Tag: Android Nougat

Chrome OS is still in the process of having Android apps rolled out to various Chromebooks and Chromeboxes, but that doesn’t mean further improvements are coming.  According to a post on ChromeUnboxed, it looks like Android Nougat 7.1 support will be coming at some point in 2017.  Currently, Chrome OS devices that can run Android apps are running them based on the Android Marshmallow 6.0 API set.  For most of us, that’s fine.  There is however one big bonus to having things move over to Nougat:  Multi-Window support.

Right now if you run an Android app on your Chromebook, only one app at a time can be displayed, just like it was on your Android phone running Marshmallow.  With Nougat, the ability to show multiple apps and resize those windows comes into play and that could be a real game changer.  Along with this comes true multi-tasking too.

Let’s all have a moment of silence for a dearly departed friend, Android Froyo.

(silence)

Google has just released the latest Android Platform Report and the nearly 6 year old Froyo is no longer on the report.  The report is based on devices that came to the Google Play Store for the week ending January 9, 2017.  While certainly not a definitive resource when it comes to the Android install base, it is a solid resource that gives some great insights to just what versions of Android are out there and in use.  The news for Nougat is that installs still remain low.  The latest version of Android only accounted for .7% of the devices hitting the store, miles behind Marshmallow at 29.6% and even further behind leader Lollipop, which sits at 33.4% of visitors.  Still, that Nougat number is a .3% increase over last month but equally, Marshmallow jumped up 3.3% for the report.  For the rest of the versions, numbers declined.

Android Lollipop dropped .6% to 33.4% while KitKat had the biggest drop of 1.4% to 22.6%.  Jelly Bean dropped to 11.6%, down from 12.8%, Ice Cream Sandwich dropped .1% to 1.1% and finally, the now quite crusty Gingerbread release dropped to 1%.

A little over a week after the initial Nougat-based OxygenOS 4.0 release, OnePlus has released a small update for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T.  The new OxygenOS 4.0.1 build is rolling out to both devices currently and is primarily focused on addressing bugs and stability issues with the OS on these devices.  As OnePlus does, the update will be released to a small number of users first then roll out to the larger population as confirmation all is well with the update comes into them.

As for what is addressed, probably the biggest news is the updated APN settings.  After the initial OxygenOS 4.0 update, many 3 and 3T owners had network connectivity issues with their carrier.  This update should resolve those issues.  However, in the posting announcing the update, OnePlus is saying that if you still have issues, to manually adjust the APN settings or, worst case, report it to the product team at OnePlus with your phone model and carrier involved so they can help identify the issue and resolve it.

Good news again today regarding Android Nougat.  T-Mobile has released the Nougat update to the HTC 10 for customers with that device on their network.  The update comes 6 weeks after the release of the update for the unlocked version of the phone which is a fair amount of time given T-Mobile has a good reputation on getting updates out to their customers.  If you have the HTC 10, you are looking for software update 2.37.531.5.  It should be hitting devices over the next few days via an OTA update.

Because this update is going from Marshmallow to Nougat, the update is hefty.  It comes in at just over 1GB so you will want to make sure you are on Wi-Fi to download it.  Once it is downloaded, you will need about 30 minutes to complete the upgrade process.

As expected, Google released the January Android Security Update patches yesterday for the Google Pixel phones and Nexus devices.  The full system images and the OTA images have been released to the Android Developer site already so users who have these devices should start seeing the OTA update come to their phones or tablets over the course of the next few days.  For those who want to manually flash, you can do so with these factory images.

The new build versions are as follows:

• Google Pixel XL – NMF26U or NMF26V (for Verizon owners)
• Google Pixel – NMF26U or NMF26V (for Verizon owners)
• Pixel C – N4F26I
• Nexus 6P – N4F26I and N4F26J
• Nexus 5X – N4F26I and N4F26J
• Nexus Player – NMF26R
• Nexus 9 (Wi-Fi) – NMF26R

Notably the Nexus 6 is not on this list nor is the Nexus 9 LTE version.  The Nexus 6 should be getting Nougat 7.1.1 next week but it is unclear why the Nexus 9 LTE did not get updates yet.

Keeping with their self imposed end-of-2016 deadline, OnePlus has released the Android Nougat based OxygenOS 4.0 update for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T.  The update was released very late on December 31st, hitting the deadline and the update is now making its way out to all owners of the 3 and 3T.  While it still may take a few days for your phone to see it, it is out and it is only a matter of time.

The update is all focused on Android Nougat.  The release notes in the OnePlus forums essentially highlight all of the features of Nougat and speak very little of any other changes that the company has made in their custom version of Android.