Android 8.0 Oreo, thoroughly reviewed
- Thread starter JournalBot
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The update problem is largely why I'll be getting an iPhone to replace my current Android. But in a few years if this actually works I'll strongly consider moving back to Android.
I'll be watching how Treble changes things. It really has the chance to properly shake things up to where they should be.
I'll be watching how Treble changes things. It really has the chance to properly shake things up to where they should be.
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Its great that Google is going to more trouble to prevent OEMs from abandoning devices... Its a shame they are almost as bad with their own branded devices (Nexus). Hopefully this helps both problems.
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Oh how I hope Treble turns out the way they say it will. No more looking through XDA to see if some kind soul has worked up a stock release before buying a phone! No more shying away from good phones because I hate their software! Phone buying bliss
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I have to disagree with Ron's aside about Google Play Music needing to be multiple apps. For me the ability to search once across locally loaded, music locker, or ondemand/all access is a killer feature.
On Oreo generally, I agree that Treble appears to be huge, but I still have trouble understanding how today LineageOS can provide rock solid Nougat builds with current security patches for my backup Moto G first generation (with Oreo due soon), but lenovorola can't.
It really smells like the most cynical explanation of forced to obsolescence, and if so Project Treble won't help the 99% of typical users in the least.
On Oreo generally, I agree that Treble appears to be huge, but I still have trouble understanding how today LineageOS can provide rock solid Nougat builds with current security patches for my backup Moto G first generation (with Oreo due soon), but lenovorola can't.
It really smells like the most cynical explanation of forced to obsolescence, and if so Project Treble won't help the 99% of typical users in the least.
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One more thing - am I alone in wanting to be able to have the Android Go option available in the (mostly) developed country I live in, and on non-budget hardware?
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AVRCP 1.4 support is actually kinda huge for me personally - it finally enables you to browse through playlists and music on car radios / headunits. It even supports 3rd party apps (if they implement Android Auto APIs - uses the same source) which means that you can use the in-car controls to select Spotify playlists, choose podcast to listen on PocketCasts etc.
A long awaited change for us with Bluetooth equipped cars without Android Auto support.
A long awaited change for us with Bluetooth equipped cars without Android Auto support.
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I'm actually most excited about the Android-themed Oreos!
Who do I have to rob to get my grubby little hands on some?
Who do I have to rob to get my grubby little hands on some?
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AND they're mint too? My personal favorite! That picture had a serious Pavlovian effect on me.
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If you bought something reasonably modern (say, released in the last year) then you'll probably get Oreo from your OEM at some point. As the article noted, somewhere between 6 months and a year from now.
If you bought a phone which was released over a year ago, then your chances are going to be much slimmer. Not impossible, but it's going to vary by the OEM.
If the phone was released over two years ago then it's probably already been abandoned by the OEM so you're going to be out of luck I'm afraid.
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That's quite a write up.
The TensorFlow stuff is interesting - especially as it hints at on-device machine learning in the near future.
One thing I didn't quite follow was the splitting up of Google Play Services. It's written about under the Go initiative, but loading only what you need strikes me as sensible in practically all circumstances - is it destined for wider Android? Is it tied to Android 8, or can it come with an app store update of GPS?
The TensorFlow stuff is interesting - especially as it hints at on-device machine learning in the near future.
One thing I didn't quite follow was the splitting up of Google Play Services. It's written about under the Go initiative, but loading only what you need strikes me as sensible in practically all circumstances - is it destined for wider Android? Is it tied to Android 8, or can it come with an app store update of GPS?
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Burgernaut
Ars Centurion
Please spell out AOSP on first use: not living and breathing Android, I don't know what it means.
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Why leave it up to the people at xda? Surely Google could just post a build themselves? I want upgrading to the next version of Android to be as simple as, "Google has released Android Q, go to www.doingitright.google.com to download the zip of a plain vanilla build and flash it through your unlocked bootloader." Sure, there will be people who'll want more handholding from their device maker and there will be OEMs who'll want to release
The devs at xda do a lot of work for free, but some are also guilty of playing around with "improvements" or "optimisations" that I'd prefer not to worry about on the phone I use day-to-day.
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Excellent write up. I'm an iOS user but there's some neat goodies in here that I look forward to iOS copying as well (quite normal that both OSes copy from each other, they'd be stupid not to). I really hope Project Treble takes off, it could improve the ecosystem so much. Be interesting to see how the vendors take to their attempts to abstract the OS, launcher icon styles, emoji etc.
One nitpick: two spots where you used "reigned in" instead of the correct "reined in".
[moonsharksays]Moonshark just love equestrianism so much that love bleeds over into editing. Moonshark make fix![/moonsharksays]
One nitpick: two spots where you used "reigned in" instead of the correct "reined in".
[moonsharksays]Moonshark just love equestrianism so much that love bleeds over into editing. Moonshark make fix![/moonsharksays]
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IDK if its google or app developers who are at fault, but the persistent "XXX app is running in the background" notification that you cant get rid of is really really annoying
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One thing that's also worth mentioning is that Google are now mandating a minumum Linux kernel
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Gotta say I have the opposite reaction to colored notifications, same as obarthelemy.
I welcome the changes across the system to unify design, but making music notifications colored is one step that goes in the opposite direction. Sure, make it a user preference, because I'm sure the kids love that color, but I want my UI clean and consistent.
Strangely enough, the step that makes me most happy (besides the obvious, like Project Treble) is the clean-up of the system settings page. It's still not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. As a recent convert from iOS, the mess I found in 7.1.1. settings drove me insane when trying to set up Android for the first time (i.e. finding and turning off the plethora of user permissions that were sending my data who knows where).
Overall, it's nice to see Google seeming to make an effort on this one, and the changes are welcome. With their resources, though, I think they could do more, faster.
Edit: Thanks for the comprehensive write-up, Ron, btw.
I welcome the changes across the system to unify design, but making music notifications colored is one step that goes in the opposite direction. Sure, make it a user preference, because I'm sure the kids love that color, but I want my UI clean and consistent.
Strangely enough, the step that makes me most happy (besides the obvious, like Project Treble) is the clean-up of the system settings page. It's still not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. As a recent convert from iOS, the mess I found in 7.1.1. settings drove me insane when trying to set up Android for the first time (i.e. finding and turning off the plethora of user permissions that were sending my data who knows where).
Overall, it's nice to see Google seeming to make an effort on this one, and the changes are welcome. With their resources, though, I think they could do more, faster.
Edit: Thanks for the comprehensive write-up, Ron, btw.
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I applaud how detailed this article is and I'm curious to know how many actually read through such a lengthy write up about an Android OS upgrade 
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Well, I just wanted to thank Ron for a very well written article; it was both informative and easy to read!
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Ya, coloured notifications is... No. Do Not Want.
Vivaldi does the same, but for tabs, as default. It's not a pretty sight.
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A few bits really...
On notifications - the persistent notification for background usage cannot be dismissed, or blocked. On purpose. And one of the most popular apps in the world, Facebook Messenger, triggers it. Users are not going to leave sufficient bad reviews for FB to change their mind on adopting Google's own cloud notification framework. So it's just going to sit there and annoy the vast majority of end users and cause no end of "support" calls for anyone technical from less knowledgeable users. It is the most dunderheaded decision I've ever seen, and I'm furious with Google about it. You want to have a row with Facebook, be my guest, but stop putting the rest of us in the middle. Seriously. Ultimately this release is so heavy on (important) back end work that the majority of people will see this as the only user facing change. Sigh.
Likewise, trusting developers not to abuse notification colours is crazy.
While I do mostly agree Treble will be a good thing overall, I think we are a long way away from it working as intended in practice to be honest. We'll see, but the binary split between the HAL and the higher levels may be good engineering practice but OEMs don't necessarily have good engineering practice.
Ron is being a bit unrealistic about YouTube. Well, a lot unrealistic.
It's a shame to see something as fundamental as graphics drivers get transferred to the Play Store, while bluetooth HID profiles aren't. It would be really, really nice if this would get fixed, or Google would just fix the damned profile for the Dual Shock 4 already.
I wanted to love the autofill framework, but unless Chrome gets to notify a third party password manager of what site you're viewing on request it's broadly pointless for it's primary use case.
One suspects the modularity of Google Play Services is aimed at much as future regulatory action and being able to lift out legally problematic parts if needed than it is at YouTube Go.
Wish we'd seen a user facing UI for wi-fi direct already. And a revisiting of how permissions work on the lockscreen for voice assistants - I really don't want to compromise my device security by allowing voice unlock, but the fact I need to do that to allow basic things like set a timer is silly. iOS has this down pat, and Google have ignored it for ages.
On notifications - the persistent notification for background usage cannot be dismissed, or blocked. On purpose. And one of the most popular apps in the world, Facebook Messenger, triggers it. Users are not going to leave sufficient bad reviews for FB to change their mind on adopting Google's own cloud notification framework. So it's just going to sit there and annoy the vast majority of end users and cause no end of "support" calls for anyone technical from less knowledgeable users. It is the most dunderheaded decision I've ever seen, and I'm furious with Google about it. You want to have a row with Facebook, be my guest, but stop putting the rest of us in the middle. Seriously. Ultimately this release is so heavy on (important) back end work that the majority of people will see this as the only user facing change. Sigh.
Likewise, trusting developers not to abuse notification colours is crazy.
While I do mostly agree Treble will be a good thing overall, I think we are a long way away from it working as intended in practice to be honest. We'll see, but the binary split between the HAL and the higher levels may be good engineering practice but OEMs don't necessarily have good engineering practice.
Ron is being a bit unrealistic about YouTube. Well, a lot unrealistic.
It's a shame to see something as fundamental as graphics drivers get transferred to the Play Store, while bluetooth HID profiles aren't. It would be really, really nice if this would get fixed, or Google would just fix the damned profile for the Dual Shock 4 already.
I wanted to love the autofill framework, but unless Chrome gets to notify a third party password manager of what site you're viewing on request it's broadly pointless for it's primary use case.
One suspects the modularity of Google Play Services is aimed at much as future regulatory action and being able to lift out legally problematic parts if needed than it is at YouTube Go.
Wish we'd seen a user facing UI for wi-fi direct already. And a revisiting of how permissions work on the lockscreen for voice assistants - I really don't want to compromise my device security by allowing voice unlock, but the fact I need to do that to allow basic things like set a timer is silly. iOS has this down pat, and Google have ignored it for ages.
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If you press and hold the quick tile it will go to battery stats rather than toggling power saver. (There's still an extra step of tapping the diagram at the top to see the graph from there though)
Same goes for the mobile and Wi-fi toggles. Long press has a different function to the tap-toggle.
Edit:
Could the person who downvoted me care to explain why?
I've seen posts elsewhere lamenting the loss of the 'old' shortcuts in O, and I didn't see that mentioned in the article, so I mentioned it here.
I didn't think that would be controversial, unless you think I'm 'wrong'. I know it works (I've used it frequently since my 5X received the OTA via beta enrolment), so would be interested to know if not everyone sees the same behaviour?
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I understand vendors don't have to support all features of Android 8 on devices that get upgraded from Android 7. Features like Treble will not be mandatory in those cases. Is it possible for them to receive the shame treatment from you (Ars) until they implement all features that are technically supported on a handset? Otherwise many people will just end up with a gimped version of Android 8.
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I have to admit that despite Android being my preferred eco-system for both mobile phone and tablet use, I do not really follow the detail of all the changes on a regular basis.
I have only one question. Will Chrome on Android re-support 3rd party ad-blocker add-ons? With the tablet I bought a few months back it did not so I down loaded Firefox on to it which does support 3rd party ad-blockers. For me, particularly for mobile phone use, this is a deal breaker.
(Ars website is, of course, whitelisted on my devices!)
I have only one question. Will Chrome on Android re-support 3rd party ad-blocker add-ons? With the tablet I bought a few months back it did not so I down loaded Firefox on to it which does support 3rd party ad-blockers. For me, particularly for mobile phone use, this is a deal breaker.
(Ars website is, of course, whitelisted on my devices!)
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[url=https://arstechnica.co.uk/civis/viewtopic.php?p=33918393#p33918393:lhj2esl3 said:
They're only a tiny, company without the resources required to do something like that. If only they were a huge multi-billion dollar company with thousands of employees, then they'd be able to do something like that without any hassle.....
They'd also have to change their mission statement from "pretend to not be evil., mouhahahahaha"
As for colours - I like coloured notifications, they're good for instant recognition of what it is that's beeping at you (eg my taskbar, I can see what's what without even reading the text, a little coloured icon is all that's needed). However, random colouring based on content.... oh god no.
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Looks like an astounding update from Google. Can't wait to see it, and thanks for the amazingly thorough review. Only thing I was surprised that got no mention at all: parental controls, etc. Even if there were no changes since nougat, it would be nice (although disappointing) to know. Overall, thanks, though!
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Given they abandoned their Nexus devices in 2 years I am not overly optimistic this will work...
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This always surprised me. Isn't it just possible to manually download and install an update to your Android version? Or does this, if at all, only work if you use stock android?
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I really hope there's a way to disable the adaptive icons. I'd hate to have everything crammed into ugly circles just because somebody thought that "consistency" was the be-all, end-all of design. It's nice for system apps to have a consistent look, but I rather like the variety when it comes to everything else.
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I sure don't but I have people who text using more emojis than words, so I'm sure it's important to them. Drives me nuts personally.
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As pointed out at the beginning the issue is that the SoC manufacturer first has to add their stuff to the image. If they don't then the phone manufacturer can't do anything. Even if they wanted to update. There are so many critical steps in the process that it only needs one person to say no to make it a mess for everyone.
Treble could seriously change this. Allowing people to update their phone to the latest if the SoC layer supports all the things needed.
Android just does not have the support that iOS has. No one in the Android ecosystem expect 3 or 4 years of OS updates. Treble has the real chance of making that a reality. Here's hoping.
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Say what? That deserves more explanation because it seems either unbelievable or an indication that something not good is happening. That's 180 million new apps a year.
- is the figure wrong for some reason?
- are people autogenerating apps? Perhaps to try to evade detection? If so, why?
- how does Google possibly review that number of apps in any meaningful way?
- how many new apps each day are not discovered?
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They abandoned the Nexus devices after Qualcomm wouldn't provide updated blobs for the older chips in older phones. Treble will fix that.
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