Google has just held its yearly I/O developers conference in California where the US firm announced some massive news.
Along with revealing major new smartphone features that will be coming soon, the internet giant officially confirmed how many people are now using its Android software.
And it seems that this operating system is now more popular than ever with some 2.5billion fans having it installed on their mobiles.
In a tweet posted online, Google said: “10 years and now over 2.5 billion active devices. Thanks for joining us on this journey.”
As well as announcing overall numbers, Google has also given a full breakdown of how many people are using each version of Android.
Oreo appears to be the most popular with around 27 per cent of the total.
That’s closely followed by Nougat which is currently installed on around 18 per cent of all devices.
Google’s latest 9 Pie is starting to pick up pace with the OS now being used on 10.4 per cent of smartphones.
Along with now confirming these stats, Google has also given more insight into what new features will be coming to the next version of Android Q.
These include improved security and privacy as well as better compatibility with the new foldable phones that will be making their way onto the market later this year.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/YL-8Xfx6S5o
And if you are a fan of this popular software then here’s some of the best new features in Android Q.
LIVE CAPTIONS
Live Caption brings real-time captions to media on your phone – videos, podcasts, and audio messages, across any app—even stuff you record yourself.
Best of all, it doesn’t even require a network connection — everything happens on the device, thanks to a breakthrough in speech recognition that Google made earlier this year.
The live speech models run right on the phone, and no audio stream ever leaves your device.
SUGGESTED ACTIONS IN NOTIFICATIONS
When Android Pie launched last year it introduced smart replies for notifications that let users engage with their apps direct from notifications.
In Android Q things are getting better with smart replies available to all apps, without users needing to do anything.
DARK THEME
Many of the latest updates are including a dark mode and Google is no different.
Dark theme has been a popular request for a while, and in Android Q, it’s finally here.
Users will be able to activate a new system-wide dark theme by going to Settings > Display, using the new Quick Settings tile, or turning on Battery Saver.
This changes the system UI to dark, and enables the dark theme of apps that support it.
GESTURAL NAVIGATION
Many of the latest Android devices feature beautiful edge-to-edge screens, and users want to take advantage of every bit of them.
Android Q is introducing a new fully gestural navigation mode that eliminates the navigation bar area and allows apps and games to use the full screen to deliver their content.
It retains the familiar Back, Home, and recents navigation through edge swipes rather than visible buttons.
Users can switch to gestures in Settings > System > Gestures.
There are currently two gestures: Swiping up from the bottom of the screen takes the user to the Home screen, holding brings up Recents. Swiping from the screen’s left or right edge triggers the Back action.
DIGITAL WELLBEING
Last year Google launched Digital Wellbeing with Dashboards, App Timers, Flip to Shush, and Wind Down mode. The firm says that app timers helped users stick to their goals over 90 per cent of the time, and users of Wind Down had a 27 per cent drop in nightly usage.
This year Google is continuing to expand its features to help people find balance with digital devices, adding Focus Mode and Family Link.
FOCUS MODE
Google says Focus Mode is designed for all those times you’re working or studying, and you want to focus to get something done.
With focus mode, you can pick the apps that you think might distract you and silence them – for example, pausing email and the News while leaving maps and text message apps active.
You can then use Quick Tiles to turn on Focus Mode any time you want to focus. Under the covers, these apps will be paused – until you come out of Focus Mode.
Focus Mode is coming to Android 9 Pie and Android Q devices this Fall.
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