What’s in Android 7.1
Night Light: Cuts down on blue light emitted by your display late at night. Which is easier on your eyes and won’t mess up your melatonin production, keeping you up late.
Touch/display performance improvements: This is one of the reasons an iPhone feels faster than typical Android phones. Android wants to fix this through dark magic that accelerates how responsive the touchscreen is to your finger.
Seamless A/B system updates: This should eliminate the need to hit the update button and wait for an install. Android updates will come in the background automatically. Install on your phone when it’s not in use.
Daydream VR: Phones that support the Daydream Ready spec requirements will work with the new VR headsets, the first of which was Google’s Daydream View.
Fingerprint swipe: You’ll be able to check your notifications with a quick downward swipe on the fingerprint sensor.
Developer features: The following are targeted at developers, giving them access to many of the feature design changes we saw in the Pixel update to Android.
- As for app shortcuts (these are already present in Action Launcher 3) shortcut manager
- Circular app icons support
- Keyboard image insertion
- Fingerprint sensor gesture support
- Manual storage manager Intent for apps
- Improved VR thread scheduling
- Enhanced wallpaper metadata
- Multi-endpoint call support
- Support for various MNO requirements
- DMA voice privacy property
- Source type support for Visual Voicemail
- Carrier configuration options for managing video telephony
- A storage manager allows developers to identify app files that are using device storage.
Not in Android 7.1, Pixel Exclusive
Pixel Launcher: This will remain exclusive to the Pixel, unlike the Now Launcher. You swipe up to the app drawer. Which offers a search box for finding apps.
Assistant: On the Pixel, this is launched with a long home button press. You’ll have to try it out inside a messaging app to check it out now.
Photos: Pixel owners get unlimited, original-quality backups of all pictures and videos.
Smart Storage: When your phone runs low, it automatically removes the original version of saved photos and videos.
Support: The Pixel will come with 24/7 support, including a screen share feature accessible through the support tab in the settings.
Quick switch adapter: A wired setup to transfer contacts, photos, and messages even from iMessage! from your current phone to a Pixel.
Aesthetic changes: A new calendar date icon, a pull-out pill to launch a search, and new wallpapers. Maybe some new lock screen animation, too.
Camera features: The list of software enhancements to the Pixel camera:
- Electronic Image Stabilization video stabilization 2.0
- Lite Balance Presets
- Exposure Compensation
- AE/AF checking
- Viewfinder grid modes
- Hardware accelerated on Qualcomm Hexagon coprocessor HDR+ image processing
- Smart burst
- Sensor Hub processor with tightly integrated sensors accel, gyro, mag + connectivity to Wi-Fi, Cell, and GPS.