While Nexus users got to have a taste of Android 7.1 through the developer preview released yesterday, it was made clear that not all the features from the Pixel phone would make its way to the Nexus devices. Even so, Nexus users were hoping at least the Night Light and finger print gestures would be an exception. Google representative Ian Lake has clarified that that won’t be the case, shattering those hopes.
For the unaware, the Night Light feature (previously known as just Night Mode) reduces the blue light emitted from your screen for more comfortable usage at night. The fingerprint gestures on the other hand enables the notification shade to be pulled down with the fingerprint sensor, much like on Huawei devices. A neat feature for larger phones that normally require a stretch to pull down the notification shade.
Apparently, the Night Light feature uses a new hardware composer interface to alter the color on displays, instead of using a GL Shader. This spells bad news for Nexus users as their devices simply don’t have the drivers for the job. As for the fingerprint gestures, hardware is apparently the limiting factor for the lack of support on Nexus devices – even though the fingerprint reader is seemingly the same one found on the Pixel and some Huawei devices.
While unfortunate for Nexus users, it is only logical for Google to keep some of the Pixel’s features exclusive to the device, from a marketing standpoint at least.
[Source: Android Authority]
