Google launched the developer preview for Android 7.1 this week, for a number of Nexus smartphones and tablets. And users are beginning to see what features are coming their way in this first update to Android Nougat. This is the version of Android that is running on the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, however those smartphones do also sport some features that are exclusive to them. Android 7.1 should be rolling out to all supported Nexus devices soon. But as for now, we have the developer preview, for anyone that is brave enough to install it on their device.
If you’ve ever installed an update on your smartphone, you’ve probably see the all too familiar “Android is Upgrading” when it is booting up. Which is done to optimize the apps and everything else installed on the device before it boots back up for you to use again. Those with loads of apps and other content on their phone would see this taking them quite some time. Luckily, in Android 7.1, it no longer makes the update take longer to install. Instead, once the device has rebooted following the update, you’ll see a new notification that says that the device is finishing the upgrade. In other words, Android is Upgrading is being done in the background. Making it easier for people to update their device. That’s one of the big problems with Android updates, and why most people opt not to update their phone with every OTA that surfaces.
In Android 7.0, the “Android is Upgrading” process was pretty quick, but now it is completely gone. And is done in the background. This is going to make for a much better user experience, and one that we can all appreciate. There are many other improvements here in Android 7.1, but as the version number shows, this is a pretty small incremental update. So the majority of the changes to Android are pretty small, but still very useful. It’s unclear when Android 7.1 will land on other smartphones that are not Nexus (or Pixel), but hopefully OEMs are working on Android 7.1 updates instead of Android 7.0 updates, at this time.
