If you're wondering how Android's "Private Compute Core" really works, Google has just shared a technical whitepaper that describes its processes and mechanisms in-depth, complete with helpful diagrams!

Blog post | Private Compute Services sources

The latest Pixel Feature Drop that rolled out earlier this week also brought Android 13 QPR1, which looks like a minor update on the surface. But if you dig deep, there's a LOT of hidden features under the surface! Here are 10+ upcoming features I discovered in QPR1:

1) A revived desktop mode: Google's finally trying to make Android's barebones "desktop mode" experience more usable. There's a rumor of a "Pro" Pixel Tablet in the works according to @nullby so who knows what this could be for 👀

2) You know that taskbar that Google introduced in Android 12L? The one that only appears on tablets (or when you set the screen width to 600dp)? Google's working on letting you use that taskbar on phones WITHOUT needing to change the density!

3) I've already talked about how Android 13 is revamping the screen saver experience, and QPR1 made further improvements. There are new "smartspace", "media entry", and "home controls" complications. This is likely how the Pixel Tablet will act as a Nest Hub when docked😄

4) Android 13 QPR1 updated the ThemePicker app to support a new "custom clock" section, which will let you customize the lock screen clock. You can't customize clocks yet since it requires a separate app providing the clock plugins, though!

5) Google's working on letting you take a "partial screen share"! The feature is partially (heh) implemented in Android 13 QPR1.

6) In prep for the Pixel Tablet (or maybe Pixel Fold?), Android 13 QPR1 adds a special button to the taskbar that can launch Google Keep's drawing mode in a floating window.

7) There's a new "advanced VPN" feature in QPR1. Advanced VPNs don't need a user's consent to appear in the list of VPNs in Settings (that doesn't mean they're always active). Likely related to augmenting the Pixel 7's free VPN by Google One down the road?

8) Android TV is getting a "splitscreen menu". I'd love to run some apps side-by-side on my SHIELD TV (...if it ever gets Android 13)!

9) Immersive mode support is coming to Android Automotive apps!

10) The handling of Pixel's Quick Tap feature is being moved to Android's Private Compute Core. Is it for improved privacy? Potentially opening it up to OEMs? IDK!

There are some other hidden changes I discovered in Android 13 QPR1 that I won't mention here, because you can read about them (and see the code changes/screenshots for yourself) in this article over on blog.esper.io.

The model used by ML Kit's smart reply API can now be dynamically downloaded on user devices through Play Services. This "unbundled model" is now in beta and reduces app download size by ~5.5MB compared to the bundled version.

If you want to see what's new in Android 13 QPR2 Beta 1, follow along on Twitter as I share each discovery in real-time!

YouTube Music is rolling out support for letting you switch playback to Google Cast devices through the Output Switcher on Android 13!

I've seen a few reports of this rolling out tonight, from a few Samsung users but also a couple of Pixel users on Android 13.

For context on what this "Output Switcher" feature is all about and why it's limited to Android 13, read this article I wrote a few months back.

I've seen at least two users mention they had Stream Expansion enabled for them, but it quickly disappeared after some time.

Stream Expansion lets you expand audio playback to multiple Cast devices. When enabled, you'll see a radio button next to Cast devices in the output switcher.

Stream Expansion doesn't depend on app support - Google Play Services handles it.

(Screenshot credits: @wodoodporny)

There's a neat Android app on Google Play called "Nearby Sharing Windows 10/11" that's both compatible with Windows' Nearby Sharing protocol and supports bidirectional sharing/receiving.

Here's a demo of me sending a link from Android to Windows. The app adds a share target to Android's share sheet, making it easy to share files/links/etc with any PC running Windows. No extra software/server/etc needed on the PC side.

There are other apps that support SENDING files from Android to Windows using Microsoft's Nearby Sharing protocol, but AFAIK, this is the only one that supports RECEIVING files from Windows. Here's a demo.

Some caveats: Receiving functionality is currently only available in the beta version of the app and is buggy/quite limited. It only works via Bluetooth right now, so you can only send small files/links.

Yes, Microsoft offers the Phone Link app, and yes Google is coming out with its own Android <--> Windows sharing functionality. The former does a lot more than just sharing, though, while the latter (Google Nearby Share) isn't compatible with Microsoft's Nearby Sharing.

While this is a neat project, I'll personally wait for Google's Nearby Share to come to Windows. It'll probably be a lot more polished (hopefully lol) considering it's being worked on by a whole team of engineers, etc.

Google's Nearby protocol is open source, by the way, so you can track the progress of its development here. A lot has been done to support Windows recently. Note that Nearby Share is a layer on top (UI, etc.) and that it isn't open source.

Not a fan of disjointed Twitter threads?

If you want to read a summary of EVERYTHING I found in Android 13 QPR2 Beta 1 without scrolling through my massive Twitter thread, here it is on Reddit.

I mentioned this in my blog post last week, but I've now got it enabled: Here's a look at the new back gesture design in Android 13! As you can see, the back arrow is now surrounded by a bubble (that supports dynamic theming).

This design is being tested separately from the predictive back gesture, but it's likely the two will launch for users in Android 14. (Predictive back gesture is only available as a developer option in A13. This new back design is gated by a hidden flag.)

The new Photo Picker feature is technically available on devices running Android versions as old as Android 4.4, but there's a good chance you haven't seen it yet. That's because the backported version currently requires developers to do some extra work to support it.

There are two versions of the Photo Picker: the system version and the GMS version. The system version is only available on Android 11+ and is provided through a Project Mainline module. The GMS version is provided through Google Play Services for older Android versions.

The problem is that the system Photo Picker responds to a different intent than the GMS Photo Picker. Fortunately, androidx.activity will soon handle everything for developers. It'll check whether the system or GMS Photo Picker is available and then invoke the correct intent.

If you want to learn how the Photo Picker works, these two blog posts will tell you probably more than you need to know, lol.