A report from GizChina claims that Sony will update six of its handsets to Android 9 Pie. The devices that will reportedly receive the latest version of the operating system include the Sony Xperia XZ2, XZ2 Compact, XZ2 Premium, XZ1, XZ1 Compact, and the XZ Premium. The report claims that the rollout will begin in September and it will be completed by November 2018. It should be noted that the Xperia XZ2 has been receiving beta versions of the operating system in the last few months as part of Google’s Android P Beta program. Google recently confirmed that this device, along with other smartphones from Xiaomi, HMD Global, OPPO, Vivo, and OnePlus, will be receiving Android 9 by the end of fall.
Once the handsets are upgraded to Android Pie, users could take advantage of features like Adaptive Battery, improved notifications management, and App Actions. The Adaptive Battery feature limits the resources available for applications that are not used often, which should increase the handset’s battery life. Meanwhile, the operating system will automatically ask the user if they want the application to continue receiving notifications from an application if the software detects that users repeatedly dismiss the app’s notifications. The App Actions feature uses machine learning to understand how people use their smartphones at different times of the day. The functionality will then show a set of app actions below the top row of applications which will change depending on the time of the day. Other new features of Android Pie include adaptive brightness, redesigned multitasking screen, modified media controls, new screenshot tools, and gesture controls.
Aside from Sony, Huawei and HTC have also announced that they will roll out Android Pie to select handsets soon. For example, HTC recently stated that four of its devices, the HTC U12 Plus, the U11, the U11 Plus, and the U11 Life will all receive Android 9, although it did not specify the exact dates that the handsets will receive the operating system upgrade. Meanwhile, Huawei already started an Android 9 Pie beta program for four of its devices, including the Huawei P20, the P20 Pro, the Mate 10, and the Mate 10 Pro.