The Pixel Launcher is FINALLY preparing to add a toggle that lets you HIDE the At a Glance widget from the home screen. After the widget is hidden, the space underneath it is open to other apps/widgets!
This toggle is not visible yet in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1, so I had to manually activate it!
This toggle is not visible yet in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1, so I had to manually activate it!
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Android is preparing to add support for "Remote Authenticator Unlock". My understanding is that this is the AOSP platform version of GMS Watch Unlock.
These features let you unlock your phone using your watch. Here's a more in-depth explanation of Watch Unlock.
These features let you unlock your phone using your watch. Here's a more in-depth explanation of Watch Unlock.
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I think Android is preparing to finally add a pop-up dialog for the Bluetooth Quick Setting tile! I'm guessing this dialog will show your recently connected devices and possibly let you pair to new ones without having to open the full Bluetooth settings.
A new
A new
bluetooth_qs_tile_dialog flag has been added as well as code under com.android.systemui.qs.tiles.dialog.bluetooth, but I don't think the feature is fully implemented yet in this build.👍80❤9🔥8
Spotted a new "Private Space" settings page in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1. Tapping "Create Private Space" creates a new profile of type
If I had to guess, this "Private Space" will let you hide apps on your phone from other people.
android.os.usertype.profile.PRIVATE, which seems to be a new type of user in Android. If I had to guess, this "Private Space" will let you hide apps on your phone from other people.
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Spotted a new "notification cooldown" settings page in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1. This page will appear at the bottom of Settings > Notifications. This feature is also referred to as "Polite Notifications" in code.
This may be a way to throttle notifications for some or all apps.
Edit: What I think this will do is lower the notification volume when an app suddenly starts spamming notifications. It seems you'll be able to choose to apply this to all notifications or only conversations notifications. You'll also be able to choose whether or not notifications should vibrate your device when the screen is locked.
This may be a way to throttle notifications for some or all apps.
Edit: What I think this will do is lower the notification volume when an app suddenly starts spamming notifications. It seems you'll be able to choose to apply this to all notifications or only conversations notifications. You'll also be able to choose whether or not notifications should vibrate your device when the screen is locked.
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Sony is rolling out Android 14 to the Xperia 10 V, according to the @sonyxperia account.
Though they didn't share a full changelog, you can expect it to have many of the features added in the AOSP release of Android 14. For example, it has lock screen shortcut customization.
Sony rolled out Android 14 to the Xperia 1 V last week. Here's my post covering that release.
Though they didn't share a full changelog, you can expect it to have many of the features added in the AOSP release of Android 14. For example, it has lock screen shortcut customization.
Sony rolled out Android 14 to the Xperia 1 V last week. Here's my post covering that release.
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OPPO is beginning to roll out its global stable release of ColorOS 14 based on Android 14 for the OPPO Find N2 Flip. This is currently available in Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and Thailand, but you have to apply to get the update.
OnePlus is also rolling out its stable release of OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14 for the OnePlus 11, but only in India right now.
ColorOS 14 and OxygenOS 14 are nearly identical, so these respective updates bring the same features on top of the changes introduced in Android 14.
Here's a summary of the new features introduced in OxygenOS 14/ColorOS 14. Here's when the beta version of ColorOS 14 will begin rolling out to other OPPO devices.
OnePlus is also rolling out its stable release of OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14 for the OnePlus 11, but only in India right now.
ColorOS 14 and OxygenOS 14 are nearly identical, so these respective updates bring the same features on top of the changes introduced in Android 14.
Here's a summary of the new features introduced in OxygenOS 14/ColorOS 14. Here's when the beta version of ColorOS 14 will begin rolling out to other OPPO devices.
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Apple announces that RCS support is coming to iPhone next year
Sure there are a lot of questions remaining about what exactly RCS support in iOS will look like, but I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic until proven otherwise.
Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.
Sure there are a lot of questions remaining about what exactly RCS support in iOS will look like, but I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic until proven otherwise.
9to5Mac
Apple announces that RCS support is coming to iPhone next year - 9to5Mac
In a surprising move, Apple has announced today that it will adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging standard. The...
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OnePlus and OPPO are integrating Microsoft's Link to Windows app into OxygenOS 14/ColorOS 14!
At ODC23 (OPPO Developer Conference 2023), the company announced (via @realMlgmXyysd) it would bring Phone Link integration to ColorOS 14. OnePlus followed up with a post on its community forums announcing the same.
Currently, you have to download the "Link to Windows" app from Google Play to use Microsoft's Android <--> Windows cross-device features, but this app is seemingly going to be bundled into the Android 14 release from OnePlus and OPPO.
Besides making it easier to set up, bundling Link to Windows also enables additional features, like "Phone screen" (screen mirroring), "Apps" (mirroring individual or multiple apps), and "Instant Hotspot" (connecting to your phone's mobile hotspot from your PC's WiFi menu).
Fun fact: Qualcomm's fork of Android 14 actually added a bunch of code to more tightly integrate Phone Link into the OS.
At ODC23 (OPPO Developer Conference 2023), the company announced (via @realMlgmXyysd) it would bring Phone Link integration to ColorOS 14. OnePlus followed up with a post on its community forums announcing the same.
Currently, you have to download the "Link to Windows" app from Google Play to use Microsoft's Android <--> Windows cross-device features, but this app is seemingly going to be bundled into the Android 14 release from OnePlus and OPPO.
Besides making it easier to set up, bundling Link to Windows also enables additional features, like "Phone screen" (screen mirroring), "Apps" (mirroring individual or multiple apps), and "Instant Hotspot" (connecting to your phone's mobile hotspot from your PC's WiFi menu).
Fun fact: Qualcomm's fork of Android 14 actually added a bunch of code to more tightly integrate Phone Link into the OS.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
Apple announces that RCS support is coming to iPhone next year Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability…
Apple confirms RCS messages will have green bubbles
Apple has confirmed to me that blue bubbles will still be used to represent iMessages, while green bubbles will represent RCS messages.
9to5Mac
What color bubbles will RCS messages be? Here's Apple's answer - 9to5Mac
Earlier today, Apple announced its plans to bring RCS support to the iPhone in 2024. Since I published my story...
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Here's how Google sped up OTA update installations in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1.
Artem Russakovskii (founder of Android Police and APK Mirror) asked his contacts at Google what optimizations were made, and according to what he was told, there were three primary improvements. These include:
Artem Russakovskii (founder of Android Police and APK Mirror) asked his contacts at Google what optimizations were made, and according to what he was told, there were three primary improvements. These include:
1. Android now parallelizes compression operations. OTA installs require individually compressing thousands of small blocks. This resulted in a 26% reduction in install time in Google's tests.
2. Android now batches operations of those small blocks. For example, instead of issuing 200 4KB writes, it issues one write of 800KB. This was a 24% reduction in install time in Google's tests.
3. Google switched the Pixels (Pixel 7 series, Pixel 8 series, Pixel Tablet, and Pixel Fold) to use LZ4 compression instead of GZ. This resulted in a 50% decrease in install time.
1. and 2. are general AOSP improvements so everyone will benefit.
3. Compression algorithms are up to individual vendors, but Google has changed its guidance as its engineers found a better solution, so hopefully OEMs will adopt LZ4 compression in their products as well.🔥110👍29❤11🤡5⚡2😱2
Mishaal's Android News Feed
Messaging apps that are locked to specific devices are cringe. Mr. Cook, tear down this wall! In all seriousness, it's interesting to see solutions like Nothing Chat gain more traction, because I wonder just how Apple will respond. Before, it was just a couple…
Well, that didn't last long:
"Nothing Chats has already been pulled from Google Play over privacy issues" via The Verge
"Nothing Chats, the Sunbird-based iMessage app, is a privacy nightmare with unencrypted messages and images" via 9to5Google
Quote from Nothing on Twitter.
"Nothing Chats has already been pulled from Google Play over privacy issues" via The Verge
"Nothing Chats, the Sunbird-based iMessage app, is a privacy nightmare with unencrypted messages and images" via 9to5Google
We’ve removed the Nothing Chats beta from the Play store and will be delaying the launch until further notice to work with Sunbird to fix several bugs. We apologize for the delay and will do right by our users.
Quote from Nothing on Twitter.
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Over the weekend, I wrote about a feature I was really excited about: Native USB webcam support in Android 14.
After using it, though, I noticed the video quality is way worse than when using third-party webcam apps. My $1,000 Pixel 8 Pro has a much better camera than this.
For comparison, here's a still image of me using the Camo app by Reincubate to turn my Pixel 8 Pro into a webcam. And another still image from me using scrcpy's new camera mirroring feature to turn my Pixel 8 Pro into a webcam.
Android 14's USB webcam feature is very convenient, but it sadly doesn't seem to take full advantage of the amazing camera on your smartphone.
You can read more about my experience using Android 14's webcam feature in my latest article for Android Central. The article links to a YouTube playlist I made that shows how dramatic the difference in quality really is.
(And yes, I did test across multiple devices and PCs, with different USB cables, and on different video conferencing platforms/apps. Yes, I did also stress test it to see if thermals would be a concern. All the details are in the article 😄)
After using it, though, I noticed the video quality is way worse than when using third-party webcam apps. My $1,000 Pixel 8 Pro has a much better camera than this.
For comparison, here's a still image of me using the Camo app by Reincubate to turn my Pixel 8 Pro into a webcam. And another still image from me using scrcpy's new camera mirroring feature to turn my Pixel 8 Pro into a webcam.
Android 14's USB webcam feature is very convenient, but it sadly doesn't seem to take full advantage of the amazing camera on your smartphone.
You can read more about my experience using Android 14's webcam feature in my latest article for Android Central. The article links to a YouTube playlist I made that shows how dramatic the difference in quality really is.
(And yes, I did test across multiple devices and PCs, with different USB cables, and on different video conferencing platforms/apps. Yes, I did also stress test it to see if thermals would be a concern. All the details are in the article 😄)
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This article made me curious about the status of the unwanted tracker detection specification, and it appears that work is indeed ongoing.
The latest message in the mailing list comes from an Apple employee dated Nov. 30, and ends with "I think we're close to getting the charter done done [sic]."
Google's unwanted tracker detection is based on a custom implementation rather than the draft specification, but Apple is seemingly waiting for the specification to be finalized before rolling out unwanted tracker detection on iOS.
Google in July said that they were "working in partnership with Apple to help finalize the joint unwanted tracker alert specification by the end of this year", so hopefully the specification is finalized this month.
However, I'm worried there's going to be a large gap between when the spec is finalized and when Apple actually rolls out unwanted tracker detection, further delaying the launch of Google's Find My Device Network.
(Hi y'all, yes, I am still alive. I was just on vacation for the past two weeks 😃)
The latest message in the mailing list comes from an Apple employee dated Nov. 30, and ends with "I think we're close to getting the charter done done [sic]."
Google's unwanted tracker detection is based on a custom implementation rather than the draft specification, but Apple is seemingly waiting for the specification to be finalized before rolling out unwanted tracker detection on iOS.
Google in July said that they were "working in partnership with Apple to help finalize the joint unwanted tracker alert specification by the end of this year", so hopefully the specification is finalized this month.
However, I'm worried there's going to be a large gap between when the spec is finalized and when Apple actually rolls out unwanted tracker detection, further delaying the launch of Google's Find My Device Network.
(Hi y'all, yes, I am still alive. I was just on vacation for the past two weeks 😃)
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Google has published the Android Security Bulletin (ASB) for December 2023, detailing the vulnerabilities addressed in the 2023-12-0X security patch level (SPL).
Patches are available for Android versions 11-14. There are 3 vulnerabilities in AOSP components with a "critical" severity rating.
As usual, there are also patches for vendor components listed in the ASB. Interestingly, there's one vulnerability (CVE-2023-45779) that affects "misc OEM" components. From what I know, details of this vulnerability will be made public later this month. (It's a pretty embarrassing one...)
Pixels should be receiving this update sometime this week along with the December 2023 Pixel Feature Drop, which will be based on Android 14 QPR1.
Patches are available for Android versions 11-14. There are 3 vulnerabilities in AOSP components with a "critical" severity rating.
As usual, there are also patches for vendor components listed in the ASB. Interestingly, there's one vulnerability (CVE-2023-45779) that affects "misc OEM" components. From what I know, details of this vulnerability will be made public later this month. (It's a pretty embarrassing one...)
Pixels should be receiving this update sometime this week along with the December 2023 Pixel Feature Drop, which will be based on Android 14 QPR1.
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