Android is dropping support for flattened APEXes, a legacy format of APEX (the file format used for most Project Mainline modules) that can't be updated outside of regular OTAs.

This is only relevant if you maintain a device with a pre-Linux 4.9 kernel that doesn't support the Linux kernel's loop driver. Flattened APEXes don't have a file system image to mount, which is what makes them support these legacy devices but also what makes them non-updatable.

H/T @SebaUbuntu

With the release of Android 13 QPR3 earlier this month, the code implementing the DeviceConfig toggle for separating the notification and ringtone volumes has been readded to AOSP.

If you have a custom ROM, you can enable this feature by overriding the flag, but note that you will need to also override config_deviceConfiguratorPackageName as otherwise GMS may reset any flag changes.

See these links for an example implementation by the OmniROM team: [1] [2] [3]

The android14-6.1 ACK branch has enabled support for the NVMe driver (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_NVME=y). This is the GKI release that'll ship on next-gen flagships powered by Qualcomm (and likely) MediaTek chipsets.

The patch was submitted by a Qualcomm engineer and I suspect is intended for automotive (AAOS) devices, as the rise of "self-driving" capabilities necessitates increased storage capacity and performance.

H/T Luca Stefani

Google has reportedly ended its plans to release "Iris", its next-gen AR glasses, according to Business Insider. Instead, they're pivoting to building an Android XR platform for Samsung's headset as well as a "micro XR" platform for glasses.

Android already powers a lot of XR experiences. Meta uses AOSP for the Quest. Xreal (formerly Nreal) rely on Android phones, etc.

And Google announced a partnership with Samsung earlier this year to build an Android XR platform that'll need a lot of resources to succeed.

You can now use Nearby Share to send text/files to your devices even when they're sleeping! You no longer have to turn on your device's screen and unlock it just to share something.

More details (and a demo) here.

Here's a look at a potential new feature in Android 14: a toggle to change back to the old "persistent" taskbar style from Android 12L. The Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold use Android's new "transient" taskbar which doesn't stay on screen for long.

Read more here.

The DirtyPipe vulnerability (CVE-2022-0847) is apparently under active exploitation according to Google (H/T @flawedworlddev).

This vulnerability was addressed in the May 2022 bulletin, though, so if your device reports a security patch level of 2022-05-05 or newer it should already be protected against it.

Bumping this because I just learned that this change, in fact, was announced by Google last September (H/T aniruddhdodiya on Twitter).

I somehow missed/forgot this was announced, as did many others. Still, I messed up, so I've updated the article to reflect that.

I was asked why the Pixel Fold doesn't have Android's one-handed mode feature, which also lets you swipe down on any screen to pull down the notifications.

The reason is that Google intends for this feature to only be available on small screen devices.

You can see here that the system property ro.support_one_handed_mode is set to false in device-felix.mk. This controls whether the OHM settings page is available.

Given that the Fold has a relatively normal sized outer display where OHM might still be useful, I think it should just be left up to the user whether they want to use it.

But what do you think? Would you use OHM/swipe down for notifications on your Pixel Fold?

(Yes, I know you can still swipe down while on the Pixel Launcher home screen to pull down the notifications, but the OHM version of the feature lets you do that on almost any screen.)

The /r/Android subreddit is no longer restricted, but the moderators have not announced yet what their plans are for the future of the sub following a call for feedback last week.

Many people have criticized Google for not stretching apps to full screen on the Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold.

Why don't they? It's because Pixel is restrained in ways that other OEMs aren't, but that's a good thing.

My latest article for Android Central dives into why.

FYI: Googlers are off today in the U.S. for Independence Day, so the July 2023 Android Security Bulletin won't be published until they're back on the clock. It's expected to go live tomorrow, however, that doesn't guarantee that the Pixel updates will go live at the same time.

Google is developing Android TV 14 on a set-top box called the ADT-4. However, unlike with previous ADTs, Google doesn't plan to sell it. So if you want to develop an Android TV app for TV 14, you'll have to stick to the emulator. More details here.

Personally, this is disappointing. TV apps that utilize advanced display or sound formats can't test everything on the emulator. Not everyone will have an Amlogic contract, so even if you obtain the S905X4 reference device through a 3P, how will you get updated builds?

The Chromecast with Google TV (HD) and (4K) are consumer devices w/o access to Android TV beta builds. They currently run TV 12 while Google's working on TV 14. So while they're good for testing retail device behavior, they won't be useful for testing new platform versions.

The July 2023 Android Security Bulletin is live, listing the vulnerabilities patched in the 2023-07-0X security patch level.

The bulletin also publicizes that CVE-2023-26083 (Mali GPU kernel driver bug), CVE-2021-29256 (also Mali bug), and CVE-2023-2136 (Skia bug) are under "limited, targeted exploitation."

The Pixel's "recents URL sharing" feature which lets you share links from the recents menu is no longer a Pixel-exclusive feature, because ASUS quietly implemented it in their Android 13-based ZenUI OS!

The Pixel's recents menu enhancements (especially the ability to share text/images) is one of its most underrated exclusive features. I wish other OEMs would replicate it. Enabling the recents URL sharing feature seems simple enough, so hopefully more OEMs add it!

I checked/asked a bunch of users with OEM devices from Samsung, OnePlus/OPPO, Xiaomi, Sony, Nothing, etc. and I couldn't find any other OEM launcher that implemented this feature. No custom ROM that I've seen has it either, but if you know of one, let me know!

The docs for "recents URL sharing" still says that it's Pixel only, but I guess that's now incorrect in light of this news. ASUS doesn't sell many smartphones (they do make great phones), though, so it's not like this one OEM will move the needle in terms of developer interest.

More details here.

This isn't Android news, but if you want to follow me on Threads, you can find me here.

I'm still on Twitter @MishaalRahman, where I'll be posting most of my stuff. I'll still of course post to this channel as well as to Mastodon (@MishaalRahman@AndroidDev.social) in case you want to follow me somewhere that isn't owned by Twitter or Meta.

If Google does enable display output/launch desktop mode on the Pixel 8 series, then I hope they include a way to navigate on the external display that doesn't involve a physical mouse, in case you just want to hook your phone up to watch a video.

Many OEMs include a feature that lets you use your phone as a touchpad, and I recently learned of a third-party app on Google Play called "Real Mouse" that enables this on devices where that's not built-in.

The app needs shell-level privileges, which can be granted by running an ADB command or using Shizuku, in order to talk to the Linux kernel driver to act as a "real mouse" (hence the name).

Shown above: Real Mouse running on an ASUS ROG Phone 5, which supports display output but doesn't have a customized desktop mode UI.

(Other apps that use Shizuku in clever ways.)