Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

[Posted August 22, 2016 by corbet]

Google has announced that the Android 7.0 release has started rolling out to recent-model Nexus devices. "It introduces a brand new JIT/AOT compiler to improve software performance, make app installs faster, and take up less storage. It also adds platform support for Vulkan, a low-overhead, cross-platform API for high-performance, 3D graphics. Multi-Window support lets users run two apps at the same time, and Direct Reply so users can reply directly to notifications without having to open the app. As always, Android is built with powerful layers of security and encryption to keep your private data private, so Nougat brings new features like File-based encryption, seamless updates, and Direct Boot." See this page for a video-heavy description of new features.

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 22, 2016 19:25 UTC (Mon) by flussence (guest, #85566) [Link] (3 responses)

I noticed CM13 (Android 6) has the multi-window feature buried in its settings too. Seems to be a tiling WM, and it works, though it's not much use on my phone's tiny screen.

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 24, 2016 2:13 UTC (Wed) by Qwertii (guest, #110709) [Link] (1 responses)

I havent seen this feature. Where in the menu is it? I'd love to be able to watch youtube and do other things at once.

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 24, 2016 7:52 UTC (Wed) by chirlu (guest, #89906) [Link]

It’s in the developer settings, which you need to activate first by repeatedly tapping the build number.

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Sep 1, 2016 3:42 UTC (Thu) by thestinger (guest, #91827) [Link]

There's also a full blown floating window manager, although I don't think that's really meant for mobile, even with a 10 inch tablet.

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 22, 2016 21:02 UTC (Mon) by Jonimus (subscriber, #89694) [Link] (10 responses)

Per Ars (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/08/android-nougat-dro...) they have dropped support for the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 7 (2013) which while older devices were still 100% useable and I just recently picked up the 7 as the form factor is much nicer than the bulkier 9 or Pixel machines.

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 23, 2016 2:04 UTC (Tue) by torquay (guest, #92428) [Link] (1 responses)

If CyanogenMod survives for the next 6 months, they should provide an update for the Nexus 5.

CyanogenMod

Posted Aug 23, 2016 7:01 UTC (Tue) by odie (guest, #738) [Link]

That article was quite speculative, and I don't think it was very near the mark. The CyanogenMod project seems as active as ever. Here is Steve Kondik's take on it:

http://www.cyanogenmod.org/blog/cyanogen-inc-and-cyanogenmod

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 24, 2016 7:15 UTC (Wed) by johannbg (guest, #65743) [Link] (7 responses)

The Nexus 7 (2013) is the best tablet known to mankind.

Sad to see Google writing off a sturdy friend like that effectively sending it to the Google graveyard to float on the failed wave and receive occasional jolt from the buzz.

Hope it returns from beyond the grave as the zeitgeist that haunts those that executed it at Google. ;)

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 27, 2016 10:50 UTC (Sat) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (6 responses)

My wife is still happily using her Nexus 7 (2012), although I suspect it may soon suffer an "economic write off" failure, namely loss of the ability to charge it :-( (a broken USB port).

Cheers,
Wol

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 29, 2016 13:48 UTC (Mon) by ScottMinster (subscriber, #67541) [Link] (5 responses)

I'm reading LWN this lovely morning on my 2012 Nexus 7. It still works well, especially with the (free!) cell modern letting access the Internet just about anywhere. The battery still holds a good charge. Recent updates from Google have made it much more sluggish, especially when joining a wifi network and every app trying to check for updates at the same time. And for some reason it's started dropping wifi connections when it's asleep. So when I wake it up, I have to wait several minutes for it to rejoin and for the system to check for updates.

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 29, 2016 15:27 UTC (Mon) by spaetz (guest, #32870) [Link] (4 responses)

My Nexus 7 (2012) is still doing great with a battery life of 10h, and CM12 on it.
Just charging takes hours but that has always been the case...

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Aug 31, 2016 3:37 UTC (Wed) by StevenEllis (guest, #74851) [Link]

Currently trying Resurrection Remix on my 2012 Nexus 7.

Far better experience than stock Android 5.x if you use f2fs for data and cache.

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Sep 6, 2016 10:53 UTC (Tue) by mgedmin (subscriber, #34497) [Link] (2 responses)

My Nexus 7 (2012) is so unusably sluggish that I've completely stopped using it. I've no idea what happened to it. Latest Android updates stressing the CPU more/requiring more RAM? Internal flash fragmentation?

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Sep 6, 2016 16:00 UTC (Tue) by flussence (guest, #85566) [Link]

I wonder if that's the fault of Android 6 with its new overly-aggressive power saving framework.

I updated my Galaxy Nexus to it, and I know it's ancient history in terms of smartphones, but Android 5 worked fine whereas this version has all kinds of bizarre issues. The task switcher sometimes takes 3-5 seconds to react to an input. The whole OS frequently goes berserk and gets stuck in a reboot loop, needing a battery yank, if I use the flash LED too much.

All in all it seemed like a straight downgrade, and I'm a bit wary of 7.0 looming on the horizon now.

Android 7.0 "Nougat" released

Posted Sep 9, 2016 13:10 UTC (Fri) by renox (guest, #23785) [Link]

My Galaxy S3 is also very annoyingly sluggish and it still has an old OS, so it's not the OS: my hunch is that applications are using too much memory nowadays.
I like your idea of 'flash fragmentation' though, you could 'rejuvenate' your phone..