The FCC filings for the Google Pixel 8 series went public the other day, and as Reddit user Starks points out, it seems both devices may support Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be).

Kamila Wojciechowska previously reported both devices will use Broadcom's BCM4389 chip, which supports Wi-Fi 7, so this isn't unexpected.

Sadly, UWB is once again missing from the non-Pro model, according to these FCC filings. Very strange omission if Google indeed plans on launching its own tracker tag. Plus, this may also mean some upcoming features like "hold close to cast" may also not be supported.

Google Home's new "home panel" feature has landed on the first non-Pixel device! Samsung Galaxy S23 devices on the second One UI 6 beta now have this feature which, as I previously reported, would be available to non-Pixel devices running Android 14.

Pixel devices gained support for the "home panel" in the June 2023 Pixel Feature Drop with Android 13 QPR3. For more context, see my previous post.

Samsung already implemented device-to-device eSIM transfer and pSIM-to-eSIM conversion into One UI!

Most of us thought this would only be coming to devices after Google rolled it out first on Pixel, but Samsung quietly implemented it in One UI 5.1 without many of us noticing.

Here are the steps to access these features:

eSIM transfer

1) Open Settings
2) Tap "Connections"
3) Tap "SIM manager"
4) Tap "add eSIM"
5) Tap "other ways to connect to a mobile network"
6) Tap "transfer SIM from another device"
7) Unlock your old Samsung device (must be running One UI 5.1+ and have a secure lock screen) and place it next to your new phone
8) Tap "Transfer" on your other device

pSIM-to-eSIM conversion:

1) Open Settings
2) Tap "Connections"
3) Tap "SIM manager"
4) Tap on settings for your physical SIM
5) Tap "convert to eSIM"

I haven't tested this myself; I really don't want to convert my physical SIM to an eSIM because it would be a pain to change devices, and eSIM transfer on Samsung devices right now only works between Samsung devices running One UI 5.1+. Still, the fact that these features are already here in One UI, and that nobody noticed them (or at least, I haven't seen any article reference them), is interesting!

(Thanks to Dylan Huynh for the tip!)

Google has released Wearable SDK version 18.1.0, bringing Phone Switching Support.

One of the major quality-of-life improvements in Wear OS 4 is the ability to migrate a watch to a new phone without factory resetting the watch!

To prepare for this, Google has released a new version of its Wearable Support Library. Developers of Wear OS apps can use the new NodeClient.OnNodeMigratedListener method to receive a "notification that a watch has migrated from a previous phone to this phone. This notification contains an archive of the data items written by the previous phone. You may inspect the data items in the archive and integrate them into your own data items."

Here's a summary of what else Google announced for Wear OS 4. And an overview of what's new in the Wear OS 4 Developer Preview.

The September 2023 Android Feature Drop is here! The Android Feature Drop is a roundup of new features in Google apps. The latest drop brings an updated At a Glance widget, new Android Auto apps, and improvements to Lookout, Wallet, and Routines. Here's a 🧵 about what's new:

Because this ALWAYS causes confusion, no, this is NOT the same thing as the Pixel Feature Drop. The Pixel Feature Drop is for new Pixel-exclusive features, while the Android Feature Drop is for new features in Google apps that are available to all Android devices.

1) The Google App's At a Glance widget is getting a visual revamp and new features. The widget will surface helpful information like weather alerts, travel updates, and event reminders. (Note: this is not the same At a Glance widget found on Pixel devices.)

2) With image Q&A, now out of closed beta, the Lookout app can automatically generate denoscriptions from images that have low quality captions or that don't have alt text at all. Users can then use their voice or type to ask questions about the image.

Lookout also now supports 11 new languages, including Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, bringing the total number of supported languages to 34.

3) Google Wallet now supports Pass photo import, letting you digitize any pass that has a barcode or QR code. You can, for example, upload an image of your gym or library card to store a digital version of it in Google Wallet.

4) Apps for Zoom and Webex by Cisco are coming to Android Auto, letting you join conference calls by audio and browse your meeting schedules right from your car display.

5) You can now get Assistant to automatically read out your activity and sleep data (from Fitbit or Google Fit) through a new action in personal Routines. For example, you can add the "get wellness info" action to the "Hey Google, good morning" routine.