Nougat introduces notable changes to the operating system and its development platform, including the ability to display multiple apps on-screen at once in a split-screen view, support for inline replies to notifications, and an expanded Doze power-saving mode that restricts device functionality once the screen has been off for a period of time.

Critics had mixed experiences with the Doze power-saving mode, but faster app installs and tweaks to the user interface were also reviewed positively.

[24] Major manufacturers, including HTC, Sony, and Motorola announced intents to update a range of their recent devices to Nougat.

Although developer preview builds of Nougat were released for the device, Sony stated that it would not upgrade the Xperia Z3 (which uses the Snapdragon 801) to the final version due to "unforeseen platform limitations".

[38] The "Doze" power saving mechanism introduced in Android Marshmallow was expanded to include a state activated when the device is running and the screen has been off for a period of time but is not stationary.

During the pre-release phase of development, SquashFS had been considered as the filesystem, to help offset the extra storage overhead of maintaining two copies of these partitions.

However, for performance reasons, in the public release of Nougat, designers ultimately chose to continue using Android's traditional ext4 filesystem.

[44][38] Additionally, due to the ART changes on Nougat, apps no longer need to be re-compiled upon the first boot after a system update.

[45] Developer Preview 2 added platform support for Vulkan, a new low-level 3D-rendering API alternative to OpenGL ES with higher graphics performance.

[49] In response to the Stagefright family of bugs disclosed and fixed in 2015, several changes were made to harden the media stack against future vulnerabilities.

MediaServer is now split into several separate processes, each running in its own unprivileged sandbox, and granted only the permissions required for its task.

[51] On devices shipping with Android Nougat, the "Verified Boot" policy (introduced partially on KitKat, and displaying notifications on startup on Marshmallow) must be strictly enforced.

In the meantime, background services can access data they store in the device-encrypted context (such as alarms or messaging notifications, particularly after automatic reboots due to updates or crashes) to maintain limited functionality until the user unlocks the credential-encrypted storage.

He also noted "tweaks" throughout the OS as welcome changes, including quick toggles in the notification drawer, a Settings menu with more visual information, and a Camera app that has been "cleaned up a bit".

Bohn stated that he didn't notice any significant battery improvements despite the Doze power-saving feature in Nougat.

He also wrote extensively about the fact that, even though Nougat is "great", "it’s a shame it will take so long for anybody to see it", writing about the lack of updates to most Android devices, and that "unless you have a Nexus, it could be a few months, it could be a year [sic], before it becomes available on your phone".

Visual elements in the Settings app, quick toggles in the notification dropdown, and new language and emoji support were also positive highlights in the review.