Published on 12:00 AM, August 13, 2018

The 5 best features of Android Pie

Android P's finally out and has brought along features that Android fans have been clamouring for since Oreo. Out of all the awesome features, here are our picks for the five best ones: 

 

Gestures are finally here

Android Pie brings smart phone's hottest software kink and it only took them a year longer than Apple. Similar to the iPhone X, there's a small pill style button now at the bottom of the screen now instead of three navigational buttons and everything is gesture based on Android Pie.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoom in Text carried over from iOS

The zoom option was a much-needed enhancement for Android. This lets you pick parts of a phrase or a word once you long press them. It's a useful feature for anyone who's having trouble reading a certain part of a text.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dashboard, or your phone's own keeper

The dashboard is a unique new feature of Android Pie as it keeps track of the time you spend respectively on all the apps on your phone. It also keeps track of the total number of hours you spend on your phone each day, number of times you locked your phone and the number of notifications you received. If you needed someone to remind you of your smartphone addiction, leave it to your own Android phone to do so from now.   

 

 

 

 

Notch Support

Google was caught off guard with Android 8.0 as it couldn't cater to the notch trend that swept away the smartphone industry. But notch support is finally here and Android Pie lets you simulate your display with cut-outs of your choosing. Simply put, you now have the ability to hide your phone's notch.  

 

 

 

Indoor Navigation, is this the future?

Android Pie supports EEE 802.11mc WiFi protocol which is more commonly known as Wi-Fi Round-Trip-Time (RTT). To put things simply, this feature enables indoor GPS style tracking. It can track your location within a building or small spaces, calculating the turn-by-turn directions within your radius which can help you navigate indoors. A feature Android fans were waiting for, indoor navigation will make travelling short distances easier and help you navigate within shopping malls and large buildings.

Android Pie is perhaps the biggest Android update ever. With the inclusion of support for HEIF image file format, a Lockdown Mode which adds necessary security measures and an Alert tone function for all parties when someone is recording a phone call. Android Pie also features better security protection for users and performance enhancements all around. Android Pie will be available on the Google Pixel, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL and the Essential Phone first before making its way to One Plus and other Android smartphones.