14 DAY TRIAL // Google has just started rolling out Android 7.0 Nougat to some Nexus devices and the update is expected to arrive in the next few weeks. On a post on Android Developer Blog, Google announced that Android 7.0 Nougat will be receiving quarterly maintenance updates and that developer previews will also be released.
The post by Dave Burke, VP of Engineering shows that Nougat will be subjected to a new regular maintenance schedule over the next quarters. Devices will be receiving updates in the form of developer previews, with the first one set to come this fall, although a specific date wasn't mentioned.
The VP did provide some details on the upcoming developer preview, mainly that Google has already started working on it and that it will bring “continued refinements and polish”.
Devices in Android Beta Program will also be receiving the final build
Android 7.0 Nougat will be made available to the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C, and General Mobile 4G (Android One), as well as devices enrolled in the Android Beta Program. It remains to be seen if the next developer preview will be made available in the form of flashable images or if Google will provide OTAs, like it did in the Android N beta.
Google also highlighted the new tools for developers and users found in the final build of Android Nougat. The final version of Android OS comes with multi-window support for users to run two apps side-by-side or above one another in splitscreen mode. Notification enhancements were also provided, including bundled mode, direct reply and custom views.
Doze mode was also improved and the final build comes with Project Svelte, which is a tool for minimizing RAM use by system and apps across Android devices. The main focus of Project Svelte is to optimize the way apps runs in the background. Aside from this, Google also brought enhancements to the data saver and integrated Vulkan API inside Android 7.0 Nougat.