Being the seventh major version of Android, Android “Nougat” is codenamed as Android N during development. It was the 14th major changes in the Android operating system. On March 9, 2016, the first alpha test version of Android Nougat was released. On August 22, 2016, it was officially released. The first device released with Nougat was LG V20. Android Nougat came with some important features like bringing with it some notable changes to the development platform and its operating system, displaying the multiple apps on-screen at once in a split-screen view, support for the inline replies for the notifications and expansion of the “Doze” power-saving mode.
History of Android Nougat:
On March 9, 2016, the first alpha version of Android “N” was released by Google. Initially codenamed as “New York Cheesecake”, the Android Nougat has its developer preview builds compatible only for that time Google Nexus devices such as 5X, 6P, 6, 9, Pixel C, and Nexus Player. On April 13, 2016, the Beta preview 2 of Android “N” was released and on May 18, 2016, the Beta Preview 3, was released. Daydream was introduced by this version, which is a new virtual reality platform. The Beta Preview 4 was released on June 15, 2016. The name of N’s version was also announced as “Nougat” by Google, as the 7.0 version of Android. On July 18, 2016, the Beta Preview 5 was released. And on August 22, 2016, Android 7.0 was officially released. The first devices of Android Nougat were Nexus 6, 5X, 6P, 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C.
Features of Android Nougat:
The Android Nougat provided several new features including:
- Split-screen Chrome
- Clear all apps in multitasking
- Third-party quick setting
- App install source
- Quick app switching
- Data saver
Split-screen Chrome:
The screen can be split into two tabs, in Android 7.0, i.e., we can run two different tabs on the screen at once in the Google Chrome Browser. For this, we need to make sure that we will get at least two tabs open and then we need to long-press our Android overview button, to launch the split-screen mode.
Clear all apps in multitasking:
In the previous versions, we needed to close all the open apps to start from beginning in our overview screen. But, it is not the case in Android 7.0, as it has a “clear all” option for the overview list on all devices.
Third-party quick setting:
A customized quick setting panel is present in each phone and tablet which is running Android 7.0. A third-party setting can also be used on any device. We need to tap the edit button which looks like a pencil, to find the quick setting panel, if there is any.
App install source:
The information available in our app setting interface is gradually read by Google. We can see where an app came from: Google Play or a sideloaded APK in the Android Nougat version, by following the below steps:
- Go to the system settings.
- Select “Apps”.
- Pick any app from the list.
- Scroll down the info screen.
- Either “App installed from Google Play Store” or “App install from Package installer” will be displayed.
Quick app switching:
To flip between the apps, a faster way is facilitated by the Android Nougat version. There is no need to tap on the card in the overview screen, to go back to the last opened app. To switch to the last app, we just need to double-click on the overview button. To return to the app we just left, we need to do the same.
Data saver:
To stay under the mobile data plans that we use, Android 7.0 added a new feature. Under the “Data Usage” setting menu, the Data Saver feature is available in all Nougat phones. It was developed with the purpose to prevent the app from using mobile data in the background, i.e, only actively app will use mobile data, when the Data Saver mode is ON.