What Is New In The Android 8.1 Developer Preview 2

Google has recently announced the second developer preview for Android 8.1 to be made available for the compatible nexus and Pixel models. At the end of October, it had released its first developer preview for android 8.1 oreo version. Overall, it was a successful rollout. However, there were some issues with the first preview of Android 8.1, faced by people. Some people have attempted to flash the provided files manually and failed in doing so. These issues were linked with the factory images. Users also found difficulty in accepting OTA(over-the-air) update. Google recognized these issues and tried to solve them in its release for the second developer preview. In December, it is all set to release its official version for the consumers. 

This second preview is compatible with the devices which have installed Android beta program on them. Users who want to flash os version manually, Google has brought system images also. It includes the devices such as Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. 

For developers, Google enables the Pixel Visual Core for the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL devices. It is the company’s  first designed photo co-processor which is an end-result by collaborating with the Intel. Developers can test out HDR+ option on their third-party apps by enabling Pixel Visual Core in developer settings. Fundamentally, it will help to enhance the camera quality of your smartphone when taking pictures with the third-party apps. With this core, users will be able to use the Android Camera default app to capture HDR images.

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This update also includes the Neural Networks API which ties in with the TensorFlow Lite so that the developers can run models such as Inception v3, Smart Reply, and MobileNets. These improved Neural network API will magnify artificial intelligence capabilities for the smartphones.  In the earlier version of Developer preview 1, Nexus 5X used to fail in playing audio and other media through the phone’s speakers. Now this bug has been fixed in the final preview of Android 8.1. 

The November security patch has included  Colors menu to Display settings to deal with the complaints of unsaturated screens. This option is also live in this preview. Many emoji issues have been resolved.How we can forget the issue in Hamburger emoji. Sundar Pichai has promised to fix the emoji of hamburger. In this preview, you will see the right emoji for a hamburger. 

Users who have installed android beta programme will receive the update for DP2 automatically in the forthcoming days. And if you do not have it installed then you can visit the Android beta site to get the update. As per the announcements by Google, it will bring official  Android 8.1 oreo version in December for the consumers.