Google said its latest Android release – Android 8.0 Oreo – includes new capabilities to enable developers to create “better, more efficient apps”, as a number of vendors line-up compatible devices.

Dave Burke, VP of engineering at Google, said changes include: system optimisations to help apps run faster and smoother; limits on background location and Wi-Fi scans, to prevent accidental overuse of battery and memory; and availability of new aggregate data to identify common issues – such as high crash rates, frozen frames, slow rendering or excessive wake-ups.

Other new tools include: adaptive icons, to display in different shapes depending on device manufacturer settings; the ability to add app shortcuts and homescreen widgets to the launcher from within the app; wide colour gamut support for apps; and new Java APIs.

The Android runtime is also “faster than ever before”, with up to two times improvements on some application benchmarks.

Consumer boost
User benefits of the new platform include picture-in-picture, enabling users to see two apps at once, and notification dots, allowing them to see what is happening in important apps and take quick action. Also included is support for Android Instant Apps, which “means you can teleport directly into new apps, no installation needed”.

Another change is the way installation of apps from stores other than Google Play is handled. It said under the previous model, users who enabled the installation of apps from unknown sources were left open to “deceptive behaviour”, such as apps prompting users to make harmful downloads which are disguised as legitimate code.

In Android Oreo, the install unknown apps permission is tied to the app which prompts the install – so hostile downloaders cannot trick a user into installing an app without first having been given the go-ahead.

Android Oreo is being rolled-out to Google’s Nexus and Pixel devices, and hardware manufacturers Essential, Huawei, HTC, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, HMD (Nokia), Samsung, Sharp and Sony are also scheduled to either launch or upgrade smartphones.