Google has maintained the tradition of naming its Android operating system by the names of alphabetically-ordered desserts beginning with Android Cupcake and followed by Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop, Marshmallow and Nougat. Now we now have Oreo.

Like most new versions, the Android team has added several new features to Android Oreo to make its mobile platform more secure, fast, power efficient and offer better multitasking.

The Oreo update should roll out to Android Smartphones before the end of the year.

Of course you don’t expect me to spoil the fun by telling you all the new features on Android Oreo. However I’ll be giving you the top 10 new features I love on the new Android version.

1. No More ‘Install From Unknown Sources’ Setting

Most applications installed from third-party sources are not malicious, but a couple of apps installed from outside of the official Play Store could land your smartphone in trouble.
Before Android Oreo, to install third-party apps you needed to enable just one setting by turning on “Install from unknown sources”.
It didn’t really matter from where you downloaded the APK file. It could be from a browser, Bluetooth, Xender, transferred from a computer via USB or downloaded using another app.
Android 8.0 Oreo totally changed the way this feature works, bringing a much smarter and safer system called ” Install other apps,”
All you have to do is to manually permit 3rd-party app installation from different sources.

2. Wi-Fi Aware (Neighborhood Aware Networking — NAN) 
Android Oreo now supports a new connectivity feature called Wi-Fi Aware, also known as Neighborhood Aware Networking (NAN).

This feature allows apps and devices to automatically search for, connect to, and share data with each other directly offline.
With the Wi-Fi Aware API, app developers have a great opportunity to create awesome apps based on the communication between nearby devices.

3. AI-based Smart Text Selection
Android Oreo also comes with a ‘ Smart Text Selection’ feature, which uses Google’s machine learning to detect when you select email addresses, names or phone numbers. When it detects what you’ve selected it then automatically suggests the relevant information on other apps.

For example, if double tap on a text and select an email address of a company your friend sends you, Google’s AI-based machine learning will figure out what you want and automatically launch Gmail.
You could also use Google Assistant feature but it’s always good to have multiple options to solve the same problem.

4. Google Play Protect

Android Oreo has been developed to be more secure than previous versions, with Google cracking down on the fastest-growing problem of Android malware with a new anti-malware tool called Google Play Protect.

 “Play Protect is built into every device with Google Play, is always updating, and automatically takes action to keep your data and device safe, so you don’t have to lift a finger,” – Dave Burke, Vice President of Engineering, Google 

Play Protect helps to detect and remove harmful applications and it scans more than 50 billion apps every day.

5. Battery-Saving and Background Limits

On Android Oreo, Google has blocked apps from reacting to “implicit broadcasts” and doing certain kinds of tasks when they are running in the background in an effort to enhance the battery life of Android smartphones.

Also, Android Oreo will limit some background services and location updates when an app is not in use.
Let’s say your music app is playing music in the background, it will not be affected, but it will definitely limit Instagram that doesn’t need to be your feed refreshing from running in the background, thereby making apps to use less power and only wake up occasionally to start its services.

6. Android Instant Apps

Android Instant Apps is now available for more than 500 million devices globally. It allows you to use certain apps within Google Play without having to download them
You can acess Android Instant apps with a click on a URL,
This feature will definitely come in handy when you’re running out of storage space on your phone. You can simply use an instant app for just or check how it works before installing the full version.

7. Notification Dots (Limit notifications)

If you’re tired of having to deal with multiple notifications, Android Oreo will handle that for you.
Oreo has introduced Notification Dots that’ll help you to manage each app individually with fine-grained control. It allows you to control how many notifications you see and how they come through

8. Picture-in-Picture Mode

Have you ever been watching a video on YouTube and just got an important message from WhatsApp?.
It’s happened to me and it could be quite annoying when you really don’t want to stop watching the video.
However, this would not be a problem in Android 8.0 Oreo.

With Android Oreo, you can watch a YouTube video while scrolling through your browser or chatting on WhatsApp on your Android device—thanks to the Picture-in-Picture (PIP) feature.

Once you open an app and start playing a video, tapping the home button, will shrink the video down to the bottom-right corner of your screen while the rest of the app disappears.

You can open any other app and do other things you want to do, while the video continues playing in the background. You can even drag the video” along the border of your screen. This works without any third party app

9. Find my Device
Though this feature has been available for sometime, Google has improved on the feature to make it similar to that of iOS. This feature allows people to locate, lock and wipe their Android devices when they go missing or get stolen. However I still wish this could work offline.

10. New Emoji

Android Oreo has introduced 60 new emojis and a redesign of the current emoji characters. The update also adds new colour support for app developers and the ability to change or animate the shape of icons in their apps.

These aren’t all the new features though. I just dropped a few. Once you get the update you can see everything.