Category: Android Oreo

The Google+ app for Android has an update rolling out in the Play Store that brings support for Android Oreo’s new Notification Channels feature.  The update is version 9.20 for those keeping score.  It was released yesterday and should come to everyone who has the app installed over the course of the next few days.

For those who aren’t familiar, Notification Channels are built into apps by developers as a way to allow you greater control over the notifications you see and how you are notified.  They bring granularity to notifications and not just a general “on or off” type functionality.  That’s an over simplification but you get the idea.

With this update to Google+, you have three channels now available:  App Status Updates, New Activity, and Content.  You can now customize the notifications for the app to different levels depending on how you set it up.  To setup the channels, go to Settings>Notifications then select the Google+ app.  There you will see your stock notification settings which you can tap to adjust.

It is news that Blackberry Priv owners likely knew was coming down the pike:  There will be no Android Oreo update for the last Blackberry-build device.

The news came via the company’s general manager of Mobility, Alex Thurber.  He was recently on the UTB Blogcast and confirmed that the phone will not be updated to Oreo.  It is disappointing of course but not surprising.  Blackberry’s new parent company, TCL, has been focusing on restoring the brand’s name and their own first built device, the KEYone.  The KEYone has been confirmed to receive an update to Oreo.

With every new version of Android, the question of which phones from which manufactures will get the update is omnipresent.  Android Oreo is no exception.  Sony, today, joined the ranks of manufactures who plan on releasing the latest version of Android for devices.

While the new Sony Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact will come with Oreo out-of-the-box, it was unclear which ones they would update that are in their current lineup.  Now thanks to a blog post, now we know.  Here are the devices that Sony plans to update to Android Oreo.

• Xperia X
• Xperia X Performance
• Xperia XZ
• Xperia X Compact
• Xperia XZ Premium
• Xperia XZs
• Xperia XA1
• Xperia XA1 Ultra
• Xperia Touch
• Xperia XA1 Plus

While these lists are never as complete as everyone would like, the one from Sony is reasonably comprehensive in that it covers most of their 2016 and 2017 models.

On Monday, right in the middle of the eclipse, I was on a flight out to, ironically, the Google campus in Mountain View.  At the same time all those shenanigans were going on, Google dropped Android Oreo out to the Android developer community for the Pixel lineup and the Nexus lineup.

Of course, all of this while I’m in the air on craptastic Wi-Fi on a plane.

When I landed in San Jose and got to my hotel, I immediately started the upgrade process as my Pixel XL was a part of the Android Beta program.  20-odd minutes later, I was running Oreo and after living with the latest iteration of the platform, I have to say it is lovely.

It looks like everyone needs to go put a reminder in their Google Calendar for October 5th.  That day, according to a leak from Evan Blass, suggest that will be the day that we see the all new Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel XL 2.

Google’s second-generation Pixel handsets, powered by Snapdragon 836 SoC’s, will be unveiled on October 5th.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 24, 2017

For those who may not know who Evan Blass is exactly, he’s a reporter for Venturebeat and has been one of the most reliable resources for inside leaks on upcoming device launch dates and details on those devices.  He’s pretty amazing actually and I recommend following him on Twitter.

Put it this way:  Those of you who are long time readers know I rarely post anything leak related.  But I will post something from Evan Blass because it is 98% likely to happen.

The good news:  Blackberry has confirmed that the KEYone will receive an update to Android Oreo, the latest version of Android released yesterday.

The bad news:  Absolutely no clue when it will happen, joining a slew of other manufactures who plan on but haven’t committed dates for the update.

Android Oreo started rolling out to Google devices yesterday (specifically, those who were registered in the Android Beta program) with a broader rollout happening “soon”.  Several manufactures including HTC, Huawei, Samsung and Sony have already said they will be coming out with update to Android 8.0 but they, like Blackberry, haven’t committed to a date.  That means it could be months away.