Android O Developer Preview Available – Stability, Notifications and Supported Apps

Just over a week ago, the tech giant Google has announced the upcoming major Android update. Approaching a different look on notifications, Settings menu, better Bluetooth audio and many other improvements, Android O is beginning to look promising. If you’re excited about this brief description, then you have to know that you can test out the preview on the spot! Together with the announcement regarding the update, Google also offered the first developer preview of the Android O.

However, keep in mind the fact that it’s called a developer preview, and it doesn’t have this name for nothing. Google made it clear in their announcement that the first preview addresses developers exclusively, so it is not intended for a consumer use. You won’t even find it in the Android Beta Program yet, so you have to flash the image manually if you want to try it.

But should you really do it?

One of the main disadvantages is the fact that it’s really unstable. It’s nothing surprising here, given the fact that it’s the first preview, but that doesn’t make its erratic behavior more pleasant. For example, many apps are not supported on it yet, and those who are behave quite odd. Lock screen notifications also don’t show up reliably and there are lots of other background changes that are not fixed in place as they should for now.

However, one of the best things about it is the fact that it lets you add extra soft keys to the navigation bar. This is really useful since you can now navigate through a text without struggling to place the cursor between two letters. All in all, if you’re interested in it, then you should totally try it, but be careful with it and don’t test it on a phone you actually need.