Despite Google having discontinued its iconic Nexus phones in favour of a high-end user targeting Pixel, Nexus owners are still fortunate enough to receive the latest software updates. So when my Nexus 6 flashed Android 7.0 Nougat’s availability, I wasted no time in downloading the update and installing it, having heard a lot about early reviews talking about some handy new features the Nougat was tempting users with.
About twenty minutes later, my phone’s screen lit up with a dull pink-hued wallpaper image, announcing the change in operating system. But it wasn’t until I received a few notifications that I started to appreciate the tweaks that Google had added to the Nougat to upgrade from the Marshmallow experience.
Quick reply feature
Users can now dash out those quick replies to messages on platforms such as messenger and Facebook messenger from the notification bar itself, a feature previously confined almost only to Whatsapp. The notifications also get a cleaner look, with refined-looking text. Another change to the pull down window on the android is that you can now toggle between controls such as WiFi, mobile network, flashlight etc, at the top of the window itself, without having to expand it completely.
One new feature in the notification bar that I found really useful is that a user can now cancel or stop an app update or a download without having to go to the Playstore. A cancel option on the download status notification now allows you to stop an update whenever you like.
Finally, a split
Android users have often lamented the lack of a multi-window operating platform that lets you work on more than one app simultaneously. Nougat gives you a taste of what that feels like, with its split-screen feature. Press and hold the recent apps button (the square on the bottom right) to send a compatible app into split-screen mode, and then select any other app that you want to work alongside from your recent apps or from your homescreen/app menu. You can also control the display space taken up by the app, and this works in the landscape mode as well. A handy sub-feature is that you can drag and drop text from one app to another in the split-screen mode, making copy-paste easier than it even sounds.
The recent apps button now allows you to go back immediately to the previous application by double-tapping it. Pressing the recent apps button also displays a “clear all” option on the top right corner of your screen, so you can close all apps in one go.
With Nougat, Android finally lets you set a different wallpaper for your lockscreen, from that of your homescreen, giving you a much-needed variety in display.
Toggling between the various settings also gets easier with a side pop-out menu that lets you switch between various settings without having to press the back button to go back to the main settings menu. The settings menu also gets suggested settings, which are recommendations for settings and features you could set up. If you don’t agree with a suggestion, you can remove it, of course.
Battery and data saver
Battery life gets a boost with the Nougat that adds considerable teeth to the ‘Doze’ battery saving feature that Marshmallow introduced us to. The ‘Doze’ on the Nougat also activates when the phone is moving, whereas in its predecessor, it was active only when the phone was stationary.
Nougat also goes big on saving your data juice, with the Data Saver enabling you to restrict data access to apps running in the background. On using this feature, such apps will only be able to access your data connection when you are actively using them, hence giving users a huge advantage when dealing with apps that guzzle background data.
As far as display and looks go, the 7.0 is not very different from its predecessor, but the handy and much needed feature upgrades make this OS worth waiting for.
If you are a Nexus user, it’s probably on its way, if you don’t have it already. For non-Nexus users, the good news is that some major android brands such as Motorola and OnePlus have announced that their phones will be getting a taste of the delicious new Nougat soon enough.