Mishaal's Android News Feed – Telegram
Mishaal's Android News Feed
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Android news from an Android nerd
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Android 14 quietly made Alt+Tab way more useful on tablets!

Instead of bringing up the recents screen like before, you now get a small row of apps near the top that you can quickly cycle through.

More details on this awesome multitasking change can be found in this article.
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A follow-up to my "Rabbit R1 is an Android app in a box" article:

In their attempted rebuttal, Rabbit made several misrepresentations of my findings - as well as of their own product.

I address their claims in my latest article for Android Authority.
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The Google Pixel 8a is here with Google’s on-device AI and 7 years of updates for just $500! This mid-range phone has a lot to offer for its price. Here are its key specs:

* Google Tensor G3 chipset
* 6.1” FHD+ OLED display, 120Hz refresh rate, 2000 nits peak brightness
* 64 wide-angle + 13MP ultra wide-angle rear cameras; 13MP selfie camera
* 8GB LPDDR5x RAM
* 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage
* 4500mAh battery, Qi wireless charging
* IP67 rating, Gorilla Glass 3, matte aluminum frame
* Optical UD fingerprint scanner, class 3 face unlock
* Stereo speakers
* Wi-Fi 6E, 5G, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C 3.2
* Gemini Nano support (soon)
* AI features like Magic Editor, Audio Magic Eraser, Best Take, etc

The Pixel 8a costs $499 for the 8/128 model and $559 for the 8/256 model. It comes in four colors: Obsidian, Bay, Porcelain, and Aloe. Note that the 8/256 model only comes in Obsidian.

If you plan to buy the Google Pixel 8a, use my affiliate link to help support me so I can keep digging into new Android releases and uncover new features coming to the Pixel 8a (and other Pixel devices!)

Best Buy is offering a $100 gift card if you pre-order the phone before May 19!

Buy the Google Pixel 8a from Best Buy (affiliate link).
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Google is relaunching its Pixel Tablet today! You can now buy Google’s tablet without a dock for $399/£399/€499. That’s $100 off in the US, £200 off in the UK, and €180 off in Europe compared to the price with the dock. The specs are unchanged.

You can pre-order the standalone Pixel Tablet today. General sales start May 15 in the US, UK, EU, and other markets. It’ll also be available this time in Spain and Italy. Google hasn’t confirmed if an official stylus or keyboard accessory are coming.

By the way, if you plan to buy the Pixel Tablet, please use my affiliate link to help support me! It costs you nothing but helps compensate me so I can continue digging into Android releases to discover new features you’ll enjoy on your Pixel Tablet!

Buy the Pixel Tablet from Best Buy (affiliate link).
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Android 15's new ZenDeviceEffects API lets third-party apps offer functionality on par with Google's Digital Wellbeing app.

3P apps can now toggle screen options like grayscale mode, AOD, wallpaper dimming, and dark mode.

More details can be found in this article I wrote.
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To improve accessibility, Android 15 is adding a new method to enable screen magnification: tapping the screen twice with two fingers.

More details plus a demo can be found in this article I wrote.
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Samsung is offering a pretty great deal on its Galaxy Watch 6 for Mother's Day (U.S. only)!

If you buy one Galaxy Watch 6 and you'll get one free!

Just scroll down to "limited time bundle offers" and select "Get a Second Galaxy Watch 6 on us". For the free watch, you can pick either the LTE or WiFi-only model as well as choose your color, though you can't change the band.

Given its specs and many health features, it's hard to find fault in the Galaxy Watch 6. It's one of the best smartwatches for Android users, and it should be one of the first to get Google's upcoming Wear OS 5 update.

Here's my affiliate link to this buy one get one free deal.
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Android 15 adds support for a new "Eyes Free videography" camera extension. This extension, when implemented, will bring better video stabilization to third-party camera apps.

More details can be found in this article I wrote.
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Google will bring its AI wallpaper generator to the Pixel 8a in the phone's first software update.

This app is currently exclusive to the Pixel 8 series (and a version of it is also available on the Galaxy S24), but good to see its availability expand.
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Last month, Google confirmed to me that the Pixel 8 & 8 Pro can be located on the Find My Device network even if they're powered off or have run out of battery!

Today, I checked if the new Pixel 8a will also support this, and I found evidence it will! You can read more about this feature in my latest article for Android Authority.
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I'm starting a newsletter called Android Decoded!

On this week's Android Faithful podcast, we launched our new website alongside some new newsletters and other content. I've been told I should start a newsletter a few times, so I'm finally doing one!

What's it about?

Android Decoded is a weekly newsletter from yours truly that explains the significance of each week's news as it pertains to the Android ecosystem. I'll be picking the news that I think is important and analyze what I think it means for the Android ecosystem.

There'll be two versions of the newsletter. The free version will summarize the most important news of the week as it relates to Android, while the premium version will dive deeper into a particular subject each week. The premium version of the newsletter can be unlocked for $9.99/month, which also gets you other benefits as shown above.

Why should you subscribe?

I've been covering Android for nearly 9 years now, which might not be as long as some others, but I've made it my mission to be the best in the business when it comes to this topic. I haven't run numbers, but I'm pretty sure I've broken more news on new Android features than anyone else. (Just search Google for "Android 15" - 99% of the articles on some new feature reference my work.)

My posts usually focus on the WHAT but not the WHY, which is something I've wanted to do more of outside of the podcast. This newsletter gives me the opportunity to dive deeper into the news I talk about or discover. Thanks in advance for subscribing🫡

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Mishaal's Android News Feed
I'm starting a newsletter called Android Decoded! On this week's Android Faithful podcast, we launched our new website alongside some new newsletters and other content. I've been told I should start a newsletter a few times, so I'm finally doing one! What's…
How do I subscribe?

Go to AndroidFaithful.com and click on the "Join" button in the top right. Once you sign up, you'll get automatic access to all the free newsletters. If you want my premium newsletter plus ALL the other premium content offered by the Android Faithful team, you'll need to subscribe to the $9.99/mo tier.

(If you already subscribe to me on Patreon or X, you don't have to subscribe again on Android Faithful. I'll send out the newsletter to y'all, either as subscriber-only posts or directly via email if you opt-in.)

When is it coming out?

The first edition is coming tomorrow, hopefully! I plan on releasing new editions of Android Decoded on Fridays. The first edition tomorrow will be a trial run of sorts as I work out the formatting. The "premium" edition of the first edition will talk about what I expect to see in Android 15 Beta 2 next week, based on some insider information.

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Bad news: the Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and 6a appear to be missing Bluetooth LE Audio support right now.

As I previously reported, one of the biggest features of Android 15 could be audio sharing, which is built on Auracast, a feature of LE Audio.

More details on why this matters can be found in this article.
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The Find My Device network is starting to roll out to some users outside North America!

Google said last month the launch would be global but would start in the US and Canada. They didn't say when it'd rollout globally but some users in the UK and Japan got it.

More details on what this means for global users can be found in this article.
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It's official, Apple has implemented an unwanted tracker alerts feature - based on the Detected Unwanted Location Trackers industry spec - in iOS 17.5!

This means Apple users will receive an "[Item] Found Moving With You" alert if an unknown Bluetooth tracking device is seen moving with them over time. Before this update, only AirTags/Find My accessories could be detected, but now any Bluetooth tracker compatible with the DULT spec can be detected!

iOS lacking DULT support was the main reason Google delayed the rollout of its Find My Device network. Google has already begun rolling out its Find My Device network to some users globally, but perhaps now the rollout will ramp up.
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Exclusive: Google experiments with running Chrome OS on Android

What if you could run Chrome OS from your Android phone? And what if you could hook your phone up to an external monitor to project it?

That's exactly what Google is testing.

More details can be found in this article I wrote.
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