5 great new features coming to Android 9 Pie

16 October 2018

Nice as pie

The latest version of Android’s ever-evolving operating system (OS) is currently being rolled out. Google’s Pixel 2 smartphones were the first to feature the new OS back in August, while other manufacturers including OnePlus and Sony are likely to deliver Android Pie before the year’s out. Samsung and LG smartphone users should see Android 9 Pie on their phones by early next year.

Google’s brand-new smartphones – the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL come with Android Pie right out the box, giving you a pure Android Pie experience from the moment you switch on your new phone. Tasty!

So what’s so sweet about Android 9 Pie? Let’s tuck in…

1. A battery that adapts to your needs and optimises performance 

Android 9 Pie optimises battery performance – helping you to squeeze more out of your phone between charges.

Over time the latest OS builds up a picture of how you use your phone, understanding which apps you use most frequently and the ones you rarely touch.

With this information, Android Pie can open your most used apps quickly and close them when they’re not being used. The OS understands when to keep apps running in the background and when to fully close them, so your phone’s battery isn’t wasting energy when you don't need them open. 

This is particularly useful for social media apps like Twitter and Instagram because your feed is always live – but you may only log in to your accounts a few times a day.

What’s more, Android 9 Pie displays your battery status at the bottom of the screen. You no longer need to wake up your screen to check how much power you’ve got left.

2. Adaptive brightness for easier viewing 

Adaptive brightness is already used in smartphones to adjust the brightness of your screen based on ambient light. If, for example, you’re sat by the pool on holiday and the sun’s shining down, your phone will automatically turn up the brightness to the highest level.

But often these automatic adjustments get it wrong. For example, if you’re watching a film in the dark the brightness level might stay low, which can make it difficult to see all the detail on screen.

Android 9 Pie factors in ambient light with personal preferences learned over time to more accurately set screen brightness for various conditions and tasks.

3. App Actions and Slices to save you time and personalise your experience 

Android 9 Pie is very much designed to help you perform everyday tasks faster and easier. App Actions is a perfect example of this. It aims to always be one step ahead – predicting what you’ll do next.

With your most used apps, Android 9 Pie will add a row of actions below, which can be activated with a single tap. Underneath your Spotify app you could have the last album that you were listening to, or underneath your call app you could have the person you ring most. This one-tap action saves you lots of time, because you don’t have to open and navigate the app every time.

Later this year Android 9 Pie will also introduce Slices. This brings personal and relevant information to the forefront. When you do a Google search you won’t just see results for companies, but additional details that are likely to be relevant to you. For example, type in Uber now and you’ll get a link to the site – do the same action with Slices and you’ll also see where the nearest driver is and prices for the journey home.

4. Neater navigation and simple swiping

Navigation is taking a new route on Android 9 Pie. The recent tabs icon which you currently see on Android Oreo is being replaced with a fresh new design. Simply swipe up to see all your open apps, which will now appear across your screen. To view them all individually you simply need to swipe sideways, and swiping up again will take you to all your apps. It’s a cleaner and faster way to see everything that’s open on your phone and a simpler way of switching between tabs.

5. Controls to improve your digital wellbeing

Android 9 Pie introduces a set of features to help you better manage your relationship with your phone. Maybe your text, email and social notifications disturb you during the night, or you're guilty of 'zombie scrolling' through the same Instagram posts again and again. Those beeps, vibrations and flashing lights can impact on your sleep and leave you feeling groggy the next morning, as well as wasting huge chunks of time without you even noticing. 

With Android 9 Pie, you can quickly see how much time you’ve spent on each app, how many notifications you’ve received and how often you’ve checked your phone. Then you can take action to curb your behaviour. 

You can set daily time limits on apps, fade your phone to greyscale as you start to wind down, and silence all your notifications so you don’t hear or see any updates that might disrupt your dreams.

The best of the rest:

Easier sound control – volume rockers only change the volume of your media. Call volume is changed via an on-screen button.

See things the right way – it can be frustrating when you’re trying to show someone a photo in portrait mode and it keeps flipping upside down. On Android 9 Pie you can manually set the orientation of your screen, via a pop-up icon.

Multiple Bluetooth connections – Bluetooth headphones, smartwatches, your car stereo system… Android 9 Pie supports up to five connections simultaneously.

At-a-Glance Always-On-Display – quickly and conveniently see important information on your Always-on Display. There’s no need to unlock your phone to check the weather forecast or calendar events. 

How do i get Android 9 Pie? 

If you own an Android phone, sit tight. Android 9 Pie should be with you soon. If you have automatc software updates switched on in your phone's settings, your new OS will be delivered automatically right to your phone. Or you can check your phone's settings and click on 'Software Update' to see if there's anything new. 

If you want to experience Android 9 Pie straight away, why not check out the new Google Pixel 3 or Google Pixel 3 XL?

Pre-order Google Pixel 3 >

Pre-order Google Pixel 3 XL >

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