With not that much beating around the bush, Android 9 P has just gone official as Android 9 Pie. The update should be rolling out to Pixel phones from today while brands who have participated in the Beta program like Sony Mobile, Xiaomi, HMD Global, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus and Essential along with Android One devices will get the update by the end of fall (September?). Other brands like Huawei and ASUS have rather pointedly not been mentioned but we expect these companies to come out with Android 9 Pie updates a month or so after September 9 (or at least within this year).
Features this time for Android 9 Pie mostly focus on AI or Artificial Intelligence that learns what you like and makes the appropriate adjustments. This does mean that it will take time to fully evaluate or see the effects happening but features like Adaptive Battery which prioritizes battery for the apps you use the most and Adaptive Brightness seem promising.
App Actions will predict what you'll want to do next and provide extra suggestions for it like opening up Google Maps when you usually go to work and so forth. It will be interesting to see how intrusive these AI features will be or if Google will allow users to turn these features off but it should mean more intelligent Android smartphones in the future.
Google are also going to introduce a new one-touch navigation system built into the home button allowing you to swipe up for full screen previews via access to the new Overview screen. There may also be a redesigned Quick Settings with easier screenshots, volume controls and notifications, but we'll believe that when we see it.
Other features like Slices (shows bits and pieces of info from your favourite apps), updated Dashboard, App Timer, Do Not Disturb and Wind Down for Digital Wellbeing are expected later in the fall but you can sign up for the beta versions if you have a Pixel phone running Android 9. Security and privacy have supposedly been increased but there's no mention of any official Android anti-virus built-in. Stay tuned to TechNave.com for all the latest tech news.
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