14 DAY TRIAL // Google has just released the third Developer Preview for Android O and it brings some improvements to stability and other areas. The new Android O developer preview includes some visual tweaks and new features.
Android O now comes with new and colorful notifications. The new layout allows notifications to change color if they contain embedded images and the background gradually fades into the picture. Moreover, the Android System now automatically displays a persistent notification, letting users know if an application is running in the background. Still, Google lets users disable the feature using the new notification channels.
Aside from this, Google introduced a new feature that allows users to change the shape of icons from cylinder to teardrop, square, rounded square, squircle or use system default. Google also removed customization options for themes on Android O, but the feature could actually arrive in the final version. The third Developer Preview also removes the System UI Tuner menu, ditching the possibility to change the on-screen button layout and the lock screen shortcuts.
Android O has the version number 8.0
Android O’s version number is now 8.0, as the About screen reveals in the Settings menu. In addition, Google has finalized all the APIs for Android O and various applications will start getting support for the latest Android version soon.
Google also updated the camera app to version 4.4 and added some small UI tweaks, including a new camera/video toggle button. Users can still swipe to move between the two features as before, but Google also added a slight change to the size of the shutter button.
The third Developer Preview of Android O is available for compatible Nexus and Pixel smartphones, while the final and stable version should arrive later this year. Google has yet to reveal the name of the next Android version, this will be established before the official release. Last year, Google urged users to vote on the name of the next Android version and later picked Nougat.