(ThyBlackMan.com) Android P is coming next year and we don’t know whether we will be calling it ‘Peanut Butter,’ ‘Pumpkin’ or something related to ‘Pie’. But one thing is sure that Android P will be very much focused on privacy and since OREO doesn’t focus much on the UI, this new update will likely have more focus on improving the looks. Those rumored foldable phones and infinity display have given us hope for a better UI. Android P will surely bring new features but here are 7 features from previous Android versions fans want to see in the next update.
1. Lock screen options
With Android Lollipop, Google replaced lock screen widgets with notifications. At the same time, the company introduced several ways of securing your lock screen. It also gave a big relief to everyone because those options helped people a lot in keeping personal data private. Some users found it annoying as these features are scattered throughout the device’s settings option, but this flexibility and abundance of options is something iOS users always miss even when they have Face ID. The sudden removal of Touch ID from iPhones was a bad surprise for many iPhone users and in the Android world, people are not ready for any such changes.
2. Notifications
One of the biggest changes introduced with Android Oreo is an improved notification system. The tray method has always been popular among Android users and with the last few versions, Google is paying more attention to bringing new features in this area. We saw some improvements and changes in KitKat and Jellybean for both users and developers, and then Google almost stopped working on this. We expect that the Android P will keep the same notification system for users.
3. Android device manager
This feature can find your phone if you lose it or forget after keeping it somewhere. This one feature is very useful but from the privacy standpoint, it is not something everyone wants to enable. This feature keeps Google informed about your current location, but on the other hand, it can also come handy if you want to locate your phone or wipe off the data remotely. Android P should not remove this feature and if Google can, then it should make some changes in this feature so that everyone can feel confident while using it.
4. App permissions
We do not want apps to ask for permissions to access contents and features which are not relevant to the app’s purpose. For example, a music app has nothing to do with your location or your photos, but still many apps ask permissions even if it is completely irrelevant to the nature of their work. Thankfully, Android allows users to manage permissions for third-party apps and this is one of the features we would love to see on Android P as well. It not only makes it safe to use apps but also gives a sense of confidence.
5. Keyboard improvements
The best thing about Android is that it allows users to use different keyboards rather than forcing them to use the default one. Because of this, users tested new features on third-party keyboard apps and finally, Google started paying more attention to keyboard improvements. Some of the major improvements in keyboard were introduced with Android Banana Bread, Cupcake, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Jelly Bean and Nougat and now the default Gboard brings so much, especially after Nougat.
6. Multi-Window
This is one of the best features Google introduced in Android Nougat and it is safe to assume that Google will bring an improved version of this feature with Android P release. Now when we are probably going to see some foldable smartphones in the future, and there will be more devices with a big display, split-view will surely help users enjoy multitasking on their highly powerful and capable smartphone.
7. Improved Google Assistant
Google has experimented with many things before introducing Google Assistant. There were many options including Now on Tap that worked for the same goal but finally Google killed most of them and also removed some features when Assistant took over. Now when Google Assistant has become a part of life through Home speakers and smartphones, Android P will most likely get an updated and improved Google Assistant as fans really don’t want any unpleasant surprise this time.
Staff Writer; Corey Shaw
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