For readers who are in the Essential Phone beta program, you have a new second beta for Android Oreo rolling out to you today. The new build is version OPM1.170911.213 for those keeping score and brings a handful of new features as well as a significant number of bug fixes from the first beta. The new build is 142MB in size so it is advisable to download it via WiFi.
As for new features, this new build brings some of the standard Oreo features to the PH-1. These include:
- Smart text selection
- Instant apps
- Picture-in-picture
Also, sign-in to apps has been improve as has the overall startup time of the Essential Phone. All of these are positive steps in the evolution of Essential’s Oreo build as it brings more of the standard features of Oreo to the device.
Perhaps the bigger news is the significant number of bug fixes and refinements from the first beta that are found in this 2nd beta. This is a long list which isn’t a bad thing, especially for testers who ran into one of these bugs. Fixes include:
- Android Auto and OEM Bluetooth car kit interoperability
- Data tracking issues for some carriers here in the United States
- UI fix that fixed part of Google Assistant setup due to the status bar
- Improvements in battery life
- LED Notifications
- Improved charging behavior
- Further support for Treble
If you are in the Essential Phone beta program, this new build will come to you via an OTA update over the course of the next few days. Given the amount of changes that are happening in this build and that several new features were enabled, I suspect there will be at least a 3rd beta at some point in early 2018.
