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Android 8.0 Oreo system images have been released:
Android 8.0 Oreo is shipping out across all the usual distribution methods. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is getting the 8.0 code drop. OTAs will begin to roll out "soon" to the Pixel, Pixel XL, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, and Pixel C, and system images should be up on developers.google.com soon. Any device enrolled in the Android Beta Program will also be upgraded to these final builds.
Thanks to several developer preview releases, we mostly know what's in Android 8.0 Oreo. The update brings a big revamp of the notification panel, with a new layout, colors, and features, like "snoozing." Google is clamping down on background apps for more consistent performance and better battery life. There are new, updatable emoji, a faster startup time, all new settings, and plenty of security enhancements, including the new "Google Play Protect" malware system. Most importantly, Android 8.0 brings Project Treble to new devices, a modularization of the OS away from the hardware, which should make it easier to develop and roll out new Android updates.
Google blog. And "When will your device actually get Android Oreo?"
Previously: iOS 11 Versus Android O on a Tablet? It's Not Even Close
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ledow on Wednesday August 23 2017, @07:09AM (3 children)
As someone who manages 100's of iPads, you also don't want to be forced onto the latest version or everything you do on the device obsoleted either. We've had that three times now, where devices purchased are effectively obsolete because of a forced OS change / stagnation, which means you can't update to the new app versions, which means you're stuck forever at some version that doesn't work or isn't compatible with the version on other devices that you have.
And I can find a Android 7.0 tablet quite easily, and much cheaper than an Apple (it literally took SECONDS to find, there are dozens more on Amazon just searching for: "android 7.0" tablet ):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Expandable-processor-Bluetooth-Multi-touch-Pre-loaded/dp/B073XQLB7Z/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1503471832&sr=8-3&keywords=%22android+7.0%22+tablet [amazon.co.uk]
It's all swings and roundabouts, anyway. Personally, you couldn't give me a free iPad. I'd just sell it, buy a cheap Android tablet and then when it's obsolete, buy another. Just buy what you want now, rather than what you might want tomorrow. Things are so transferable and "cloudy" now in that regard that it's pointless trying to cling on to something forever.
Personally, every time they change the UI, I get more pissed off. There's no need to change the way it works, just add features to it. If you need a "redesign" every iteration, it means your last design was shit.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday August 23 2017, @12:56PM
Personally, I prefer they work on stability and performance. Features just means more useless crap eventually culminating to an "upgrade".
(Score: 2) by RedBear on Wednesday August 23 2017, @01:34PM
I've tried searching for exactly that on the US Amazon store. Unfortunately their search algorithm is so loose it mostly just ends up showing me 7" tablets that aren't running Android 7.0. A lot of weird little proprietary things and things that say "KitKat" in the title. It's been quite frustrating.
Whoa, just found one for $69 that's supposedly got Android 7.0. Might have to try that. Wait, no, it's a phablet even. Crazy. And there's a 10" tablet for $105. I'm having strangely better luck this time. The best I could find just a few weeks ago was one running Android 6.0.
It's not that I want a device that lasts forever, although I am used to iPhones and iPads that are usable for years, mostly being upgradeable through at least one and usually two or even three major versions of iOS before seeing a major performance penalty. No, what I specifically wanted is access to the newest revamped design semantics of Android 7.x and beyond. It seems that starting with Android 6.x Google started taking the need for intuitive and consistent UI design more seriously, and with Android 7.x I finally saw something that might not be too painful to switch to after living through eight different major revisions of iOS.
Being a bit of an Anglophile I am surprised I've never encountered the phrase "swings and roundabouts" before. It's a particularly obtuse turn of phrase. I usually use "six of one, half-dozen of the other" in similar contexts.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday August 23 2017, @07:30PM
Same search on the U.S. site yoelds a bunch of tablets with older versions of Android on them even with display by relevance. Very annoying.