Android Nougat arrived last week on a select few devices. You might not be getting Android 7.0 for several months, but that doesn’t mean you can’t drool over its features today.
With that in mind, here are our top 5 favorite features in Android 7.0 Nougat:
Use Multi-Window Mode with Any App
Samsung users have had multi-window mode for a while. Now, with Android 7.0 Nougat, multi-window mode is finally available to the rest of Android users.
Many apps are already optimized to work in multi-app split-screen mode. However, you can actually force any app to work in split-screen mode with a little tinkering.
This tip was discovered by our friends at Greenbot.com. Here’s how it works:
Step 1) Enable developer options (Settings > About > Software information > Build Number (tap build number 7 times in a row)
Step 2) Go to the main Settings panel > Developer options (it’s at the bottom of the screen) > Force activities to be resizable
That’s it! All apps will now work with multi-window, split-screen mode. The apps might not always look great – but they’ll certainly work.
Deactivate Do Not Disturb After your Alarm Goes Off
Want your phone to sleep throughout the night – but receive notifications and alerts in the morning? Android 7.0 Nougat makes it easy to turn off do not disturb after your alarm goes off. This is a useful feature if you frequently turn your phone on silent at night and then forget to turn it on during the day.
In any case, Nougat has a feature that lets you automatically disable Do Not Disturb after your alarm rings. Here’s how to access it:
Settings > Sound > Do Not Disturb > Automatic rules
Then, tap to Add rule > Time rule, and give your rule a name.
On the next screen, choose which days you rely on your morning alarm, and then make sure to tap the “Alarm can override end time” option, which you’ll see at the very bottom of your screen. After you’ve selected that, you’re good to go.
Block Numbers Directly from the Dialer App
Is someone harassing you? Do you want to block an annoying friend? Android 7.0 Nougat lets you do that directly from the Dialer app. All you need to do is follow these steps:
Step 1) Open the Dialer app
Step 2) Tap the Menu button
Step 3) Navigate to Settings > Call Blocking
Step 4) Manually enter in any number you wish to block.
Image courtesy of Lifehacker.com
From this same menu, you can also activate a feature called Caller ID & spam. This feature will alert you if an incoming phone number has been associated with scams or spamming.
Better Battery Life
This feature doesn’t even need to be activated. It’s always available on your phone. Android 7.0 Nougat has significantly better battery life than previous versions of Android. That’s because Android has changed the way it handles Doze, its battery optimization tool.
Doze is a neat feature that powers down your battery once it’s detected that your phone is stationary. In Android 6.0 Marshmallow, released last year, Doze only worked when your phone was stationary for a long period of time.
This year’s Doze, however, is much smarter. It will enter low-power-usage mode when it detects itself in your pocket unused, or when you’re moving around and not using your phone. This can lead to dramatic battery life savings of up to 35% in our testing.
Virtual Reality Support
Again, certain Androids have already supported VR (like Samsung’s Gear VR). However, Android 7.0 Nougat now supports VulkanTM and Daydream from the ground up.
Neither VR platform has been released thus far. However, they’re scheduled for release in fall 2016 – and they will vastly expand the usefulness and entertainment of your Android device (in a way that Google Cardboard never could).
What’s your favorite feature on Android 7.0 Nougat?
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