The next major version of Android could help pave the way for new styles of smartphones including those with multiple displays, folding screens, or iPhone X/Essential Phone-style notches in the top of the screen for the camera system.

That’s according to a report from Bloomberg, which cites “people familiar with the situation.”

Of course, you don’t necessarily need a new version of Android to enable those features. The Essential Phone, ZTE Axon M, and other devices already offer notch or dual-display features without explicit support from the operating system. But native support in the OS could make things a lot easier on developers and offer a better experience for users.

Essential Phone

For example, if phone makers don’t need to implement their own code to make sure notifications and other content wrap around a notch, it’s more likely that we’ll see new phones with notch-style design, for better or worse.

Dual-screen phones could also be easier to bring to market if Google provides a standard way to display two apps side-by-side on separate screens or single apps that can span across both displays. The same could go for phones with single, foldable OLED display panels.

Bloomberg says other changes coming in Android P could include battery life improvements and tighter integration with Google Assistant, possibly including Assistant integration with the search bar on the Android home screen and/or support for using Assistant from within third-party apps.

The report also says that Google has sort of settled on what the “P” stands for… at least for now. The company is said to be using the code name “Pistachio Ice Cream” internally. But it’s possible that the official version of Android P will go by another “tasty treat” name when it’s released to the public later this year.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,502 other subscribers

7 replies on “Bloomberg: Android P will embrace the notch, folding display, and other new trends”

  1. Here we go, the notch is the new thing and using it is now a “feature” worth listing in a roadmap.

  2. “Pistachio Ice Cream” is a bit wordy. My guess is “Pudding”. Although, I though about possibly “Pecan Pie” and “Praline”.
    I’m really not a fan of the notch screen. I hope the phones that adopt that concept stay to a minimum.

    1. Yeah, it’s definitely wordy, but that’s likely not a final name. Those internal names often get changed. And there are probably a lot of choices for treats with the letter P, such as your suggestions. I like pecan pie out of those. Popsicle and pound cake also come to mind.

      This whole notch trend mildly annoys me. It’s partly because Apple made the notch part of their special-edition phone, which would have sold well just because it’s a special edition. It makes me wonder how many people actually like the notch. I’m not surprised as trends in the smartphone business are the opposite of what I like(sealed batteries, “bezel-less”, camera notches, cured edges) or are things I don’t care about(dual cameras, fingerprint readers, extra-tall screens). I agree with you and hope this notch thing runs its course and goes away.

  3. “foldable” phones might not only refer to dual screen phones -but also ones like the rumored Samsung Galaxy X which has a foldable screen

Comments are closed.