Last month, the team behind the Essential Phone took part in a Reddit AMA to answer questions about the new flagship device. Now they’ve returned to Reddit to field even more questions from Essential Phone owners.
Essential says that it’s now in the “early stages” of testing the Essential Phone’s Android Oreo update. The company plans to offer an open beta for Oreo in a few weeks.
One of the notable features of that update will be Night Mode, which will make using the Essential Phone in the dark easier on your eyes.
Essential says that it’s also working on enabling fingerprint reader gestures, which should let you perform actions by swiping on the Essential Phone’s rear fingerprint reader. This feature is coming sooner than Oreo, though, with Essential saying that it’s aiming to include fingerprint reader gestures in the next OTA update.
Also touched on in today’s AMA was the touchscreen jitteriness that some Essential Phone owners are experiencing. Essential is testing a fix internally, and the employee posting on Reddit says that they say the fix in action yesterday and that the difference “is night and day.” The plan is to get this fix in one of the upcoming OTA updates that’ll arrive in the next few weeks.
Essential touched on the other Essential Phone color options and their availability, too. Units of the Pure White Essential Phone are already built, says Essential, but the holiday in China means that customs are backed up and delaying the devices. The company says to expect more news soon.
There are also Stellar Grey and Ocean Depths versions of the Essential Phone in the works, but it sounds like those two models are a bit further out. Essential would only say that those versions are currently “under development.”
Essential says that it’s going to hold bi-weekly AMAs on Reddit. It’s pretty great to see a smartphone manufacturer promising to regularly interact with consumers and answer their questions, and the move could help to make some folks fans of Essential and perhaps move a few more Essential Phones.
To read the the entirety of this latest Essential AMA, hit the link below.
