the OS, but some of the best have been subtle changes that improve usability. In its second developer preview, Google has added a new shortcut for managing notifications.
With the release of Android P, Google refined the new volume slider’s UI that we first saw in the Developer Preview 1. The company also made it so that the phone’s volume rocker only changes media volume by default. Because of this, the process of adjusting the ring volume can be confusing. Here’s how it works.
While most probably installed Android P through the Beta Program, users who cleanly flashed the firmware were met with a brand new default wallpaper.
There are a lot of subtle changes in Android P that improve it for the better, and as we noted back in the first developer preview, some of those are on the lockscreen. Now, Google is continually refining that in the Android P Beta.
Following the initial launch in March, Android P is hitting beta at Google I/O 2018. Developer Preview 2 includes a number of the new features announced earlier in the keynote and is the first version available as an OTA from the Android Beta Program.
In Android P, Google makes quite a few big changes, but there’s a subtle new tone which has been added in this version to the Pixel 2 XL when you plug in the charger and it’s fantastic.
Android P’s first developer preview introduced a lot of design changes instead of big new features, and one of the most notable design changes came in the form of a new volume slider. Now, in the Android P Beta release, Google is refining that design, and adding some new features.
One of my favorite pieces of the first preview for Android P was the arrival of an official screenshot editor – finally! However, it was a bit underwhelming as the tool, well, had some big problems. Now in the second Android P build, Google has worked out the issues.
Android P focuses on delivering a lot of new things to Android, and we got a hint at Google’s bigger goals at I/O this week. However, back when the first developer preview landed, one of the big things Google was bringing to P was support for the notch. Now, Android P’s second preview supports two of them…
With the second Developer Preview of Android P, Google introduced a new horizontal recent apps menu that flows better with the gesture navigation controls. But with this, Google has removed the Clear All button and added several handy features.
Android P brings a lot of noticeable changes to Google’s operating system, but one of the biggest is the arrival of gesture navigation. We’ve been talking about this one for a while, and since we were the first to show you what it looked like, let’s take a minute to look at the official version in action.
With the release of the Android P Beta Program, Google is officially letting users try out gesture-based navigation controls. But these aren’t enabled by default, so here’s how to turn them on.
At I/O 2018, Google announced that it would be rolling out the second Developer Preview build of Android P and along with it, the P Beta Program. Just like with Android Oreo’s Beta Program, you enroll in the program online and shortly after, Google will send an OTA update to your registered device. Here’s the how to enroll and unenroll in that program…
The first release of Android P in March focused on announcing new features specifically for developers. At I/O 2018, Google is detailing more user-facing features like Android P’s new gesture navigation, adaptive battery that uses AI to optimize usage, and digital wellbeing features. Intelligence, simplicity, digital wellbeing are the focus of this release.
Google I/O starts in a couple of hours, and one of the things we expect the search giant to show off is the second Developer Preview of Android P. In usual fashion for these types of significant announcements, someone is claiming that they got their hands on the update before it was made official.
Android P is full of lots and lots of small tweaks and redesigns that we’ve covered in-depth this week, but as the week closes out, let’s take a closer look at some of the biggest changes…
Android P Developer Preview 1 brings new features and refinements to various settings. The Battery menu is one of them, with the Battery Saver no longer turning status and navigation bars bright orange. Meanwhile, users have much more control in determining when the feature automatically enables.
Bluetooth’s functionality works hand-in-hand with software, and with Android P, Google is potentially bringing some big upgrades to this functionality.
Over the years, Android has added many ways to make it easier to securely unlock your phone. However, some argue that these features allow intruders easier access into your device. With Android P, Google is taking a step in the opposite direction by introducing an interesting countermeasure.
The latest major Android update is chock full of big changes, but sometimes the finer details are worth noting. Android P includes one such quality of life change with the ability to adjust vibration strength.
Android P is full of big changes, but it also has a ton of really handy minor tweaks. One that we just found out about tonight is the ability to rotate apps, even when auto-rotate is disabled.
