On a latest report on the new Android Operating System firmware, Google's Android Developer team released a new video on YouTube geared towards developers, highlighting some of the upcoming new features available in the Android 7.1 Nougat Developer Preview.

The video details a handful of new features including App Shortcuts and new developer tools for live wallpapers. Other added features are the following: launcher shortcuts, refreshed round icons, Smart Storage for the storage manager, Google keyboard equipped with GIF support and newly added "restart" option in the power button menu.

Aside from the mentioned updates, Tech Times listed more additional information on the upcoming features of the Android 7.1 Nougat. One is the Data Saver Mode, which will aid users to limit the use of data by their device. When Data Saver mode is turned on, apps will not be able to access mobile data in the background.

In addition, the new app launcher allows users to create app shortcuts. Users have to long-press the app launcher to reveal the app and then tap on the app to reveal the associated shortcuts.

In its "multiview" or "split screen mode," users are given the ability to split the screen in two and access two apps at once. Through this feature, customers can now keep watching a movie and text at the same time.

Multi-screen view has been available on Samsung and LG re-skin versions of Android but the feature was never built in Android itself. However, it should be noted that some full-screen apps such as games are exempted from the feature.

Another highlight of the update is the Google Assistant, a smart personal assistant that Google announced in May. Through this Android companion, customers can find out the capital or weather condition of a country of visit. Asking the personal assistant to play music, find restaurants, get directions are also possible actions.

Through the Smart Storage feature of Android 7.1 Nougat, people will have more power in freeing spaces on their device. It works in the background and automatically removes older backed-up files such as videos and photos, which clears precious drive space and are still backed up in the cloud.

Recently, Android 7.1 Nougat firmware is currently available on the Google Pixel while the Developer Preview of the OS can be installed on selected devices such as the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Pixel C, among others.

Related
Topics Android 7, Android 7 Update, Android 7.0, Android nougat