
Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat - raptaml
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2016/08/taking-final-wrapper-off-of-nougat.html
======
ymse
Just a shout-out to the fine folks over at CopperheadOS[0]who have been doing
a lot of behind-the-scenes hardening in Android over the last year[1].

If you have a Nexus device and don't care much for the Play Store applications
(F-Droid is included) give it a go for a true AOSP experience.

The only apps I'm really missing are Tasker and Signal, but I have a second
phone for those.

0: [https://copperhead.co/android/](https://copperhead.co/android/)

1:
[https://copperhead.co/android/docs/technical_overview](https://copperhead.co/android/docs/technical_overview)

~~~
koevet
Can't you install the Signal apk directly, from apkmirror[0] ?

0: [http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/open-whisper-systems/signal-
pri...](http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/open-whisper-systems/signal-private-
messenger/signal-private-messenger-3-3-0-release/signal-private-
messenger-3-3-0-android-apk-download/)

~~~
hackuser
Re: APKMirror: I have the same questions I have about all APK proxy services -
which claim to pull the APKs directly form the Play Store - why would I trust
it to provide software that isn't infected with malware?

Other than APK Downloader, I haven't found another credible source among the
very many options. Any solutions would be appreciated.

\----

[0] APK Downloader, for those interested ... I'd start with the original, but
the others might suit your needs:

* redphoenix89's original here: [http://codekiem.com/2014/08/07/official-apk-downloader-v2-do...](http://codekiem.com/2014/08/07/official-apk-downloader-v2-download-apk-files-from-google-play-store-to-pc/) and here: [http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1515021](http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1515021)

* Bexton's updated Chrome extension, based on v1.21: [http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1809458](http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1809458)

* Lekensteyn updated Chrome extension, based on v1.3.4 of Bexton's: [https://lekensteyn.nl/apk-downloader/](https://lekensteyn.nl/apk-downloader/) and [https://github.com/Lekensteyn/apk-downloader](https://github.com/Lekensteyn/apk-downloader)

~~~
chickenbane
You are fine using apkmirror to grab an update you haven't yet received from
the Play Store. When you install the apk, Android knows you are updating an
app, verifies the signature, and ensures it came from the same developer.

Android is sane: it won't let you downgrade, further updates from the store
will work correctly, etc. Since apkmirror usually get their apks from the Play
Store, you'll be okay if you know what you are doing.

That said, your skeptical attitude is very appropriate. Installing apks from
outside of the Play Store is by far the biggest vector for malware. Users that
only install from the Play Store are currently safe (less than 0.15% of those
users get malware).

~~~
hackuser
> You are fine using apkmirror to grab an update you haven't yet received from
> the Play Store. When you install the apk, Android knows you are updating an
> app, verifies the signature, and ensures it came from the same developer.

Great point; thanks.

> apkmirror usually get their apks from the Play Store

How do you know this? I've read reports of other Play Store proxies who
injected malware.

> your skeptical attitude is very appropriate. Installing apks from outside of
> the Play Store is by far the biggest vector for malware

I was talking about APK proxy services, which claimed to pull the APKs from
Google Play Store. For app stores, there are other generally reputable
sources, such as,

* F-Droid, which focuses on free/open source software and user privacy. It has an excellent reputation and builds every app from source.

* Aptoide: Large commercial market, claims to screen apps for malware

* SlideME: At least at one time, reputedly focused on small, indie devs.

* GetJar: "The worlds biggest Open App Store", Started "by developers for developers"

------
primo44
No Android 7 on my Nexus 5 might just be what pushes me to iOS. I've gone from
being an Android evangelist to being an Android apologist ("Yeah, battery life
sucks. Google has failed to fix it after X years") to now being, frankly,
pissed off that my expensive phone is going to be left behind.

~~~
benzor
FWIW, I've deliberately kept my Nexus 5 on Android 4.4.4 and it runs as well
as the first day I bought it 2.5 years ago. Multi-day battery life, no
compatibility issues (because no OS updates), all the latest apps still run on
it, etc. Not to mention it was an affordable phone even when it was brand new.
Very happy with it overall; I can easily see it lasting me another few years.

~~~
tdkl
Classic "don't fix it if it ain't broken". How have you manage to disable the
System update annoyance ?

Shitty Lollipop made me sell the Nexus 5 last year with its bad battery life
and memory leak (and they still didn't fix the mobile radio wakelock), but
when downgrading to 4.4 it was next to impossible to block the notification. I
remember methods used at time just caused the Google Play Services to hold the
wakelock, since the update checker became a part of it.

~~~
infinityplus1
Press and hold the notification, select App Info, disable notifications. That
has worked for me very well.

~~~
tdkl
On the Nexus? I remember that checkmark being disabled for the update
notification.

------
jacquesc
Using the beta for the last couple weeks (easy to install on nexus via
android.com/beta), I really like the notification improvements in 7.0. They
are grouped by app now, which makes things easier to navigate, and the new
clean styling of the notification content makes it more pleasant to read.

------
velox_io
1171.5MB for the download alone!

It is a shame about the Nexus5 not getting the update, it's still a pretty
decent phone and not slow by any means.

I broke the screen on my Nexus5 recently so I brought a Nexus6, so far the
battery seems to be worse than the N5 (I miss the wireless charging), so I'm
looking forward to the battery improvements!

Edit: The split screen is a great feature, and not finicky at all. Being able
to play videos in the background is going to be one of those features that you
cannot live without (OK, it's a first world problem).

------
qznc
Personally, I don't care for any [0] of the new features. This is the greatest
feature, because it means Android is mature now.

[0] Sure, better performance is always nice, but I don't care for Vulkan, VR
Mode, or Multi-Window.

~~~
int_19h
There is one awesome new feature that is not mentioned on most "best new
features" list: built-in night mode (blue light filter). Works much better
than similar apps from the store - those work by placing a translucent overlay
window on top of everything else, which gives everything (including black!) a
reddish hue. The new built-in filter, on the other hand, just removes blue,
and blacks remain black.

~~~
thirtyseven
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that this made it into the final version of
N. I can't find it anywhere in the settings anyway.

~~~
int_19h
So apparently what happened is that they left the code in, but removed the
switch in System UI Turner. So those who were in the beta program, installed
preview builds, and enabled the feature, still have it enabled after upgrading
to 7.0 final. But if you didn't have it enabled before, there's no way to do
so out of the box.

However, there's a third party app that provides access to the switch (seems
to not work for some people, or require several tries - YMMV):
[http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/enable-hidden-night-
mo...](http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/enable-hidden-night-mode-setting-
android-7-0-nougat-0173311/)

------
frik
Global Smartphone Marketshare Q2/2016

    
    
      Android    ...  86.2
      iOS        ...  12.9
      Windows    ...   0.6
      Blackberry ...   0.1
      Other      ...   0.2
    

[http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3415117](http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3415117)

------
SadWebDeveloper
No nexus 5 (not 5x) OTA Update ='(

~~~
magila
Not really surprising given the device's age, but still disappointing given
the presumably rather large number of Nexus 5 still in use.

The bigger story may be the inability to come up with a compelling reason for
N5 users to upgrade, other than getting the latest OS revision. The N5's
compactness in particular makes the 5X (and the impending successor, codenamed
"Sailfish") a tough sell.

~~~
wlesieutre
> Not really surprising given the device's age

Nexus 5 released late 2013, last major OS update in late 2015. Compare to the
iPhone 4S, which came out late 2011 and still got iOS 9 (4 years later).

Really not buying the "two years is plenty of updates" excuse, especially from
the Nexus line.

~~~
datguacdoh
Not entirely fair comparison since the 4S didn't get every feature; it was a
paired down version. AFAIK, Google doesn't cherrypick features for older
hardware - it's all our nothing. Also, the 4S ran terribly on ios9, to the
point that two of my friends with 4S's just gave in and bought new iphones
instead.

~~~
threeseed
Comments like this are ridiculous. It wasn't a pared down operating system by
any definition. Features just weren't available if you didn't have the
requisite hardware.

~~~
datguacdoh
Not everything was hardware related, or at least not obviously hardware
related. My friends both really wanted public transit directions in maps and
airdrop but neither feature shipped on the 4S. I also seem to remember that
predictive Siri (Google Now-ish competitor, don't remember what they called
that) didn't make it to the 4S.

So I do commend apple for getting updates to that device for 4 years, but at
least in their experience, it made the phone worse and didn't bring all the
features that they wanted.

~~~
mbell
> My friends both really wanted public transit directions in maps and airdrop
> but neither feature shipped on the 4S. I also seem to remember that
> predictive Siri (Google Now-ish competitor, don't remember what they called
> that) didn't make it to the 4S.

As I recall all those features were built only for 64bit CPUs which the
4s/mini didn't have.

~~~
datguacdoh
Oh I never heard that before, interesting and thanks. Well, at least I did say
it wasn't "obviously hardware" ;)

------
cpprototypes
Does anyone know how strict is the Google two year update policy for Nexus?
It's clear they won't do major releases (such as Android 7.0) for old phones.
However, what about critical security updates? For example, if something as
bad as Stagefright was discovered, would Google do nothing for all the older
Nexus phones out there? Or would something like that be a special exception to
the rule?

~~~
srathi
Security updates are provided for 3 years. [0]

[0] [https://android.googleblog.com/2015/08/an-update-to-nexus-
de...](https://android.googleblog.com/2015/08/an-update-to-nexus-devices.html)

~~~
kartickv
That's from the date of initial introduction. The relevant number is 18 months
from the date you bought it.

------
dang
Also
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12337538](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12337538)
and
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12338381](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12338381).
If there's a clearly better URL, we can consider swapping the current one out.

------
UncleChis
Did I read it right: Nexus Player is in the list of OTA update? I thought the
device is dead? Anyone has a link of Nougat for Android TV?

~~~
Navarr
I've been running the beta - which is a terrible idea on a day-to-day Nexus
Player. It does not prompt you for updates - it just updates. This is fine if
you're on a stable channel. This is not great when it's your primary
entertainment resource on a beta channel.

However, it's pretty nice? I know it has some added features but it doesn't
really feel much different in 7 than it did in 6. I haven't had a chance to
use PiP or anything like that.

~~~
ndesaulniers
A lot of love went into player for N. It's in better shape than in M.

~~~
chambo622
This makes me want to buy one to replace my ADT-1...which is not easy to do
these days.

I sure hope there is a future for standalone Android TV boxes that aren't as
expensive and large as the Shield.

------
roschdal
Is there a way to force update to Android 7 on Nexus 6P now?

~~~
demetris
I read that the following works:

1\. Sign up for the Android beta programme: g.co/androidbeta

2\. Enroll your Nexus

3\. Unenroll after you have been updated to Android 7

Make sure you are actually on Android 7 before unenrolling. Going out of a
regular beta will wipe your phone!

Cheers

Edit: Copy/Paste sandGorgon’s warning from below.

~~~
sandGorgon
This just worked for me.

Warning : make sure you are actually on Android 7 before unenrolling. Going
out of a regular beta will wipe your phone.

------
ashitlerferad
Why was it wrapped in the first place? Why can't Google do development in the
open?

~~~
ivoras
It's called the Osborne effect:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect)

------
PaulHoule
Some of those screenshots make my eyes bleed, particularly the one with the
multiple-windows with one of the windows having the painful app selector that
pretends to be a window selector.

When will we see Android 7 on a third party device?

~~~
andrewmlevy
We just analyzed Android manufacturers [1] and found they tend to update in
two groups: 3 months after release (Motorola, LG, HTC) and 6 months after
release (Samsung, Sony, Huawei). This of course ignores Nexus devices by those
manufacturers.

[1] [https://www.apteligent.com/2016/08/apteligent-data-report-
an...](https://www.apteligent.com/2016/08/apteligent-data-report-android-
manufacturer-edition/)

~~~
robocat
However beware of following the advice given...

If a higher percentage of Samsung devices are updated (graph keeps going up),
then that would imply you were more likely to get an update.

The graph currently emphasises the first mover speed (which is affected by
carriers, not just manufacturers).

------
therealmarv
Why did they removed the color correction slider from dev previews? My Nexus
5X has a light yellow tint and the cool color switch is way too cool. Three
sliders for RGB would be ideal. Now I still need to flash custom kernels to
adjust RGB :|

------
msoucy
Meanwhile many phones (especially vendor-locked ones like the Droid Turbo...)
are still stuck on Lollipop.

~~~
igravious
According† to
[https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html](https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html)

    
    
        The recent Marshmallow has 15.2% market share
    
        Lollipop (14.1% + 21.4%) = 35.5% (the greatest share)
    
        KitKat has 29.2% (the next greatest share)
    
        Jelly Bean† still has (6.0% + 8.3% + 2.4%) = 16.7%
    

Earlier than Jelly Bean is 3.4% of the total share. Jelly Bean was first
unveiled in June 2012, four years ago. I think given the development model:
large ecosystem of hardware companies, alternative software stacks like Kindle
and Cyanogen, a good chunk of it being open-source; given all that I'll
forgive Google that we all can't upgrade to Nougat on the day of its release.

As a techie you have to know by now that if you want an up to date version of
Android you ought to get a Nexus or a brand which has guaranteed frequent into
the future updates. There's not much point in claiming that you're "stuck" at
this point.

† _Data collected during a 7-day period ending on August 1, 2016._

~~~
robocat
> As a techie you have to know by now that if you want an up to date version
> of Android you ought to get a Nexus

Not true. I have bought: Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, Nexus 5. Two of
those were as expensive as iOS devices. None of them can get the N update (yes
I could use Cyanogenmod but I prefer production versions of software for
testing). We have our own app for Android phones and it is a pain to test
(simulating touch with a mouse is not good). Other Android devices purchased
for testing are no better...

Meanwhile the work iPhone 4 made it to iOS 7, the iPad 2 made it as far as iOS
9, and our other test devices are _still_ getting updates to iOS 10.

I feel that Nexus devices stop getting updates quickly. The non-nexus Androids
are way worse.

 _Don 't_ buy an Android if you want a device to stay secure more than say two
years (coming from somebody who loves Android!).

------
0134340
Works well on my Nexus Player and happy to see Google is still supporting it.

~~~
ndesaulniers
Fugu got a lot of polish for N.

------
digi_owl
Looking forward to see AOSP reach Android-x86.

------
Ologn
> _Multi-Window support_ lets users run two apps at the same time

(click the Multi-Window support link)

> If your app targets API level 23 or lower and the user attempts to use the
> app in multi-window mode, the system forcibly resizes the app unless the app
> declares a fixed orientation.

> If your app does not declare a fixed orientation, you should launch your app
> on a device running Android 7.0 or higher and attempt to put the app in
> split-screen mode. Verify that the user experience is acceptable when the
> app is forcibly resized.

Great, more nonsense being shoved down Android developer's throats. They still
claim that newer versions and new features are not breaking their API - if
this is the case, why would an app on Google Play from a year ago need the
developer to "verify that the user experience is acceptable" just because they
published a new version with a new feature?

It's been almost nine years since Android released its initial SDK and they're
still playing cowboy stuff like this. This feature should be turned on for
apps targeting Nougat or later, you shouldn't make every Android developer
check every app ever made because three people on the Android developer team
made a new feature and can't wait for its use to become more widespread, so
they turn it on by default for legacy (pre-Nougat targeted) apps.

~~~
GrinningFool
My uninformed guess would say that a sampling of a significant number of apps
showed that they rendered fine, and they deemed it worth the trade-off that
some may not.

The logic probably went along the lines of: it's better for the user to have
this feature that works with X% of what they already have installed than to
force them to wait for the developers of each and every app to decide if/when
they want to get around to updating.

~~~
Ologn
> a sampling of a significant number of apps showed that they rendered fine

The problem is they break the API all the time, and this leaves Google Play
strewn with broken apps. This may break 1% of apps, the next release breaks
another 1%, after 10 releases, 10% of the apps not updated are broken.

Here's an example, I go to Google Play and search for "ringtone maker" (
[https://play.google.com/store/search?q=ringtone%20maker](https://play.google.com/store/search?q=ringtone%20maker)
). The #3 result for me (which can vary by location) is
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.anbu.ringt...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.anbu.ringtonemaker)
. So I download the app, click the microphone, say something, hit stop and -
"java.io.IOException: Unknown file format".

This is their 3rd result for ringtone maker, has over 5 million downloads and
yet their record feature is broken. It used to work but Google changed the
API. You can look at the app source code (
[https://github.com/malizadehq/ringdroid](https://github.com/malizadehq/ringdroid)
) to see where this app broke if you want. This is just one example which
comes to mind, I can think of many.

They claim they don't break the API going forward but they do all the time.

~~~
Oletros
How is the split screen breaking the API when the app works like ever has
worked in the main screen?

~~~
Ologn
> the app works like ever has worked in the main screen

If the app always works like it ever has worked in the main screen, why do
they say:

> If your app does not declare a fixed orientation, you should launch your app
> on a device running Android 7.0 or higher and attempt to put the app in
> split-screen mode. Verify that the user experience is acceptable when the
> app is forcibly resized.

~~~
Oletros
To check if it is displayed fine in a split screen, nothing mire

