Verizon Wireless has officially posted up the changelog for its Android 8.0 (Oreo) update for the Motorola Moto Z2 Force. The changelog lays out a lot of the normal goodies that one would expect out of an update to Oreo, with just a few small tweaks that are exclusive to the Moto Z2 Force. This fact isn’t entirely surprising, since the phone runs a very slim, stock-ish build of Android. Users can expect to see a new call screen with a smaller contact picture, as well as red and green Answer and Decline text when a call comes in while using the device. On the lock screen, calls coming in will have a smaller contact icon, and instead of answer and decline buttons, users can now grab the phone button and swipe it up to answer, or down to decline. Swiping up on the message icon will let you reject the call and either send a canned SMS, or compose one on the spot. The software build number for this update is ODX27.109-34, and it brings the December 1, 2017 security patch with it.
The update hit a few Verizon-branded Moto Z2 Force units on December 22, but at that time, neither Verizon nor Moto had announced anything or posted any official changelogs regarding the update. The posting of this changelog most likely means that the update is ready for primetime, and Moto Z2 Force owners on Verizon can safely assume that they’ll be getting it soon. To check for the update, simply go into your settings, go to About phone, and then check for the update. It seems to be on a slow rollout, so if you don’t have it now, a reboot may do the trick, but otherwise, you’ll need to have some patience.
As a refresher, the new features in Oreo include a picture-in-picture multitasking mode, deeper system integration of the Autofill framework, adaptive icons, dynamic app cache management, notification tweaks, new emoji, and the removal of the “Unknown sources” setting in favor of letting users choose whether to install individual apps from outside of the Play Store. Security is beefed up a bit, and performance and battery life have also been optimized.