Google had started rolling out Android 8.0 Oreo to Verizon’s Google Pixel and Pixel XL phones earlier today, and now the company has posted OTA (Over-the-Air) links for the Pixel and Nexus devices. Having said that, you can now download Android 8.0 Oreo directly from Google, and flash it manually if you want, all you have to do is follow the source link down below, and download the right file. OTA links are now available for the Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P smartphones. For those of you who were hoping to get OTA links and / or factory images for the Nexus Player are out of luck, as Google is yet to post such files for the Nexus Player.
Now, for those of you who are not familiar with the process, you cannot really just download OTA images, click on the file and wait for the update to get installed, that’s not how it works. You’ll need to manually flash this update, and if you’re not familiar with the procedure, it might be wise to wait for an update to hit your device. OTA file will preserve your data if you decide to flash it, but you’ll need to sideload it, and even though it’s a rather simple procedure, it’s definitely not meant for non-tech-savvy people. Having said that, Google actually introduced Android 8.0 Oreo quite recently, the company finally released the final build of Android 8.0 Oreo, following four Developer Preview builds that it released in the last couple of months. Android 8.0 Oreo is not a complete revamp of Android OS, but it is definitely an evolution of it, as it brings a number of new features that improve Android 7.X Nougat, and also bring more utility to Android as a whole.
One of the most requested features, for the Android OS, was definitely the ability to use an app in a small window, wherever you want on your display, in addition to the split-screen mode, of course. Well, Google delivered with Android 8.0 Oreo, as the company introduced the so-called ‘Picture-in-Picture’ (PiP) mode. In addition to that, Android 8.0 Oreo will take better care of apps that are running in the background, so that they don’t start draining your battery, and notifications are also improved here. You are able to set up quiet times for app-specific notifications, and the notification shade also got a new coat of paint. These are only some changes that Android 8.0 Oreo brought along, you can read more about this OS by clicking here.