After the Huawei Mate 9 launched earlier this month with a brand new version of Android and a brand new version of EMUI, users of other Huawei and Honor devices have been wondering when their device would get the update to Android 7.0 Nougat and EMUI 5. Well it appears that the Honor 8 is first in line to get the update, as they began rolling out the beta to testers on Monday. The update is a pretty hefty 2.05GB, so you’ll want to be on WiFi before downloading it. What’s interesting is that this update is almost twice the size of the update to Nougat that the Sprint LG G5 began receiving yesterday.
Many are wondering what’s new with this update to the Honor 8, well there’s plenty. The UI actually changes quite a bit. Instead of swiping over in the notification panel to get the quick toggles, they are at the top of the notification shade, like they are in stock Android. You also get the “Eye Comfort” mode, which can be scheduled to turn on automatically. Another feature from the Mate 9 that has made it to the Honor 8 is “App Twin”, this allows you to run two instances of the same app – mostly for using multiple accounts at the same time. The Settings app has been retooled, so you can get to more settings more easily. And there is also an option for an app drawer, so you don’t have to worry about downloading a third-party launcher.
As far as Nougat features go, they are all there. Including multi-window. Simply long-press the recents button and you’ll be able to use multi-window, just as Google imagined. The enhanced Doze is also there, allowing you to get even better standby battery life on the Honor 8. All the other Nougat features are here as well.
If you signed up to be a beta tester, you should be seeing the update appear on your device soon. For those that didn’t, if everything goes well with the beta, you should be seeing the update in a few weeks time. There’s no set date for it to roll out to everyone, just yet though.
