On the other hand, the new ROG Phone 8 does not support any Camera2 or CameraX vendor extensions, much like previous phones from ASUS.

I reported back in September (for Patrons/X subscribers only) that Google wanted to require that new devices launching with Android 14 support Bokeh and Night extensions for both the primary front and rear cameras, however, it looks like this was never enforced in the end.

(Thanks to murmelito_ on Threads for the screenshots!)

Google has announced a "Mint" color for the Pixel 8 series (only available from the Google Store with 128GB storage), alongside a new Pixel Feature Drop for January 2024! This Feature Drop is a bit unusual since it isn't accompanied by a new QPR update, but it does bring some interesting features.

For example, the Pixel 8 Pro's Thermometer app is finally getting the ability to measure body temperature! This means the FDA has authorized the Pixel Thermometer to take body temperature readings. Any temperature results you take can be synced to your Fitbit account.

Both Pixel Watch models now support automatic audio switching, which means your Pixel Buds Pro can seamlessly switch from a Pixel Tablet to your paired Pixel phone.

Also, Quick Share (the revamped/rebranded version of Google's Nearby Share) should be rolling out soon, so you can look forward to that.

A more exciting development is the rollout of the Circle to Search feature Google announced at Galaxy Unpacked. Google reiterates that they'll roll this out to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro on January 31, but it's also already available on the Galaxy S24 series. (I shared a method with my Patreon/X subscribers to enable this feature on other Pixel devices right now, but it requires root to spoof the Pixel 8.)

Lastly, Google is starting to more widely roll out the Photomoji and Magic Compose features in the Google Messages app for Pixel users. Photomoji lets you turn any photo into a custom reaction or sticker, while Magic Compose helps you rewrite messages in different styles using generative AI.

Photomoji is available for the Pixel 3a and later, while Magic Compose is only available for the Pixel 6 and later (processing happens on-device in the case of the Pixel 8 Pro).

Google is rolling out the update to the Pixel Thermometer app that enables body temperature scanning on the Pixel 8 Pro, but only if you're in the U.S.

The app checks that the ISO country code using the TelephonyManager.getSimCountryIso() method returns "us", which means your SIM has to be connected to a network in the U.S.

This is because Google has only received approval to use this feature in the U.S. so far, but if you're outside of the U.S., modders have already figured out how to forcefully enable this feature. Using the same method used to enable VoLTE/VoWiFi in unsupported regions, @nullby whipped up a quick app that lets you change the ISO country code read by the app to whatever you want, and it doesn't need root access!

So you just grant the app shell-level privileges using Shizuku so it can call the TelephonyManager APIs and then use the app to set the country code to "us", unlocking the body temperature scanning feature in the Thermometer app. The best part is that this persists even if you reset the country code (as you should) so long as you don't wipe the data of the app or uninstall it.

Update: Here's the app you need. Download version 1.1 from the releases page. Then to set it up:

1) Download and set up Shizuku from Google Play.

2) Open the Carrier Vanity Name app, and in the "ISO Country Code" field (the second field), type "us". (You can ignore the first field.)

3) Click "set".

4) Stop the Thermometer app and clear its data, then open it. The body temperature feature should be available.

5) You can now re-open the CVN app and hit "Reset" to reset the ISO country code.

(Screenshots via @nailsad_eleos.)

Samsung has heard your pleas: You can now hide the gesture bar in One UI 6.1 on the Galaxy S24!

Samsung is rolling out an update to NavStar, the Good Lock module that lets you customize navigation, that brings back the setting to hide the gesture hint. Here's a before and after with the setting disabled/enabled. Not only do you reclaim space at the bottom, but Google's Circle to Search gesture still works!

Here's how to hide the gesture bar after updating Nav Star:

1) Open NavStar's settings and toggle "enable extra gesture settings".

2) Open the Settings app and go to Display > Navigation bar > More options.

3) You should now see a "gesture hint" option. Toggle this to hide the gesture bar!


Glad to see Samsung address feedback so quickly. The removal of the "gesture hint" setting from One UI 6.1 was one of the changes that I noticed a lot of people complain about, so this should be a welcome addition. Hopefully it's brought out of NavStar soon.

Thanks to @RydahDoesTech for the tip!

Google is preparing a new "Storage Area Encryption" feature for a future release of Android that gives apps the ability to create "storage areas" that are accessible only after the device has been unlocked.

Storage areas are "transparently encrypted directories protected by screen lock bound keys" that provide "a level of protection above that of the Credential Encrypted storage which is the default for app data." These directories will be in a new top-level data directory, /data/storage_area. (Credential Encrypted storage is only available to apps after the initial unlock following a boot.)

It's a bit difficult to guess "why" they're adding this API just from the code changes in AOSP, so I'm throwing this out there to see if any security researchers might have an idea. One researcher guessed it could allow for SDKs to create their own dedicated place to store files or preferences that couldn't be accessed by apps integrated said SDK, but it doesn't look like this API makes that possible.

The code changes haven't been merged yet, so I'm not sure if this Storage Area Encryption API will make its way to Android 15 or Android 16.

Google announced last July that they would integrate the Message Layer Security (MLS) protocol into Google Messages and "support its wide deployment across the industry by open sourcing [their] implementation in the Android codebase."

Back in November, Google added the (Rust) crates for building OpenMLS, a Rust implementation of MLS, to AOSP. And last week, Google started work on a new Android Jetpack library (androidx.security:security-mls) to support building apps on top of the MLS protocol.

MLS is a protocol for encrypting messages in group chats that is "designed to be efficient, practical and secure" and, according to Google, "enables practical interoperability across services and platforms, scaling to groups of thousands of multi-device users." It has been approved by the IESG and is published as RFC9420.