The time of a new Android operating system is now upon us, with the venerable Android 8 (aka Oreo) setting in the west and the sparkling, new Android 9 (aka Pie) rising in the east.
This latest iteration of the world's most popular mobile operating system tackles screen addiction and reimagines how we interact with Android with new gestures.
It also refreshes the look and feel of Android to be more Google-like.
Android 9.0 is an Editors' Choice, along with Apple's iOS 12.
Apples and Androids
The full name of Android 9.0 was revealed on Aug.
6, 2018, ignoring Persimmon and Popsicle and going with the gooey and delicious Pie.
Keep in mind that, depending on your device, it may be some time before it's available for you.
If you have an older device, you may not get it at all.
Google's Pixel devices are the first in line, with a handful of partners lined up for early rollout.
Reviewing operating systems can sometimes feel like trying to write a review about the sky or the ocean.
They are so large, encompassing so many features, that even trying to sum them up is a daunting experience.
Yet at the same time they're invisible, the stage on which the rest of the digital experience plays out.
In the case of mobile operating systems, it's even stranger, since consumers don't really have a choice.
You either buy an iPhone with iOS or another phone with Android.
You can't run iOS on a Samsung phone.
While it's easy to say that Apple is the closed-and-pretty-one and Android is the open-and-messy-one, that's also enormously reductive.
Both Google and Apple are designing for human users and, as such, use a lot of the same tools and tactics in their mobile operating systems.
In fact, if you read the comments of any review of either OS, you'll find fans pointing out the extent to which each "copies" from the other.
Still, I find it useful to compare the two occasionally, since they highlight different approaches to the same issues.
This year, Google and Apple both tackled the problem of people spending too much time on their phones.
Apple, I believe, delivered the more comprehensive solution by targetting groups of apps, while Google has a more fine-grained approach.
Apple also introduced an incredibly powerful tool with its Shortcuts app, which allows determined users to create little scripts to automate activities on their iPhones and iPads.
It's mindblowing on iOS, but Google has relied on developers to create tools like Tasker to fill that niche.
Apple pushed hard on AR features, which, strangely, were mostly absent from Google with Android 9.0.
With Android Pie, Google quietly delivers an overhaul of Android's visual design, along with some truly wonderful quality of life improvements.
It's not a dramatic change, but it will make your phone feel fresh, new, and more functional.
Apple still, however, succeeds enormously in delivering updates to users.
It's sobering to see Google's own statistics on OS adoption, which reflect the fact that, despite enormous strides with the operating system, getting the upgrade to users is still a challenge.
As of late October of 2018, only 7.5 percent of Android users were on the latest version of the OS, 8.1 Oreo, with only 14.0 percent using its predecessor, 8.0.
The other 78.5 percent of users were on older versions, some as far back as version 2.3.3.
Pixel owners, who get their phones and software directly from Google, tend to have higher rates of adoption, however.
The graphic below shows very similar figures from May 2018.
Ps and Qs
In the time since the release of Android P, Google has prepared for the release of the next version of its mobile OS.
Android 10.0, codenamed Q (for now), is currently in a public beta—but only for Google Pixel phones and select other devices.
Android Q is focused on privacy and security, bringing in a slew of improvements to how your location information is handled and what information apps can glean from your activities.
Perhaps more noticeably, Android Q introduces a Dark Theme and new gesture controls.
If you have a supported device, you can join in the beta or sit back and wait (and hope) that your phone will receive the final release.
The Look of Android
For years, I felt like little thought was given to the actual look of the Android OS.
I presumed this was because Google felt like it was making the foundation that phone manufacturers and others would build upon.
That seemed to change with the last generation of Nexus devices, which felt decidedly more unique and more consumer-focused.
The Pixel devices (and the Pixel Launcher) cemented this idea: there's now a unique look to Android.
The latest twist in this tale of aesthetics is that Google is pushing out a unified look to more and more of its properties, from Android to Gmail.
The bigger, more rounded look seen in Google Drive and others is seeping into Android.
The Notifications pull-down pane has distinct, white cards with rounded corners that feel much more substantial than the previous design.
There's also a setting for a Light or Dark theme in Android now, which recolors these cards as either black or white.
You can also opt for Android to choose which theme to use based on your background image.
Some of these new design elements are best seen in the Settings app.
The larger search fields and suggestions at the top of the app are far more inviting, and the bolder icon colors more eye-catching.
It feels much cleaner, and more like a cohesive statement that is distinctively Google.
A final thought on aesthetics.
Google seems to be consciously shifting attention away from Android and toward Google itself.
Case in point: When I reboot my Pixel, it doesn't say Android in bright letters anymore.
It says Google with the words "powered by Android" in smaller letters at the bottom.
Using Android is now, really, the experience of using Google on your phone.
That doesn't necessarily mean that Android's days are numbered.
But it is significant that Google has spent much more time talking up its new flavor of Chrome OS.
It's not insignificant that the Pixel Slate, in many ways the successor to the Pixel C Android tablet, runs Chrome OS.
It's clear that something is shifting with Google and that the future of Android and Chrome OS are in flux.
Tackling Screen Addiction
2018 saw mounting concern about screen addiction; the social and health consequences that come from staring at screens all day.
At Google I/O 2018, this topic received a lot of time.
Google even offered an antidote to Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) with the Joy of Missing Out (JOMO).
To that end, Android Pie includes a series of powerful new Digital Wellbeing tools to give users more insight into how they use their phones and hopefully curb their usage.
The idea of Google trying to get customers to use their phones less might, at first, seem laughable or even disingenuous.
After all, the company presumably wants as many people using Android apps and Google services as often as possible.
But there seems to be an unspoken fear at both Google and Apple that if consumers get fatigued by the modern smartphone experience, or overly concerned about screen addiction, they might stop using their phones altogether.
Better, perhaps, to encourage healthier and sustainable long-term usage.
Digital Wellbeing did not initially ship with Android Pie, and was previously available only as a special beta app from the Play Store.
That changed in November 2018, and now Digital Wellbeing proudly appears in the Settings menu.
At the center of the Digital Wellbeing effort is a circular chart breaking down of how much time you spend on your phone and in which apps that time was spent.
Stats for the number of unlocks and notifications are less useful, but the former does drive home to me how many times I look pointlessly at my phone and do nothing.
Note that you can opt-out of usage statistics by tapping the Overflow menu (aka Three Dot or Hamburger menu) in the upper corner.
Fine-grained information about time spent in apps, unlocks, and notifications is in the Dashboard section.
This shows a day-by-day breakdown over the course of a week.
You can swipe backwards to see historical information, too.
A list of apps at the bottom can be ordered a few ways, such as the apps you use the most or sent the apps that produced the most notifications, with the invitation to set a timer for those apps.
Once set, the timer temporarily locks you out of the app when it expires.
You can also tap each app to see even more usage stats, adjust timers, and even change the app's notification settings.
I really like how Google handles app timers, but I'm annoyed that it's not presented as a discreet function.
I'd rather there be a clearly labeled option for all app timers, as Apple provides, rather than having to click through graphs.
The current arrangement is simply not intuitive.
Digital Wellbeing also sports a customizable Do Not Disturb function.
Apple also overhauled Do Not Disturb, which effectively mutes notifications and sounds for set periods of time.
Apple also added a geofence option, to end Do Not Disturb after you leave a certain geographic area.
Google doesn't look at notifications for its Do Not Disturb, but does give you more controls over how it behaves.
You can adjust what apps can disturb you, and how they do it.
It's remarkably flexible.
One feature I particularly like is Wind Down.
Set a time range for when you want to use your phone less, and your device will fade to black and white during that interval.
It's a powerful visual cue, reminding you to take a break.
It also guts the strongest and most alluring part of smartphones: the lush colors and dopamine squirt-inducing visuals.
One interesting note: screenshots taken when in Wind Down mode are still in color.
I've used Wind Down for some time, in addition to the Night Light feature that tints my screen amber at night and supposedly helps me sleep by filtering out blue light.
I have found that both are excellent visual reminders for me to take a break, but Wind Down had an unexpected side effect: many features of my phone are unusable in black and white.
It's almost impossible to play many Android games without the assistance of color.
It certainly succeeds in making me put down my phone, but I'm just as likely to simply switch off Wind Down out of frustration.
Developers should take this as a hint that perhaps their apps should take into account the experience of people with color blindness.
Apple also has taken aim at screen addiction in iOS 12.
It's interesting to see what while both tackle the problem differently, they're clearly using similar features to achieve similar goals.
iOS 12, for example, greys out individual app icons instead of your whole screen, and, like Android, gives you an easy opt-out if you really need to use an app.
These tools are a bit more striking on iPhone if only because there has been no way to get this kind of control over the device before, whereas Android has enjoyed a wide variety of parental control solutions for years.
That said, I think the Wind Down feature has more impact than Apple's approach.
Where iOS succeeds is in delivering data about app usage and setting limits.
With Apple devices, you can sync your usage stats between all devices for a more complete picture of your app habits.
Apple also focuses on setting limits for categories of apps, and then making exceptions (either long or short term) later on.
Android, on the other hand, encourages you to set limits on specific apps.
The process of setting those limits just felt overly fiddly on Android, while it took seconds on iOS.
Apple also tied parental control features into its Screen Time controls.
Parents can not only limit how long their kids spend on certain apps, they can also restrict certain content and even prevent their kids from changing some important Settings.
It's remarkably powerful for iOS.
Android Pie doesn't have much to offer on this front.
You can still create multiple users, but setting limitations on specific apps and services is probably best left to stand-alone parental control services.
Google has a strong first effort with its Digital Wellbeing, but so does Apple.
What Google needs to do now is continue to improve and iterate on Digital Wellbeing, and not simply move on to something new with the next update.
The Top of the Screen
App notifications and the Android menu bar are likely the main ways people engage with their devices.
Notifications show us what's happening and give us the opportunity to take actions.
The menu bar has critical device information like battery level and the current time.
Android Pie carefully tweaks both of these areas, giving consumers a quality-of-life boost.
Although it is a very small change, Android Pie moves the current time from the far right corner of the screen to the far left.
I actually like this move since it helps tidy up the top of the phone, but it's mostly there because of the notched-phone fad that we're all suffering through.
Oh yes, Android Pie absolutely supports notched devices, as can clearly be seen with the new Pixel 3 XL.
With Android Pie, notifications support media, like images sent as attachments.
You'll also be able to see the avatar of the person messaging you, which makes the notification experience far more complete.
Similarly, Android Pie has AI-generated canned responses, like those seen in Gmail.
They're particularly handy for sending quick, rote responses, but I haven't yet seen them outside of Google apps.
All of these improvements are about seeing more relevant information in notifications and having more options available to respond.
That leads directly to the improvement I'm most excited about: drafts.
I am a verbose person by nature, and rarely fire back a short response to a text.
I'm the kind of person who tries to type out the entire text of Beowulf in the notification's one-line text field.
I am a monster.
That means I am also the kind of person who screams in agony when I accidentally tap out of the notification and lose everything I just typed.
Thankfully, Android Pie includes a draft function that will automatically save what you wrote in the notification reply field as a draft.
Huzzah!
While I'm interested to see the changes coming to notifications in Pie, I am a not convinced the full potential of these changes will actually be realized.
The major push in the previous version of Android was reworking notifications to give...
