Google details new Android P features, including iPhone X-like gesture controls

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—Google I/O 2018 has officially kicked off, and with it come more details on the latest version of Android. A public beta for Android P, as it's still known, is out today for those who want to try the software for themselves. The usual caveats with installing unfinished software still apply.

Notably, however, Google has made the beta available on devices beyond the company's own Pixel smartphones. Google says those who own the Essential Phone, Nokia 7 Plus, Sony Xperia XZ2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Vivo X21, Oppo R15 Pro, and the OnePlus 6 (when it comes out) will be able to access the early build alongside those with a Pixel or Pixel 2 phone. Google is crediting its Project Treble update initiative for making this expansion possible.

As for the update itself, the biggest news in Preview 1 was a new design style that was applied to the notification panel, main settings screen, and some system UI bits. Android VP of Engineering Dave Burke recapped a couple of features that had already been announced in that earlier preview, including a simplified volume control widget and the option to change the screen orientation even when you've locked the device in portrait mode.

Perhaps the most immediately noticeable new feature, however, is a new set of gesture controls that trade Android's traditional home and recent apps buttons for a setup similar to what Apple does with its iPhone X. Swiping up from a flatter button at the bottom of the screen will now display a horizontal (not vertical!) list of your recent apps, with icons for five "predicted apps" placed underneath them. Swiping up a second time from there will display the all apps screen, effectively allowing you to access it from anywhere on the phone. You can also slide the home button sideways to start scrolling through recent apps. The icons for those recent apps appear to be larger than before, and Google showed off the ability to highlight text within them. The back button is still there but not as a global key; it instead appears to only show up in certain contexts, such as the new recent apps screen and particular applications.

Beyond that, Burke said Android P will have an "adaptive battery" feature that essentially makes your phone more aggressive about shutting down apps you don't use and prioritizing power for ones you do. An "adaptive brightness" will work similarly to ensure the phone screen's brightness is more appropriately set for your surroundings.

Also new is a feature Google calls "app actions," which will surface shortcuts for frequently used apps within Search, the app launcher, highlighted text options, and other places throughout the UI. The idea is to have Android P predict not only what app you're likely to use, but also what things within certain apps you're most likely to do next. If you use Fandango frequently to order movie tickets, for instance, you'll see quick options to get tickets from that app when you search for a particular movie. Or when you plug in headphones, you might see an action from Spotify to fire up a playlist.

Likewise, a previously discovered "Slices" feature will display small functions of apps within Search. Making a Google search for "Hawaii," for example, could display previews of any relevant photos you have stored in the Google Photos app. Searching for "Lyft," to use another example Google noted, could show you the price and time estimate for a trip to work, then let you order the ride without having to open the Lyft app. Google is pushing features like this as part of a wider focus on "simplicity" in Android P.

Google is also making it a point to list "digital wellbeing" as a pillar of the update, and to that end, the company detailed a new Dashboard app that will break down how much time you've spent in particular apps, how often you've unlocked your phone, and how many notifications you've received, among other items designed to make you more conscious of how glued you are to your phone. The company says developers will be able to break down these stats further within the dashboard; YouTube, for example, will show exactly how much time you've spent watching on desktop and on mobile.

Building on that, Android P will also feature an "app timer" that lets you impose a time limit on how much you want to use a particular app over the course of a day. A notification will pop up when you hit your limit, and the icon of the app itself will be grayed out once you've passed it. (Though you can still use the app afterward if you want.)

Along with that, a new "shush" gesture will make it so the phone automatically goes into Do Not Disturb mode and will thus turn off all pings and vibrations when you flip it on its face. A "starred contacts" feature will allow preferred people in your contacts list to get through if needed, however.

Finally, there's a "wind down" mode aimed at preventing you from falling into a phone-using rabbit hole before going to bed: Google says you can tell the Google Assistant to "set wind down" for a specific time, at which point it will set your phone screen in a grayscale mode and turn on Do Not Disturb until the morning.

Besides the additions to Android, Google used its I/O keynote to detail wider updates to the Google Assistant, Google Maps, Google News, and Gmail, among other things. Android P, meanwhile, has a long way to go until its final release—Google still has three more developer previews planned, with a final consumer build scheduled for Q3 2018.