Update Note 9 To Android 9

The latest iteration of the world’s most popular mobile operating system brings a significant amount of new features and chips. Android 9.0 Pie seeks to save all of us from dependence on smartphones, gives new emotions from interacting with the device and reorganizes its management.

What’s new?

The full name of Android 9.0 was disclosed on August 6, 2018. Many expected that the new OS would be called Pistachio (pistachio), but Google, traditionally, preferred a sweeter product. Let’s see what interesting the OS has prepared for us and which phones will be updated soon.

Updated look in the style of Material Design 2

Perhaps the first thing that catches your eye is a new font. This is Google Sans, which replaced the familiar Roboto. We will see it not only in the system, but also in other products of the company. It looks interesting, a creative approach is felt in it, which corresponds to the concept of the Corporation of Good.

Due to the advent of widescreen phones with rounded edges of the display, smoothing is trending. iOS and Android are actively using it in all their developments, so that the content looks more concise on new screens. In Pie, dialog boxes, application bar, notification curtain are all with rounded edges. The Google Assistant and the search engine itself now also have smoothed, selected white cards.

Black and white themes have been modified in Android Pie, which repaint the system, launcher, some programs, and system settings. You can assign them manually or make auto-selection based on the wallpaper. The settings themselves have also been transformed, now the icons are colored, the categories are even better organized. Above is a large search field in the form of an elongated oval.

New curtain and its contents

In Android Pie, the clock icon has moved from the far right corner of the screen to the far left. This is not the most important innovation, but it was done for the sake of “monobrow”. And yes, native cutout support is available.

In the curtain, you can now not only quickly respond to messages, but also have a full dialogue there, view attachments. Android Pie has generated AI responses similar to those observed in Gmail (for now, the question is how it will work in Russian). There was a function to save unsent messages, so if you collapse something without adding an answer, you can continue editing later.

The interaction of the quick settings field with the notification platform is conveniently implemented. When you expand the first panel, the second is completely compressed, and vice versa. On large, widescreen matrices, this is convenient. I was annoyed to transfer the settings icon from the top of the quick settings to the very bottom. Now, to click on it, you need to perform an extra action. fully expand the curtain.

The interface looks great, the little blue round icons on a white background are beautiful. The volume control panel has also been updated, it is now in the form of a tile, pops up from the side of the volume rocker and has additional keys for changing sound modes and switching to settings. Only the volume of multimedia is adjusted by default, not system sounds and calls.

Significantly increased autonomy, speed and smoothness

The best part in the new version is animations. They represent the perfect symbiosis of the smoothness of iOS and the speed, mobility of all Android objects. The smoothness of the system has grown significantly (without exaggeration). You just need to feel it. Folding pop-ups, transitions. everything looks amazing, there were no lags even on the Developer Preview. As animations, it’s now not just fading, but pleasant expanding and minimizing effects that help to understand where the notification came from or where the program’s shortcut is located.

Android Pie brings improvements to autocomplete, which allows applications to remember and automatically insert logins and passwords when re-authorizing. Added native support for two cameras.

Google continues to improve autonomy by suppressing processes running in the background. In addition to the limitations that we saw in previous versions, Pie cuts down on the ability of applications to receive information from sensors when they are in the background. They can no longer access the microphone or camera.

Thanks to the new tracking system for rarely used programs, the developers promise an increase in the life time from one charge by 30%. In the field of security, users can still count on improved encryption for backups and other fixes.

Fighting smartphone addiction

This year there is a growing concern about screening (from the phone screen) addiction, which has social consequences and affects the health of a person spending too much time at the display. In response, the corporation launched the Digital Wellbeing tool, which gives people more information about how they use their devices.

The new Shush option will work for apps like Do Not Disturb for notifications. App Timer allows you to set restrictions on certain programs. That is, it will turn out to set a time limit that you can spend in them.

Another impressive feature is Wind Down. It makes it possible to set the time range in which you want to use your phone less. During this period, the device will work in black and white. This is a powerful visual cue reminiscent of taking a break. It also removes the strongest and most attractive part of smartphones: vibrant colors and visual effects.

Apple has already demonstrated a response to the screening tool in the beta version of iOS 12. It is difficult to compare solutions because Google did not include its tools in the preliminary firmware version, but they obviously use similar functions to achieve similar goals.

Redesigned multitasking and new gestures

Just as Apple got rid of the Home button on the iPhone X, Android Pie removes the usual on-screen keys in favor of a new gesture system. Instead of three icons, you now have one elongated, multi-functional Home button in the center of the bottom of the screen, as well as a Back button located on the left.

Here’s what you can do with gestures.

1. Swipe on the central button up opens the panel of recent applications.
2. Another such gesture puts forward a list of installed programs.
3. Holding “Home” calls up the Google Assistant.
4. Swipe the keys to the right. an analogue of Alt Tab on a PC, it launches the previous application.
5. If in multitasking you move the home button left-right, you can quickly switch between applications.
6. A single tap on the oblong button still throws to the desktop.
7. Clicking on “Back” works as before.

Insanely convenient ability to access programs from anywhere in the system. At first it’s so unusual, but after an hour of use, you don’t understand how you lived without it. Pictures of minimized programs on the recent list are now interactive. You can select text from them, and holding them by their icon will launch a menu where you can go to the program settings or start splitting the screen. Shortcuts appeared on the menu of all programs, which so far look like the most useless thing.

Note that the Google Assistant spoke in Russian, but it does not have such a wide range of functions as the English version. It still looks like Google Now. Although he understands the context, he has not yet learned how to execute complex commands and answer several questions at the same time.

Tiles of recent applications are now arranged horizontally, as in MIUI 9. Below there is a search bar from Google, as well as the five most popular applications that are duplicated in the list of all programs.

If you don’t like the auto-rotate screen, a new feature will help. Now, if you put the smartphone in a horizontal position, an icon will pop up, pressing which will launch the landscape view mode. Convenient for those who rarely flip the phone, and false positives auto-rotate strained.

Gestures, although convenient, but they kill the dignity of elongated screens. What is the point of them, if the bottom part is still eaten away by the panel and the content is cut off. Google must review this and completely remove this element from the workspace. It’s very unpleasant when in Google Photos a list of categories is displayed below, and below it another strip. The gesture system in MIUI and OnePlus is much better, there it really frees up space.

List of devices that will receive Android 9.0 Pie

The vast majority of smartphones that will receive the update are flagships and devices released in 2018 and 2017, as well as some older models. The update should come to users within six months, but part of the devices will receive them much earlier. For now, let’s say that if you have a Pixel of the first, second generation or Essential Phone, then you will get a fresh assembly from day to day.

How to install?

An update should come to your phone, which will be displayed in the notification curtain or in the center of updates in the settings. To upgrade, install it via OTA.

For enthusiasts, let’s say that on the network you can already download the official GSI-image of Android 9 Pie and install it on any phone with Project Treble support. The source code of the firmware has also become available, so custom will appear in the near future, and everyone who is familiar with the features of their installation will be able to flash the downloaded archive through custom recovery and try the firmware.

Concluding the review, let’s say that the Pie was a success! Compared to the nondescript and not ideal in many aspects of Oreo, this is a necessary update that improves and makes the interaction with a mobile phone more pleasant.

You can watch the review of Android 9 below.

Install Android 9.0 firmware

Now updating and installing the operating system of your smartphone or tablet to the latest version has become even easier. Now, to install the new firmware, just download Android 9.0 from our website, follow the instructions from the downloaded archive, download and install the application on your smartphone or tablet with the Android operating system.

To download the firmware for your mobile device, you need to select your device from the list that is presented below or by clicking on the link below: