After two developer previews, Google has finally released the final Android 8.1 Oreo update along with December Android security patch for compatible Pixel and Nexus devices.
Android 8.1 is a minor maintenance release after the major Android Oreo update and includes Neural Networks API that allows the Pixel 2 phone to take advantage of the Pixel Visual Core SoC. It enhances Google's photo apps to run faster, and will enable third party photography apps to take HDR+ quality images.
Other features Android 8.1 includes are listed below
- Support for Android Oreo (Go edition) software for entry-level smartphones with less than 1GB
RAM
Neural Networks API: Enables hardware-accelerated inference operation on support devices for on-device machine learning frameworks lie TensorFlow, Caffe 2 and others
Autofill enhancements: Password managers and other Autofill service can use Autofill framework
SharedMemory API
Screen burn-in mitigation
Emoji fixes: new hamburger, cheese & beer emoji
December Android security patch
Android 8.1 Oreo is now being rolled out to Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C tablet, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. You can grab the update over-the-air or through flashing the OTA or full factory images.
