Sony is gearing up to push Android 7.0 Nougat beta to select Xperia handsets by the end of 2016. Even though the Xperia beta program is certainly not new, the company is reportedly pushing the update to Xperia X Performance phone, to begin with. Previously, Sony had tested Android Marshmallow in several phones.
According to sources, the Android 7.0 Nougat beta update will be limited when compared with the previous releases of Android platform. Hence, Sony is pushing an update to Android 7.0 beta to only Xperia X Performance in few select regions. You can expect widespread availability of the update by the end of 2016 or early 2017.
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Android 7.0 beta update available only to few people
There is also a possibility for Sony to push the update only to few people in a specific region. The testing will happen only among the select group of customers. The OTA update will be available only to specific people during the entire testing period.
If you already received the update, you should note that it also ships with the October 1 security patch. Hence, the latest update not only features Android platform update but also fixes to security.
Sony Android 7.0 Nougat features
Based on the reports from users, Sony has included a wide range of Xperia-specific changes with Android 7.0. This includes integration of STAMINA mode, manual shutter speed for the camera, including manual ISO adjustment for the camera. Moreover, the beta release also provides support for split-screen apps and tweaks to the notification shade.
As of writing this, only select phones ships with Android Nougat. While Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL ships with Android 7.1 Nougat update, the Android 7 has been pushed to Nexus phones. In future, we can expect companies like Xiaomi and LeEco to push Android 7.1 update.
Even though the Android 7.0 Nougat update is not the final version, Sony has been pushing it to phones which are part of the beta program. This will help users to experience the features before the availability of a stable and final build.