Android 7.0 Nougat: 16 tips and tricks

Use Data Saver to block pest apps

Data Saver is one of the most important new features of Android 7.0. It’s not hugely glamorous, but it is a good way to take a bit of control over your device’s battery and data usage while in standby.

What Data Saver does is to let you choose which apps have data access when the screen is off. It’s particularly handy for keeping battery-draining apps like Facebook at bay.
Data Saver is disabled as standard, but you’ll find its switch in Settings > Data Usage > Data Saver. Tap on it and you can choose the apps that have full access when in standby.

You can open two Chrome browser windows at once

Chrome gets its own special version of Multi-Window multitasking. Rather than having to fiddle the system by trying to open up two instances of the same app, you can effectively open another tab in the second half of the screen.
When in Chrome, just hold the square soft key to open up multitasking, then tap the three-pip settings button in the Chrome app. You’ll see an option in the menu called “Move to Other Window”. This is one of the best uses for the new multi-window feature, but there are others too…

Top uses for Multi-Window multi-tasking

The key to Multi-Window is finding out combos that don’t seem totally pointless. Here are a few quick suggestions:

• Compiling your daily to-do list with Evernote on one side and your calendar on the other
• Chatting on Facebook Messenger while reading an article or watching Netflix (unsupported at the time of writing, though)
• Doodling in Infinite Painter while idly watching something on iPlayer
• Live Tweeting The Great British Bake Off, if you must
• Juggling two of those casual mobile games that basically involve tapping stuff every day (support will vary)

How to make apps talk to each other in Multi-Window

The exciting side of on-screen multitasking is that a very small number of apps can currently talk to each other, effectively copy-pasting text without actually using the fiddly copy-and-paste mechanic.
We’ll see this feature start to pop up all over the place as developers can add it to their apps. Right now you can give it a go by opening up Gmail, long-pressing the square soft key, then opening up a second Gmail window. Start composing an email in both windows, type a message in one and you can long-press the text and drag it over to the other window. It’s not all that useful, but it’s a glimpse into the future of multi-tasking.