Android Nougat

Android Nougat
A version of the Android operating system

Android Nougat home screen on the Google Pixel with some stock Google apps.
Developer Google
General
availability		 August 22, 2016 (2016-08-22)[1]
Latest release 7.1.2 (NZH54D)[2] / July 28, 2017 (2017-07-28)
Kernel type Linux kernel 4.1
Preceded by Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow"
Succeeded by Android 8.0 "O"
Official website Official website
Support status
Supported

Android Nougat (codenamed Android N during development) is the seventh major version of the Android operating system. First released as an alpha test version on 9 March 2016, it was officially released on 22 August 2016, with Nexus devices being the first to receive the update. The LG V20 was the first smartphone released with Nougat.

Nougat introduces notable changes to the operating system and its development platform, including the ability to display multiple apps on-screen at once in a split-screen view, support for inline replies to notifications, and an expanded "Doze" power-saving mode that restricts device functionality once the screen has been off for a period of time. Additionally, the platform switched to an OpenJDK-based Java environment and received support for the Vulkan graphics rendering API, and "seamless" system updates on supported devices.

Nougat received positive reviews. The new app notification format received particular praise, while the multitasking interface was seen as a positive change, but reviewers experienced incompatible apps. Critics had mixed experiences with the Doze power-saving mode, but faster app installs and "tweaks" to the user interface were also reviewed positively.

As of 7 July 2017, 11.5% of devices that access Google Play run Nougat, with 10.6% on Android 7.0 and 0.9% on Android 7.1.[3]

History

The release was internally codenamed "New York Cheesecake".[4] On March 9, 2016, ahead of the Google I/O developer conference, Google released the first alpha version[5] of Android "N" as part of a new "Android Beta Program" intended for testing by developers and enthusiasts before official release "this summer". The developer preview builds were compatible with only current Google Nexus devices; the 5X, 6P, 6, 9, Pixel C, and Nexus Player. The "Android Beta Program" that was introduced allows testers to opt-in for over-the-air updates to new beta versions as they are released.[6]

On April 13, 2016, Android N Beta Preview 2 was released.[7] Google further discussed Android "N" during the I/O keynote on May 18, 2016, and unveiled its new virtual reality platform, Daydream. Beta Preview 3, the first preview release deemed suitable for wider public beta testing, was released at this time. Google also announced that it would hold a contest to determine the official release name of the operating system.[8][9][10]

Beta Preview 4 was released on June 15, 2016.[11][12] On June 30, 2016, Google announced that N's release name would be "Nougat"; it was also confirmed that Nougat would be version 7.0 of Android.[13][14][15]

The final Beta Preview, 5, was released on July 18, 2016.[16]

Android 7.0 was officially released on August 22, 2016, with the Nexus 6, 5X, 6P, 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C, and General Mobile 4G as the first devices to receive the update.[17] Dave Burke, Android's Vice President of Engineering, stated in August 2016 that updates to Nougat would be released quarterly as maintenance releases focusing on "continued refinements and polish".[18] On September 6, 2016, LG announced the V20, the first smartphone to ship with Nougat pre-installed.[19] Google unveiled the first-party Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones during a hardware-focused event on October 4, 2016,[20] with the Pixel phones replacing the Nexus series.[21]

Updates to existing devices vary by manufacturer and carrier, and driver support for the version by the manufacturer of a device's respective system-on-chip.[22] Major manufacturers, including HTC, Sony, and Motorola announced intents to update a range of their recent devices to Nougat.[23][24][25] Qualcomm stated that it would not support Nougat on devices using its Snapdragon 800 and 801 system-on-chips for undisclosed reasons. Although developer preview builds of Nougat were released for the device, Sony stated that it would not upgrade the Xperia Z3 (which uses the Snapdragon 801) to the final version due to "unforeseen platform limitations". It was reported that the Google Compatibility Test Suite (whose tests must be passed in order to receive official certification) specified that all devices running Nougat must support either Vulkan or OpenGL ES 3.1 graphics APIs — neither of which are supported by the device's Adreno 330 graphics core.[22][26]

A post-release update known as Android 7.1 was pre-loaded onto Google's Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones released in October 2016; the new version adds support for the Google Daydream VR platform, image keyboards, expanded emoji support (including male and female versions of gendered emoji), support for actions to be displayed in menus on home screen app shortcuts, and other new features. A preview of 7.1 for existing Nexus devices was released via Android Beta Program later in the month,[27] and officially released as Android 7.1.1 on December 5, 2016.[28][29][30] As of 7.1.1, the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 are now considered end-of-life, and do not receive any further updates.[31]

Android 7.1.2 was released in April 2017, providing various improvements and minor functionality improvements to Nexus and Pixel-branded devices.[31][32]

As of June 2017, 10% of devices that access Google Play run Nougat.[33]

Features

RAW GNSS

This OS comes with RAW GNSS Data access which is very useful for developers and normal users who are interested for decimeter level accurate location from the smart phone GNSS sensor. Now the RAW GNSS data is available for Developers via the Android Nougat API V24. Carrier phase measurement which can be used in conjunction with correction data from internet based PPP sources. previously this data was hidden behind hardware driver layers developers has access only to Processed outputs. Google had announced[34] this feature in May 2016 in its IO2016 conference and demonstrated the feature with supported Application software and Matlab Code for further processing of GNSS data. All of the codes available in github.

User experience

Android Nougat running on Nokia 6

Nougat redesigns the notification shade, which now features a smaller row of icons for settings, replacing notification cards with a new "sheet" design, and allowing inline replies for notifications. This feature is implemented via existility on Android Wear. Multiple notifications from a single app can also be "bundled",[6] and there is greater per-app control over notifications.[35]

A split-screen display mode was introduced for phones, in which two apps can be snapped to occupy halves of the screen. An experimental multi-window mode is also available as a hidden feature, where multiple apps can appear simultaneously on the screen in overlapping windows.[36]

The "Doze" power saving mechanism introduced in Android Marshmallow was expanded to include a state activated when the device is running on battery and the screen has been off for a period of time but is not stationary. In this state, network activity is restricted, and apps are granted "maintenance windows" in which they can access the network and perform background tasks. As in Marshmallow, the full Doze state is activated if the device is stationary with its screen off for a period of time.[6][37] A new "Data Saver" mode restricts background mobile data usage, and can trigger internal functions in apps that are designed to reduce bandwidth usage, such as capping the quality of streaming media.[37][38]

Platform

In December 2015, Google announced that Android Nougat would switch its Java Runtime Environment from the defunct Apache Harmony to OpenJDK—the official open source implementation of the Java platform maintained by Oracle Corporation and the Java community.[39] The Android Runtime (ART) now incorporates a profile-guided compilation system, utilizing a JIT compiler and profiling alongside its current ahead-of-time compiler to further optimize apps for a device's hardware and other conditions in the background.[37]

Nougat introduces a system for enabling "seamless", automatic system updates, based upon and sharing some code with the implementation of similar functionality on Chrome OS. The system uses a pair of SquashFS partitions; the Android system executes from an "online" partition, while updates are applied in the background to a redundant "offline" partition. On the next boot following the installation of an update, the redundant partition is designated as active, and the device henceforth boots into the updated system. The previous system partition is kept as a backup in case of update failure, and to serve as the "offline" partition for the next update. This system removes the requirement for the device to reboot into the system recovery environment to apply the update (which prevents the device from being used until the update is complete) and also provides the ability for an update to be automatically rolled back in case of a failure. Due to the partitioning requirements of this system, existing devices will not support seamless updates. Additionally, due to the ART changes on Nougat, apps no longer need to be re-compiled upon the first boot after a system update.[40][41]

Developer Preview 2 added platform support for Vulkan, the new low-level 3D-rendering API to augment OpenGL ES but with higher graphics performance.[7][42][43]

Nougat is the first version featuring Unicode 9.0 support and comes with updated emoji plus support for emoji skin tones.[7]

Android 7.1 adds native API support for implementing image keyboards; multi-endpoint telephony; shortcut menus and rounded icon assets for apps on launchers; and support for the Google Daydream virtual reality platform.[27] The Google Daydream feature is a specific "VR mode", with advanced technology for reduced graphics latency,[44] a "sustained performance mode" to assist developers in optimizing apps to a device's thermal profile,[37] a new head tracking algorithm which combines the input from various device sensors, and integration of system notifications into the VR user interface.[45]

Security

In response to the Stagefright family of bugs disclosed and fixed in 2015, several changes were made to harden the media stack against future vulnerabilities. Runtime integer overflow detection was implemented, preventing the majority of Stagefright-like programming bugs from becoming vulnerabilities, in addition to helping fix and prevent such bugs. Android's monolithic MediaServer process was redesigned to better adhere to the principle of least privilege. MediaServer is now split into several separate processes, each running in its own unprivileged sandbox, and granted only the permissions required for its task. For example, only the AudioServer can access Bluetooth, and libstagefright now runs within the MediaCodecService sandbox, which is only granted GPU access. Further constraints were placed on the media stack through seccomp.[46]

Various mechanisms were enabled to reduce the possibility of malicious code being injected and/or executed inside the Linux kernel, including dividing kernel memory into logical segments for code and data, with page access permissions of read-only and no-execute as appropriate. The kernel was also restricted from directly accessing user space memory, and stronger stack protection was enabled in the GCC compiler to reduce stack smashing. To limit exposure of the kernel to potentially malicious code, perf was disabled by default, ioctl commands were restricted by SELinux, and seccomp-bpf was enabled to grant processes the ability to restrict system calls.[47]

On devices shipping with Android Nougat, the "Verified Boot" policy (introduced partially on KitKat, and displaying notifications on startup on Marshmallow) must be strictly enforced. If system files are corrupted or otherwise modified, the operating system will only allow operation in a limited-use mode or refuse to boot at all.[48][49]

Reception

Dieter Bohn of The Verge praised the new multitasking interface in Android Nougat, calling it "long overdue" for Android tablets. Although he initially found the implementation "confusing", he wrote that it worked well once he understood it properly, though he noted that "some apps don’t fully support split screen, while others work fine but pop up a warning anyway". Bohn also liked the new way to reply to any message notification, stating "Android has long had an advantage in useful and consistent notifications" versus iOS, and added "now that quick replies are standard on it I don't see that lead diminishing". He also highlighted "tweaks" throughout, including quick toggles in the notification drawer, Settings menu with more visual information, and a Camera app that has been "cleaned up a bit", as welcome changes. Bohn stated that he didn't notice any significant battery improvements despite the Doze power-saving feature in Nougat. He also wrote extensively about the fact that, even though Nougat is "great", "it’s a shame it will take so long for anybody to see it", writing about the lack of updates to most Android devices, and that "unless you have a Nexus, it could be a few months, it could be a year [sic], before it becomes available on your phone".[50]

Chris Velazco of Engadget also praised the new, bundled app notifications, writing that prior Android versions' notifications "just sort of sit there" until interaction, but Nougat "does a much better job of bundling them by app and letting you get things done". He highlighted the ability to expand a bundled Gmail notification to see subjects and senders of individual messages. Velazco stated that split-screen multitasking was a "big deal", but he also encountered non-compatible apps. Visual elements in the Settings app, quick toggles in the notification dropdown, and new language and emoji support were also positive highlights in the review. Velazco did note a battery improvement from the Doze power-saving feature, stating his "Nexus 6P seemed to gain about an hour or two of standby battery life". He also wrote that installing and launching apps might be "a little faster than usual" thanks to Nougat's new app compiler, and he hoped game developers will utilize the new Vulkan API for some "seriously good-looking mobile gaming".[51]

See also

Main Android version history

Other Android versions

References

  1. ↑ "Android 7.0 Nougat. Made for you". Google. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Google Git". Android Source. Google. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Dashboards | Android Developers". developer.android.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Name". Google Is Calling Android N "New York Cheesecake" (NYC) Internally.
  5. ↑ "Program Overview". Android Developers. Google. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Amadeo, Ron (March 10, 2016). "Surprise! The Android N Developer Preview is out right now". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Burke, Dave (April 13, 2016). "Android N Developer Preview 2, out today!". Android Developers Blog. Google. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  8. ↑ Savov, Vlad (May 18, 2016). "Google details Android N features ahead of late summer release". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  9. ↑ Kastrenakes, Jacob (May 18, 2016). "Google's latest Android N beta is meant for everyone". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  10. ↑ Protalinski, Emil (May 18, 2016). "Google launches Android N Developer Preview 3 with seamless updates and VR mode". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  11. ↑ Burke, Dave (June 15, 2016). "Android N APIs are now final, get your apps ready for Android N!". Android Developers Blog. Google. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  12. ↑ Ruddock, David (June 15, 2016). "Android N Developer Preview 4 is out, build NPD56N". Android Police. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  13. ↑ Walter, Derek; Cross, Jason (July 1, 2016). "Android N name revealed: It's Nougat". PC World. International Data Group. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  14. ↑ T., Florin (June 30, 2016). "Android 7.0 Nougat statue unveiled by Google". PhoneArena. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  15. ↑ Gibbs, Samuel (July 1, 2016). "Nougat: Google's new Android name divides opinion". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  16. ↑ Ruddock, David (July 18, 2016). "Android 7.0 Nougat Developer Preview 5 - the final preview - is available for download". Android Police. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  17. ↑ Samat, Sameer (August 22, 2016). "Android 7.0 Nougat: a more powerful OS, made for you". The Keyword Google Blog. Google. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  18. ↑ Cunningham, Andrew (August 23, 2016). "Google lays out plans to update Android more regularly and frequently". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  19. ↑ Statt, Nick (September 6, 2016). "LG launches V20 smartphone with Android 7.0 Nougat". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  20. ↑ Seifert, Dan (October 4, 2016). "Google's new Pixel phones come with Android 7.1 Nougat". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  21. ↑ Bohn, Dieter. "The Google Phone: The inside story of Google’s bold bet on hardware". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  22. 1 2 Cunningham, Andrew (August 31, 2016). "Why isn’t your old phone getting Nougat? There’s blame enough to go around". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  23. ↑ O'Boyle, Britta; Hall, Chris (February 10, 2017). "When is Android 7.1.1 Nougat coming to my phone?". Pocket-lint. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  24. ↑ Carman, Ashley (February 9, 2017). "Sony is rolling Android Nougat out to some Xperia devices". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Android 7.0 Nougat update starts hitting Motorola Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus". GSMArena. October 21, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  26. ↑ V., Cosmin (August 31, 2016). "Sony claims it's not at fault for not releasing Android 7.0 Nougat for Xperia Z3". PhoneArena. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  27. 1 2 Lumb, David (October 11, 2016). "Download Android 7.1 Nougat in beta later this month". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  28. ↑ Fonts, Agustin (December 5, 2016). "A sweet update to Nougat: Android 7.1.1". The Keyword Google Blog. Google. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  29. ↑ Ingraham, Nathan (December 5, 2016). "Android 7.1.1 is rolling out now". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  30. ↑ Carman, Ashley (December 5, 2016). "Google is bringing Pixel features to its Nexus line with Android 7.1.1". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  31. 1 2 Amadeo, Ron (April 4, 2017). "Android 7.1.2 leaves beta, arrives on Pixel and Nexus devices". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  32. ↑ Walter, Derek (April 7, 2017). "Android device updates: Android 7.1.2 arrives for Pixel and Nexus devices". Greenbot. International Data Group. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  33. ↑ Whitwam, Ryan (May 2, 2017). "May 2017 Android platform distribution shows another big gain for Nougat and a small uptick for older versions". Android Police. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Google to provide raw GNSS measurements". GPS World. 2016-07-10. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  35. ↑ Swider, Matt; Peckham, James. "Android Nougat release date: when you'll get it and everything you need to know". TechRadar. Future plc. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  36. ↑ Amadeo, Ron (March 21, 2016). "This is Android N’s freeform window mode". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  37. 1 2 3 4 "Android N for Developers". Android Developers. Google. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  38. ↑ "Android: The Road to JIT/AOT Hybrid Compilation-Based Application User Experience". software.intel.com. Intel Corporation. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  39. ↑ Amadeo, Ron (January 7, 2016). "Android N switches to OpenJDK, Google tells Oracle it is protected by the GPL". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  40. ↑ "Android N seamless updates not coming to existing devices". GSMArena. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  41. ↑ Amadeo, Ron (May 18, 2016). "Android N borrows Chrome OS code for "seamless" update installation". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  42. ↑ Woods, Shannon (April 13, 2016). "Optimize, Develop, and Debug with Vulkan Developer Tools". Android Developers Blog. Google. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  43. ↑ "Vulkan Graphics API". Android Developers. Google. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  44. ↑ Amadeo, Ron (May 18, 2016). "Gear VRs for everyone! Google turns Android into a VR-ready OS: Daydream". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  45. ↑ ""VR at Google - Google I/O 2016"". YouTube. Google. May 9, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  46. ↑ Austin, Dan; Stoep, Jeff Vander (May 5, 2016). "Hardening the media stack". Android Developers Blog. Google. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  47. ↑ Stoep, Jeff Vander (July 27, 2016). "Protecting Android with more Linux kernel defenses". Google Security Blog. Google. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  48. ↑ Fingas, Jon (July 19, 2016). "Android Nougat won't boot your phone if its software is corrupt (updated)". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  49. ↑ Y., Miley (July 20, 2016). "Android 7.0 devices could be harder to root, won't boot at all if the software is corrupt". PhoneArena. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  50. ↑ Bohn, Dieter (August 22, 2016). "Android 7.0 Nougat review: great, but does it matter?". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  51. ↑ Velazco, Chris (August 29, 2016). "Android 7.0 Nougat review: All about getting things done faster". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
Preceded by
Android 6.0		 Android 7.0
2016 		Succeeded by
Android 8.0
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