{"id":233359,"date":"2018-03-22T17:04:50","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T15:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=233359"},"modified":"2018-03-22T17:04:50","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T15:04:50","slug":"android-8-0-on-the-samsung-galaxy-s9-all-the-best-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/mobile\/233359\/android-8-0-on-the-samsung-galaxy-s9-all-the-best-features\/","title":{"rendered":"Android 8.0 on the Samsung Galaxy S9 \u2013 All the best features"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been using the Samsung Galaxy S9 for almost a month now, and the device\u2019s Android 8.0 (Oreo) operating system has changed the way I use a smartphone.<\/p>\n

From the greatly-improved notification system to the picture-in-picture support, the latest version of Android makes the device easy to use and offers great new features.<\/p>\n

Android 8.0 also adds a host of new functions, which improve functionality while offering a cleaner interface.<\/p>\n

Improved notifications<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the biggest changes in Android 8.0 is the refinement of notification banners and the improved home screen features.<\/p>\n

Notification banners pushed by background apps such as Weather are no longer intrusive, full-size notifications \u2013 and instead are listed in slim tabs below standard notifications.<\/p>\n

You can also snooze notifications, causing them to disappear for a certain period.<\/p>\n

Notification banners can also show custom colours, with the Google Play Music banner featuring a cutout of the current song\u2019s album art.<\/p>\n

The home screen menu is now rotatable, according to orientation, and is much easier to navigate.<\/p>\n

Accessing the App drawer is also super-easy, with users swiping up anywhere on the screen, while a hold-press on the home screen will access the customisation menu.<\/p>\n

Users can also access notifications on their home screen app icons and subsequently take action.<\/p>\n

\"Android<\/a><\/p>\n

Picture-in-picture<\/strong><\/p>\n

The picture-in-picture (PIP) feature delivered by Android is great, and allows activities to launch in a special multi-window mode.<\/p>\n

The mode moves an app into the bottom-right corner of the screen while it continues running.<\/p>\n

This is useful for video playback and calls, and adds additional multi-tasking functionality.<\/p>\n

Multi-window mode was originally introcued in Android Nougat and is retained in the latest version of the operating system.<\/p>\n

The new PIP mode is only compatible with certain applications, however.<\/p>\n

\"Android<\/a><\/p>\n

Performance and battery<\/strong><\/p>\n

Android 8.0 also makes several improvements to performance and battery life, thanks to its optimisation functionality.<\/p>\n

Google claims that Android 8.0 boots twice as fast on the Pixel smartphone than the previous version of Android, thanks to its more optimised architecture.<\/p>\n

The increased control over background apps, processes, and power usage can also result in improved battery life.<\/p>\n

This is accomplished by new background execution limits implemented in Android 8.0, which reduce the amount of battery background apps use on your device.<\/p>\n

The Settings menu is also easier to navigate and smaller than previous versions of Android, with more advanced options appearing in drop-down menus.<\/p>\n

\"Battery\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Android 8.0 on Samsung<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy S9\u2019s unique aspect ratio pairs well with Android Oreo, which now supports numerous native screen resolutions.<\/p>\n

Samsung\u2019s flavour of Android 8.0 is implemented relatively seamlessly, with most features serving to enhance the experience of the operating system.<\/p>\n

A great example of this is the Edge menu, which is accessible by a swipe from the side of the device and offers shortcuts to app pairs, contacts, and screenshot tools.<\/p>\n

Once I grew accustomed to the feature, I began to rely on it for quick access to important contacts.<\/p>\n

The same is true for Android\u2019s picture-in-picture mode.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s reading messages while having Maps navigation open, or browsing Reddit while a Facebook video plays in the corner of the screen, PIP makes multi-tasking much easier.<\/p>\n

The overall interface overhaul delivered by Android 8.0 has made navigating the Galaxy S9 simple and easy, while enabling even more features within the operating system.<\/p>\n

In addition to the features listed above, Android 8.0 also includes the following:<\/p>\n