A major update to scrcpy is out, bringing a very nifty feature: Virtual display support!
scrcpy can now create virtual displays that you can mirror instead of your device's main display. This means you can stream apps to your PC and still use your phone at the same time.
Android by default uses the secondary launcher activity on secondary displays, including virtual ones, so you can even effectively mirror a desktop experience to your PC.
Note that this was already somewhat possible before, but you had to manually create a virtual display through developer options, find its display ID, then specify that display ID when launching scrcpy.
scrcpy can now create virtual displays that you can mirror instead of your device's main display. This means you can stream apps to your PC and still use your phone at the same time.
Android by default uses the secondary launcher activity on secondary displays, including virtual ones, so you can even effectively mirror a desktop experience to your PC.
Note that this was already somewhat possible before, but you had to manually create a virtual display through developer options, find its display ID, then specify that display ID when launching scrcpy.
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🔒Android 15 QPR2 is preparing a new way to declutter your lock screen notifications
The new lock screen notification minimalism option will minimize notifications, letting you see your beautiful lock screen wallpaper.
Details + screenshots can be found in this article.
The new lock screen notification minimalism option will minimize notifications, letting you see your beautiful lock screen wallpaper.
Details + screenshots can be found in this article.
Android Authority
Android 15 QPR2 is preparing a new way to declutter your lock screen notifications
Android 15 QPR2 may introduce a new lock screen notification minimalism feature that declutters your lock screen.
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🖥️ Google preps new features for Android desktop windowing, including a minimize button
More improvements are coming to Android's desktop windowing mode.
More improvements are coming to Android's desktop windowing mode.
Android Authority
Google preps new features for Android desktop windowing, including a minimize button
Google is preparing some new features for Android’s desktop windowing mode, including a button to minimize apps.
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Android's version of iOS 18's Vehicle Motion Cues is almost here!
Tipster Bálint Béres noticed that they had a new Quick Settings toggle available named "Motion Cues." Long pressing it opens a page that explains the Motion Cues feature "show[s] visual cues to mitigate the motion sickness."
While this toggle doesn't work yet, it's highly likely it'll show dots on screen that move to trick your brain into thinking your phone is moving while you're in a vehicle.
@AssembleDebug spotted evidence for this feature recently, but it looks like it's going to roll out soon. This feature/toggle will be provided through Google Play Services so it should be available on most Android devices.
By the way, even though iOS 18 recently added this feature before Android, there's a third-party app available for Android called KineStop that's been doing this for years, so before you say Google is copying Apple, consider that.
Tipster Bálint Béres noticed that they had a new Quick Settings toggle available named "Motion Cues." Long pressing it opens a page that explains the Motion Cues feature "show[s] visual cues to mitigate the motion sickness."
While this toggle doesn't work yet, it's highly likely it'll show dots on screen that move to trick your brain into thinking your phone is moving while you're in a vehicle.
@AssembleDebug spotted evidence for this feature recently, but it looks like it's going to roll out soon. This feature/toggle will be provided through Google Play Services so it should be available on most Android devices.
By the way, even though iOS 18 recently added this feature before Android, there's a third-party app available for Android called KineStop that's been doing this for years, so before you say Google is copying Apple, consider that.
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The VP of Xiaomi Global says the company will be able to do monthly updates next year. Curious to see which devices they'll do this for.
Xiaomi's official update policy - at least for devices that are Android Enterprise Recommended - guarantees an update every 90 days. Xiaomi also currently promises 4 generations of Android OS updates for its latest flagships in the 14 and 14T series.
Xiaomi's official update policy - at least for devices that are Android Enterprise Recommended - guarantees an update every 90 days. Xiaomi also currently promises 4 generations of Android OS updates for its latest flagships in the 14 and 14T series.
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The OnePlus 13 will be launching in the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the world in January 2025!
It'll be coming in three different colorways: Midnight Ocean, Black Eclipse, and Arctic Dawn. The Midnight Ocean model will have "micro-fiber vegan leather" which OnePlus says is designed to "strike a perfect balance between a luxurious handfeel and scratch and scuff resistance."
I haven't had a chance to try a phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite yet, so I'm looking forward to this launch!
It'll be coming in three different colorways: Midnight Ocean, Black Eclipse, and Arctic Dawn. The Midnight Ocean model will have "micro-fiber vegan leather" which OnePlus says is designed to "strike a perfect balance between a luxurious handfeel and scratch and scuff resistance."
I haven't had a chance to try a phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite yet, so I'm looking forward to this launch!
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Google has apparently started doing LTS releases of Android, though only for Android Automotive at the moment.
This makes sense since the OS in car dashboards is going to be updated less frequently than other form factors, plus cars are going to be kept around longer than handhelds.
No idea how long Google will maintain these LTS releases, though. H/T to Al Sutton for spotting this.
Google does do security patch backports already, for about ~3.5 years after the AOSP release of a new OS version. However, it's always been recommended to update the OS anyways as not every patch will be marked or recognized as a security fix. LTS releases are better supported when it comes to security fixes.
This makes sense since the OS in car dashboards is going to be updated less frequently than other form factors, plus cars are going to be kept around longer than handhelds.
No idea how long Google will maintain these LTS releases, though. H/T to Al Sutton for spotting this.
Google does do security patch backports already, for about ~3.5 years after the AOSP release of a new OS version. However, it's always been recommended to update the OS anyways as not every patch will be marked or recognized as a security fix. LTS releases are better supported when it comes to security fixes.
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Great news for those of you considering switching from iOS to Android:
Your Live Photos will be carried over when using the Android Switch app!
This is already live for Pixel phones but will be expanding to more devices in the next few weeks!
Your Live Photos will be carried over when using the Android Switch app!
This is already live for Pixel phones but will be expanding to more devices in the next few weeks!
Android Police
You won't lose your Live Photos anymore when switching from iPhone to Pixel
The Android Switch app can now migrate Live Photos from an iPhone to a Pixel device
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Interested in working on Android Automotive?
The folks from Snapp Automotive have created an AAOS development kit that's based on the existing VIM3 board from Khadas.
All you need to do is buy the VIM3 board and a display, set up your platform and flashing tools, flash the u-boot and Android bootloaders, then flash one of the prebuilt AAOS images compiled by Snapp Automotive.
If you want to know why you should choose this option over repurposing a Pixel phone or tablet like Google recommends, as well as the journey behind the creation of this dev kit, check out this article.
The folks from Snapp Automotive have created an AAOS development kit that's based on the existing VIM3 board from Khadas.
All you need to do is buy the VIM3 board and a display, set up your platform and flashing tools, flash the u-boot and Android bootloaders, then flash one of the prebuilt AAOS images compiled by Snapp Automotive.
If you want to know why you should choose this option over repurposing a Pixel phone or tablet like Google recommends, as well as the journey behind the creation of this dev kit, check out this article.
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The latest alpha release of the Jetpack PDF support library (version 1.0.0-alpha04) expands PDF Viewer support to devices running Android 12, 12L, 13, and 14 with SDK Extension level 13.
I haven't seen any apps integrate this new PDF Viewer library yet, but that's bound to change as this support library exits alpha (and adds Jetpack Compose support as mentioned in the changelog).
Android 15, if you'll recall, brought substantial improvements to Android's PdfRenderer APIs, letting apps incorporate advanced features. These features are being backported through Mainline updates and developers can simplify adding these capabilities to their apps through the Jetpack support library.
I haven't seen any apps integrate this new PDF Viewer library yet, but that's bound to change as this support library exits alpha (and adds Jetpack Compose support as mentioned in the changelog).
Android 15, if you'll recall, brought substantial improvements to Android's PdfRenderer APIs, letting apps incorporate advanced features. These features are being backported through Mainline updates and developers can simplify adding these capabilities to their apps through the Jetpack support library.
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Google announced at I/O that Health Connect on Android would let apps sync more than 30 days worth of data (historical reads) as well as read data in the background (background reads).
Both of these features are already live in the version of Health Connect that ships with Android 15 as well as Android 14 devices with SDK Extension version 13.
However, apps need to be updated to take advantage of these features. Version 1.1.0-alpha09 of the Health Connect Jetpack library added support for the background reads feature, while -alpha10 added support for the historical reads feature.
Once apps add support (likely will start happening after v1.1.0 exits alpha), then you'll be able to manage their access to historical/background data through the Health Connect app, as shown above.
Both of these features are already live in the version of Health Connect that ships with Android 15 as well as Android 14 devices with SDK Extension version 13.
However, apps need to be updated to take advantage of these features. Version 1.1.0-alpha09 of the Health Connect Jetpack library added support for the background reads feature, while -alpha10 added support for the historical reads feature.
Once apps add support (likely will start happening after v1.1.0 exits alpha), then you'll be able to manage their access to historical/background data through the Health Connect app, as shown above.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
I got the Linux Terminal app working on my Pixel phone! I regret to inform you that, unfortunately, there's no GUI, so I couldn't run Doom 😭 Any Linux gurus have suggestions on things I should try installing/running?
The Linux Terminal app in Android 15 QPR2 is fairly barebones in terms of what it can let you do right now, but a lot of improvements are in the works, including:
* Hardware acceleration support. If the file
* Graphical environment support. By installing Wayland compositor and VNC backend, you can enable a graphical environment.
(Note: I tried this already, but it didn't work - likely need to wait for a future update.)
* A backup option to preserve your Linux VM install. (A restore option is still in the works.)
* Forced portrait mode if there's no hardware keyboard attached.
* NDK APIs for AVF.
* Removal of the VMLauncher app and full integration into the Terminal app. (
* Google's compiled Debian images will soon be downloaded from Google's download servers rather than GitHub. eg. here's a static link to the latest AArch64 images.
* Hardware acceleration support. If the file
/sdcard/linux/virglrenderer exists on the device, VirGL for the VM will be enabled. This requires enabling ANGLE for the Terminal app.* Graphical environment support. By installing Wayland compositor and VNC backend, you can enable a graphical environment.
(Note: I tried this already, but it didn't work - likely need to wait for a future update.)
* A backup option to preserve your Linux VM install. (A restore option is still in the works.)
* Forced portrait mode if there's no hardware keyboard attached.
* NDK APIs for AVF.
* Removal of the VMLauncher app and full integration into the Terminal app. (
vm_launcher_lib is being integrated into Terminal.)* Google's compiled Debian images will soon be downloaded from Google's download servers rather than GitHub. eg. here's a static link to the latest AArch64 images.
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Google has announced that it's hardening Play Integrity API verdicts so they're less spoofable but also faster and more privacy-friendly.
- Improved device integrity verdicts on Android 13+ will require the use of hardware-backed security signals using Android Platform Key Attestation, making them much harder to bypass. Google will adjust verdicts when it detects "security threats across Android SDK versions, such as when there is evidence of excessive activity or key compromise."
- The Play Integrity API will now have the "same level of reliability and support across all Android form factors."
- Because these new verdicts reduce the number of device signals that need to be collected and evaluated, Google says verdict latency can improve by up to 80%.
Developers can opt in to use these new verdicts today or wait until May 2025 which is when all API integrations will automatically transition.
In addition:
- The "meets-strong-integrity" response is being updated to require a security patch level within the last year on devices running Android 13+.
- A new device attributes field lets apps adjust their behavior based on the user's Android SDK version.
- All optional verdict signals are being standardized across apps, games, SDKs, and more.
- Improved device integrity verdicts on Android 13+ will require the use of hardware-backed security signals using Android Platform Key Attestation, making them much harder to bypass. Google will adjust verdicts when it detects "security threats across Android SDK versions, such as when there is evidence of excessive activity or key compromise."
- The Play Integrity API will now have the "same level of reliability and support across all Android form factors."
- Because these new verdicts reduce the number of device signals that need to be collected and evaluated, Google says verdict latency can improve by up to 80%.
Developers can opt in to use these new verdicts today or wait until May 2025 which is when all API integrations will automatically transition.
In addition:
- The "meets-strong-integrity" response is being updated to require a security patch level within the last year on devices running Android 13+.
- A new device attributes field lets apps adjust their behavior based on the user's Android SDK version.
- All optional verdict signals are being standardized across apps, games, SDKs, and more.
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📱Huawei's Harmony OS Next doesn't natively support Android apps, but that hasn't stopped some people
A new tool called 'EasyAbroad' lets you run various Android apps like YouTube, Gmail, and more in a container. It seems to work surprisingly well!
A new tool called 'EasyAbroad' lets you run various Android apps like YouTube, Gmail, and more in a container. It seems to work surprisingly well!
Android Authority
Harmony OS Next doesn't natively support Android apps, but that hasn't stopped some people
A new tool lets Huawei devices running Harmony OS Next run Android apps like YouTube, Gmail, Spotify, and more.
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📄 Native PDF support is coming to Chrome for Android, and you can try it now
Google Chrome is adding support for Android's new, enhanced PDF reader library, allowing it to open PDF files without the use of third-party apps.
Details + how to enable it can be found in this article on Android Authority.
Google Chrome is adding support for Android's new, enhanced PDF reader library, allowing it to open PDF files without the use of third-party apps.
Details + how to enable it can be found in this article on Android Authority.
Android Authority
Native PDF support is coming to Chrome for Android, and you can try it now
Google Chrome for Android can finally open PDF files on its own without needing a third-party app, and you can try this feature now.
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🔘 Samsung may finally let you long press the power button to launch Gemini
The side button on Samsung devices can currently only launch either Bixby or the power off menu when held down, but this could change in One UI 7.
More details can be found in this article.
The side button on Samsung devices can currently only launch either Bixby or the power off menu when held down, but this could change in One UI 7.
More details can be found in this article.
Android Authority
Samsung may finally let you long press the power button to launch Gemini
You may soon be able to hold down the side button on Samsung devices to launch Gemini. This could arrive in the next version of One UI.
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The One UI 7 beta is finally live!
It's available for the Samsung Galaxy S24 series in Germany, India, Korea, Poland, the UK, and the US. You can sign up for it via Samsung Members.
I don't have an S24 myself to test it, so follow @jspring86az on Threads for the details.
Links:
[1] Samsung One UI 7 Beta Starts To Roll Out Showcasing the Glimpse of Future of Mobile AI
[2] Samsung One UI 7 Enhances Security and Privacy in the Age of AI, Giving Users Greater Transparency and Choice
It's available for the Samsung Galaxy S24 series in Germany, India, Korea, Poland, the UK, and the US. You can sign up for it via Samsung Members.
I don't have an S24 myself to test it, so follow @jspring86az on Threads for the details.
Links:
[1] Samsung One UI 7 Beta Starts To Roll Out Showcasing the Glimpse of Future of Mobile AI
[2] Samsung One UI 7 Enhances Security and Privacy in the Age of AI, Giving Users Greater Transparency and Choice
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Samsung's One UI 7 beta brings support for Google's Identity Check feature.
Google teased this feature back in October, but it now seems to be going live for the S24 series in the One UI 7 beta.
How Identity Check works: When your phone is in an untrusted location, biometric authentication will be required to make any changes to important security settings. This is similar to Stolen Device Protection on iPhones.
New devices launching with Android 15 or higher that support biometric authentication are required to preload a certain version of Google Play Services in order to ensure the Identity Check feature is available, so we'll see more and more devices soon with this feature.
Google teased this feature back in October, but it now seems to be going live for the S24 series in the One UI 7 beta.
How Identity Check works: When your phone is in an untrusted location, biometric authentication will be required to make any changes to important security settings. This is similar to Stolen Device Protection on iPhones.
New devices launching with Android 15 or higher that support biometric authentication are required to preload a certain version of Google Play Services in order to ensure the Identity Check feature is available, so we'll see more and more devices soon with this feature.
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