Android Nougat preview: Everything you need to know about Android 7.0

Android Nougat preview: Everything you need to know about Android 7.0

Android has been making some big moves recently, redesigning and adding functionality to the mobile operating system to make it more capable and more competitive.

With the advent of Lollipop, Android moved to a state that felt like it was complete. It had polish that rivalled manufacturer skins, a maturity to apps that made them wonderful to use.
That was cemented with refinement in Marshmallow that saw many manufacturers moving to accommodate Android's native charms, rather than stomp all over them.
Anticipation is high for Android Nougat and in an uncharacteristic move, Google has released a developer build of Android Nougat into the wild much earlier than expected. We've been playing with the future version of Android see what's changing, what's new and what we can expect come launch day.
This is Android Nougat, and this is everything you need to know.

Android Nougat release date and availability

Android Nougat has been revealed much earlier than it has in the past, with a preview version of Android Nougat made available by Google on 9 March, it was updated on 13 April with a second version, before the third version and the first public beta arrived on May 18. The fifth and final developer preview arrived on 19 July.
In the past the first glimpse of the next version of Android has been at Google I/O. This is Google's developer conference which opened this year on 18 May. We saw a lot more from Google on Android Nougat, along with the unveiling of Daydream VR which will be heavily baked in to Google's next mobile operating system version.
Google has already said that the final preview version of Android Nougat will be ready by the summer. The final consumer version of Android Nougat won't land until later in the year, although rumours have surfaced of a 22 August release date.
This is typically timed with the release of a new Nexus handset, making the debut of the new Android version. The earlier preview process perhaps suggests an earlier release of the next Nexus, with HTC being strongly rumoured to be the manufacturer.
 
The roll-out of Android Nougat to other devices usually then follows, hitting existing Nexus hardware within a few weeks, but often taking several months to be incorporated into other devices. This year, Google opened it up to more manufacturers, so you may not have to wait as long as usual for the update to land on your Galaxy device. It all depends on whether or not Samsung takes advantage of the early developer releases.

Android Beta Program

One of the important differences in the early days of Android Nougat compared to previous versions is that it's incredibly easy to get. Google has opened up a the Android Beta Program that means you can simply enrol a device and have the update delivered over the air.
In previous versions you've been invited to download the software and manually flash it to your device. The big difference this makes is that Android Nougat is much more accessible and you can load it onto a Nexus or Pixel device without losing all the content and updates arrive over the air. Google has also included the Sony Xperia Z3 in the beta programme, which is an odd move.
Regular updates are expected to follow, in the same fashion as Microsoft ran the Windows Insider Program. If you've got a supported handset that's spare, you can take a look at what's to come. We've written all about getting involved in the Android Beta Program in a separate feature.

Android Nougat preview

Thanks to the release of the Android Nougat preview, we now have plenty of information about what Android Nougat will look like when it lands on a consumer device later in the year.
One thing to bear in mind with beta previews is that they are subject to change. The whole point of these preview programmes is that developers can feedback information and Google can evaluate which features are ready to be released. Some of what we see here may change over time, may not make the final release, or could be a rock solid feature. That's even happened between the first, second and third dev versions that have been released.
It's also worth bearing in mind that Google often keeps something in reserve. One of those things was Daydream VR, Google Android-based virtual reality system which will be built in to any compatible phone running Android Nougat.
We're still exploring some of the things that the Android Nougat preview offers, so we're updating this feature as we get to the bottom of things. There are some things we're not looking at here. Doze, for example, is reported to be much more enhanced, allowing apps to sleep whenever the display is in standby, not just when the device is inactive. There's also picture-in-picture for Android TV coming and support for additional programming languages.

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