TIL that some OEMs just ... didn't implement Android 13's per-app language feature, which lets users set a different language for each app!

OnePlus didn't add it in OxygenOS 13 (and I presume neither did OPPO in ColorOS 13) nor did Xiaomi in MIUI 14.

It's always hard to tell when a certain feature Google adds to Android is going to be available across all devices. I do my best to find out by looking at whether the feature is Pixel exclusive first (Google introduces some features they never explicitly say are Pixel only) then whether there's going to be a CDD/GMS requirement regarding it.

As far as I can tell, per-app language settings isn't mentioned anywhere in the CDD/GMS reqs, but I'm pretty sure most OEMs implemented it. I know Samsung, ASUS, and Nothing have, for example.

As for why OnePlus/OPPO and Xiaomi didn't implement this feature, I can only guess. Perhaps they encountered some issue they couldn't resolve or maybe they felt it wasn't worth supporting (it's in AOSP though so it's there by default).

In the case of OnePlus and I presume OPPO as well, at least they plan on adding this feature in their Android 14 update! Frequent OnePlus tipster @OneNormalUsername discovered that the closed beta of OxygenOS 14 has the per-app language feature. (Credits for the screenshot of per-app language settings in OxygenOS 14 go to Aamir Siddiqui.)

In the case of Xiaomi, I asked frequent tipster @kacskrz about it, but they said they aren't sure if the feature is coming in Android 14-based builds of MIUI. However, the per-app language settings are still there and can be launched manually through an activity launcher.

As an alternative, you can use the "Language Selector" app which uses the Shizuku library to gain shell user privileges to access the locale manager CLI.

Watch Unlock may not be exclusive to the Pixel Watch! It may also be available on Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 and earlier Galaxy Watch models!

Watch Unlock is an upcoming feature that will make it easier to unlock your phone when regular biometric authentication fails, like when your fingers are wet or face isn't recognized. When your watch is unlocked, on your wrist, and within reach of your phone, your watch will automatically unlock your phone when you swipe up on the lock screen.

Earlier today, 9to5Google spotted the listing for the Pixel Watch 2 on the Google Play Console's device catalog. The listing suggests the smartwatch will have Qualcomm's Snapdragon W5 chip, as previously rumored, as well as 2GB of RAM and run Android 13-based Wear OS 4.

But the listing also reveals that the Pixel Watch 2 will support "Active Unlock", the internal name for the Android 13 API that powers the upcoming Watch Unlock feature. It specifically declares the com.google.android.clockwork.active_unlock feature.

Using this as a filter in the Play Console, I discovered that the Galaxy Watch 6 series also declares the Active Unlock feature!

However, the earlier Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 series do not at this time. These watches will also likely support Active Unlock, however, once they upgrade to One UI Watch 5 based on Android 13, which should be rolling out soon. (In the Play Console, the Watch 4/5 series are both still listed as running Android 11, hence the updated software build has not yet been submitted to the console's database.)

Here's a first look at the setup process for Android's Find My Device network!

1) You'll get a notification asking you to "add this device to the Find My Device network"

2) You'll see an intro screen explaining how Find My Device can use the network "of over a billion Android devices" to store your devices' recent locations to help you locate your offline devices and accessories. Android devices in the network detect nearby items using Bluetooth.

By default, the network is used to locate devices in "high-traffic areas" only, which means location info sent by your device is only used "if others on the network also detect the item."

Device locations are encrypted using the lock screen of your Android devices and can only be seen by you and those you share your devices with in Find My Device.

3) You'll see a page asking you to enter the lock screen for another device that's already added to the network. In this case, I was asked to enter the PIN of my Pixel 6a whereas I was trying to opt in on my Pixel 7 Pro.

4) You're all set at this step, but you can go to settings to change how your device is located.

I don't have screenshots of the Find My Device network settings themselves, but @nailsad_eleos shared them earlier, so I also attached that to this post.

The Find My Device network hasn't rolled out yet, so it's possible this setup process could change before it does.

I'm most curious to see whether Find My Device network will remain opt-in or whether it'll be opt-out when it launches. If it's opt-in and requires the user accepting/seeing this notification, then I can imagine many people won't enable it.

However, if Google adds/mandates a toggle to be added to the setup wizards of Android devices that says something like "find your Android device when it's offline", and this toggle opts the device into the Find My Device network, then I can see this feature getting turned on a lot more. I believe that's how Apple does it as well.

Google is starting to migrate users from the Play Store version of the Health Connect app to the system one that's built into Android 14.

Recently, users on Android 14 who use health and fitness apps that sync with Health Connect have been getting notices (like the one shown above) that "the Health Connect (Beta) app is being integrated with the Android system" and that "[app] needs to be updated to continue syncing with Health Connect."

A few users trying to set up the WHOOP app to use Health Connect have received this notice, but since that app hasn't been updated yet to support the new system version of Health Connect, users aren't able to grant the app permission to read/write data to Health Connect.

Once Whoop issues an update (and other apps affected by this), this problem should go away. Also, after completing the data migration, you should be able to disable the Play Store version of Health Connect.

More info on the Health Connect migration plan.

Shown above is one half of what Google is bringing to Android phones: device-to-device eSIM profile transfers through QR code scanning.

You'll also be able to "convert" a pSIM into an eSIM, but this will require carrier backend support (starting with T-Mobile/Deutsche Telekom). Converting a pSIM to an eSIM might involve permanently disabling the pSIM after the transfer is done, from what I hear.

H/T AssembleDebug for the initial discovery of this activity.

(The above screenshots come from the EsimTransferSourceActivity and EsimTransferHalfSheetActivity activities within Google Play Services. However, the actual eSIM transfer process likely won't work unless we get an updated version of the SIM Manager app on Pixel.)