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6 Big Changes Coming to Android Phones

5/29/2016

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At its recent I/O Developers Conference, Google introduced the newest version of its mobile operating system, Android N. The company will almost certainly name it after a dessert beginning with “n,” in keeping with its habit of thinking with its sweet tooth when christening new Android releases.
While we wait for a name, here’s what we do know is coming from Android N when it ships later this summer:

Split screen mode. Years after Samsung added an option to some of its Android devices to run two apps alongside each other — after which Apple did the same thing in iOS 9 — Google is catching up. You’ll be able to run two apps at once, either stacked one above the other or side by side.

Simpler multitasking. Switching from one app to another should also get simper in N, where a tap of the recent-apps button will no longer show a seemingly infinite list of every app you’ve opened in recent history.
Instead, Android N will automatically sweep away apps you haven’t used in a while — Google’s research showed that most people only flipped through seven apps in this list--and let you swipe the whole thing clean. To jump back to the last app you had open, just tap the recent-apps button twice.

More interactive notifications. Android N will take an existing option to respond to an app’s notification after it appears atop the screen by letting you carry on entire conversations within the notification view. Where a messaging app might now only show a preview of a message, in N it will add a “Reply” button.

Longer battery life. The current Android Marshmallow release has a great feature called Doze that suspends most app activity when the phone isn’t moving. N will expand this function to the times when the phone may be moving but its screen is off — as in, the large amount of time a phone is not being used because it’s in a pocket or purse.

More efficient apps. Reworked code should cut down on the time apps need to install and should also trim their storage needs. And a new Data Saver option will let you constrain an app’s appetite for wireless data.

Security tweaks. The Android components that play media get locked down further in N, with much more limited access to the rest of the system. It’s a response to the “Stagefright” vulnerability that last year could have been used to attack a phone just by sending it a malicious multimedia message.

Android security updates will also download and install in the background, much as they do in Google's Chrome OS--and when you restart the phone to compete that install, you won't have a lengthy wait while Android essentially reinstalls every app.
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But for your Android phone in particular to get these features, its manufacturer and your wireless carrier (unless you bought it directly from the manufacturer) will both have to ship an Android N update to your phone. And the issue of how many existing devices will get such an update represents a bigger mystery than Android N’s name.
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    Author

    Rick Richardson, CPA, CITP, CGMA

    Rick is the editor of the weekly newsletter, Technology This Week. You can subscribe to it by visiting the website.

    Rick is also the Managing Partner of Richardson Media & Technologies, LLC. Prior to forming his current company, he had a 28-year career in technology with Ernst & Young, the last twelve years of which he served as National Director of Technology.

    Mr. Richardson has been named to the "Technology 100"- the annual honors list of the 100 key achievers in technology in America. He has also been honored by the American Institute of CPAs with two Lifetime Achievement awards and a Special Career Recognition Award for his contributions to the profession in the field of technology.

    In 2012, Rick was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame by CPA Practice Advisor Magazine. He has also been named to the 100 most influential individuals in the accounting profession in America by Accounting Today magazine.

    In 2017, Rick was inducted as a Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achiever, a registry of professionals who have excelled in their fields for many years and achieved greatness in their industry.

    He is a sought after speaker around the world, providing his annual forecast of future technology trends to thousands of business executives, professionals, community leaders, educators and students.

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