Android 8.0 Oreo: Features you might have to know

Android 8.0 (API level 26) introduces a variety of new features and capabilities for users and developers. There are some unique and important features 


Rescue Party

In the Android 8.0 Oreo, a new feature by the name of Rescue Party feature has been introduced. It aims to battle boot loops in the smart phones and stop them dead.

With Rescue Party, the boot loop will be detected when it happens and perform a set of actions to get the device back to its regularly working state. Rescue Party will go into action the device has restarted 5 or more times within the past 5 minutes, or if an app on your phone/tablet has crashed repeatedly at least 5 times within 30 seconds.

If  the boot loop continues even after the Rescue Party is applied, it will force the device into recovery mode and the device will get into factory reset. 

Picture in Picture Mode

Android Oreo allows activities to launch in picture-in-picture (PIP) mode. PIP is a special type of multi-window mode mostly used for video playback. PIP mode is already available for Android TV; Android 8.0 makes the feature available on other Android devices.


When an activity is in PIP mode, it is in the paused state, but should continue showing content. 

Background Execution Limit

Android 8.0 comes with a feature called Background Execution Limit. This reduces the battery consumption while the applications are running in the background. The Android 8.0 supported applications will have this feature turned on automatically, but for we can still force similar functionality for other applications as well.


Battery Usage Status

The Settings page is completely redesigned in Android Oreo. There is a biggest modification in  Battery section, the battery graph lists all of the applications causing the battery drain and it doesn't include screen, the Android OS, etc.


To view the full battery usage including the OS and Screen, Tap on the three dots near top right and select "Show full device usage".

Recent apps preview thumbnails

Google is introducing a feature called “Task Snapshot" in Android Oreo. When you press recent apps button or home button when you are using any application, it will take a screenshot of that particular screen and it will be available in the buffer. And this will have higher quality and resolution.


Default Print Service

Google’s partnered with Mopria to bring a new feature to Android with the 8.0 Oreo update called “Default Print Service.” There will be a Printing settings, which allows you to connect your device with the local printer without any plug-ins. This makes the printing as a simple and seamless process.


Updated build number format

With Android Oreo, the build number is now displayed as “PVBB.YYMMDD.bbb.” “P” represents the platform/version of Android, V is the vertical and “P” to indicate the primary platform, and the “BB” indicates the exact branch of code.


“YYMMDD” represents the year, month, and date of when your current build was synced up with its development branch, and the last “bbb” letters are used to differentiate various builds that use the same code.

Accessibility shortcut

With Android Oreo’s new accessibility shortcut, holding down on both volume buttons for 3 seconds will automatically turn on one of Android’s three built-in services — including Switch Access, Select to Speak, and TalkBack.


To set up and customize the accessibility shortcut, go to Settings ->Accessibility -> Accessibility Shortcut.

To know about more features in Android Oreo, please visit link 

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