14 DAY TRIAL // As expected, the new version of Android will be officially introduced in May at Google's I/O developer conference. However, the so-called Android O won't be released until later this fall following multiple developer previews.
Android O is supposed to close the gap between Google's OS and Apple's iOS in terms of artificial intelligence, VentureBeat reports. According to the cited source, Google has already developed a new feature that will be introduced in Android O, which is called Copy Less.
The new Copy Less feature is supposed to make it easier to copy text from one application to another. However, it's unclear whether or not the new feature will make it to Google's Gboard application or it will be applied to Android itself.
“As an example, if you and a friend are having a conversation in a chat about where to eat dinner and you find a good restaurant in the Yelp app, when you go back to your conversation and type ‘it’s at,’ one automatically generated suggestion in Gboard would be the restaurant’s address,” writes VentureBeat.
The new gestures might not make their debut in Android O
Furthermore, Android O will introduce new gestures to users. For example, Google will now allow users to take advantage of finger gestures to trigger actions across Android.
Some of the examples provided by a source familiar with Android O development include a gesture that would allow users to access a short list of recent contacts by drawing the letter C on the screen.
That is in addition to the option to bring up contacts using the “OK Google” voice command on Android, which is already available for users.
Unfortunately, the new gestures might not make it to any of the developer previews of Android O, or could be delayed or even cut out completely if they're not smoothly integrated into the new operating system.