Android 9.0 “Pie” is rolling out now to Google Pixel and Essential phones

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business
Insider

• Google is rolling out the latest version of the Android
  operating system to Pixel and Essential Phone users.
• This is Android 9.0, dubbed Android “Pie” by
  Google.
• Monday’s update includes only a few of the features
  that Google announced earlier this year. 
• The rest of the features will come in the
  fall.
• It’s unclear when phones that aren’t made by Google or
  Essential will get the update. Google says some will get it in
  the fall — but it’s not yet clear when, exactly, it’ll come to
  Samsung’s popular Android phones.

Google is rolling out the latest version of its Android operating
system —
Android 9.0, officially codenamed “Pie” — on Monday, but only
a few of the headlining features that Google
announced back at Google I/O are included in the
update. 

The version of Android Pie that’s rolling out on Monday includes
Google’s personalization features, powered by artificial
intelligence (AI). Those features include Adaptive
Battery, which uses AI to learns which apps you use at
what time of the day, and prioritizes battery towards those
apps. 

There’s also Adaptive Brightness,
which learns how you adjust your brightness
settings in different lighting situations and automatically
changes the display’s brightness. YouTube/Google

You’ll also find App Actions in there,
which predicts what you’ll want to do based on what you’re doing
on your phone at any given time. If you’re getting ready to
commute, App Actions will suggest navigation with Google Maps, or
perhaps that you start an audiobook. 

There are new swiping gestures in Android Pie, essentially
introducing a whole new way to use Android phones, that are also
included in Monday’s rollout. It’s only an option, and you can
turn it off if you prefer the old fashioned way of navigating
around your Android phone. 

What’s not included in Monday’s Android Pie rollout

In a strange twist, the version of Android Pie that’s rolling out
on Monday won’t include some of the “Digital Wellbeing” features that
Google announced at Google I/O, including a new
Dashboard feature that Google says “helps
you understand how you’re spending time on your device.”

A feature called App Timer, which lets you
set a time limit on specific apps, is also coming out later this
fall. 

Google

And Wind Down is coming in the fall, too.
It’ll switch on the Night Light mode that limits your screen’s
blue light, fade the screen to grayscale (a sort of black and
white), and even turn on Do Not Disturb mode before
bedtime. Do Not Disturb is also getting
smarter, which will mute visual interruptions on your screen in
additional to sounds and vibrations. 

Most of you probably won’t get the update today…unless you have
these three phones

Google’s latest Android update is only rolling out to the
company’s own Pixel smartphones — that is, the original Pixel
phone, as well as the newer Pixel 2. Those with the Essential
Phone are also getting the Android Pie update, according
to Essential, which could make it the first non-Google
smartphone that gets an Android update on day one of the rollout.

It should be noted that both the Pixel 2 and the Essential Phone,
while sporting solid, modern hardware, are also relatively
smaller players in the market for Android devices.

Those with Android phones by companies like Samsung, LG, HTC, and
pretty much any company that’s not Google or Essential aren’t
getting the update on Monday. It’s unclear when those users will
get the update. If the past is anything to go by, it’ll be months
before non-Google smartphone users get the Android Pie update, if
at all. 

Google did say that devices that participated in the Android Beta
program — including Sony, Xiami, HDM (Nokia), Oppo, Vivo, and
OnePlus — will receive the update this fall. 

Still, on day one, Android 9.0 won’t have some of its most-hyped
features, and it may not come to your phone or most others for
months. It’s a little bit of a weird situation.