Mishaal's Android News Feed
Waze is apparently coming to Android Automotive OS as soon as next month! An admin on the Waze Suggestion Box forum said they're working on making it available, and a business development manager from Renault said they're expecting it to launch by the end…
Waze is now available on Android Automotive, starting with the Renault Austral Hybrid and Renault Megane E-Tech EVs. You can download it from Google Play or from the My Renault mobile app.
I downloaded the Waze app for AAOS through Google Play even though I don't have a Renault EV (or a build that pretends to be one), so it seems the current listing isn't restricted to Renault's EVs?
(GPS is still semi-broken on this ROM/device, so I can't actually use it lol.)
I downloaded the Waze app for AAOS through Google Play even though I don't have a Renault EV (or a build that pretends to be one), so it seems the current listing isn't restricted to Renault's EVs?
(GPS is still semi-broken on this ROM/device, so I can't actually use it lol.)
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
New features in the December 2022 Pixel Feature Drop: - Clear Calling (Pixel 7) - Speaker labels in Google Recorder (Pixel 6 onward) - Free VPN by Google One (Pixel 7) - New Curated Culture wallpapers (all) - Unified search expands to all Pixels - Safety…
Spatial audio with head tracking is available starting in Android 13 QPR1, thanks to the new audio pipeline architecture and sensor framework integration.
The Pixel 6 and 7 series received QPR1 yesterday, but spatial audio with head tracking support isn't available yet when connected to the Pixel Buds Pro as Google says this feature will roll out next month. It's likely the reason for the wait is that the Pixel Buds Pro will need a firmware update.
For head tracking to work, the headset needs to report head pose information following Android's Head Tracker HID Protocol. Also, a low-latency codec needs to be used, as head-tracking latency must not >150ms for the experience to be good. Google will likely be using Opus; QPR1 added support for it over A2DP.
However, it's not clear if the Buds Pro currently support Opus decoding, and a firmware update may be needed to enable this as well as support for sending out that head pose information.
When it does roll out, Google says that spatial audio will initially be supported with movies from Netflix, YouTube, Google TV, and HBOMax that have 5.1 or higher audio tracks. Google recommends using content marked as Dolby audio, 5.1 or Dolby atmos.
Head tracking isn't enabled by default, though. You'll have to navigate to Settings > Connected devices > Pixel Buds Pro > Settings > Head tracking to turn it on, as shown below.
The Pixel 6 and 7 series received QPR1 yesterday, but spatial audio with head tracking support isn't available yet when connected to the Pixel Buds Pro as Google says this feature will roll out next month. It's likely the reason for the wait is that the Pixel Buds Pro will need a firmware update.
For head tracking to work, the headset needs to report head pose information following Android's Head Tracker HID Protocol. Also, a low-latency codec needs to be used, as head-tracking latency must not >150ms for the experience to be good. Google will likely be using Opus; QPR1 added support for it over A2DP.
However, it's not clear if the Buds Pro currently support Opus decoding, and a firmware update may be needed to enable this as well as support for sending out that head pose information.
When it does roll out, Google says that spatial audio will initially be supported with movies from Netflix, YouTube, Google TV, and HBOMax that have 5.1 or higher audio tracks. Google recommends using content marked as Dolby audio, 5.1 or Dolby atmos.
Head tracking isn't enabled by default, though. You'll have to navigate to Settings > Connected devices > Pixel Buds Pro > Settings > Head tracking to turn it on, as shown below.
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This is why I wasn't too sad when I bricked my ADT-3. I had already heard the ADT-4 was coming with these specs 😆
This upgrade is long overdue. Android TV 10 mandated launch devices to support AV1 decoding, which the ADT-3 does not support. More recently, Android TV 13 added a bunch of features/APIs related to terrestrial broadcasting, so a device like this is needed to test.
This upgrade is long overdue. Android TV 10 mandated launch devices to support AV1 decoding, which the ADT-3 does not support. More recently, Android TV 13 added a bunch of features/APIs related to terrestrial broadcasting, so a device like this is needed to test.
9to5Google
Sources: Google preparing 'ADT-4' developer box for Android TV with upgraded specs
After the ADT-3 was discontinued, we've found evidence that Google will start pushing ADT-4 in the near future.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
New features in the December 2022 Pixel Feature Drop: - Clear Calling (Pixel 7) - Speaker labels in Google Recorder (Pixel 6 onward) - Free VPN by Google One (Pixel 7) - New Curated Culture wallpapers (all) - Unified search expands to all Pixels - Safety…
To address some confusion I've seen: the new unified security & privacy settings that Google announced in the latest Pixel Feature Drop will NOT be Pixel-exclusive. It will roll out to other devices running Android 13 eventually. Google mentioned this during the launch of the Pixel 7, as I noted in this article.
As many users have noted, though, the unified security & privacy settings page hasn't actually rolled out to Pixels despite Google's announcement. It's controlled by a flag, which you can toggle using ADB:
adb shell cmd device_config put privacy safety_center_is_enabled true
The new unified security & privacy settings page (called Safety Center internally) is part of the Project Mainline module called PermissionController, which is required on all devices. That's how it'll be available on all Android 13 devices eventually.
As many users have noted, though, the unified security & privacy settings page hasn't actually rolled out to Pixels despite Google's announcement. It's controlled by a flag, which you can toggle using ADB:
adb shell cmd device_config put privacy safety_center_is_enabled true
The new unified security & privacy settings page (called Safety Center internally) is part of the Project Mainline module called PermissionController, which is required on all devices. That's how it'll be available on all Android 13 devices eventually.
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In Android 13 QPR1, the airplane mode behavior has changed. When you first turn on airplane mode, both Wi-Fi AND Bluetooth are turned off. If you then turn either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth back on (or both), Android will remember that choice the next time you turn on airplane mode.
This change shouldn't be exclusive to Pixels. It's part of the set of changes tagged "APM enhancement" in AOSP. The relevant changes in the Bluetooth and WiFi modules are available in AOSP.
(The Bluetooth module isn't updatable outside of an OTA update in Android 13, whereas the WiFi module is. The Bluetooth module will become updatable in Android 14, though.)
Power users might know that Android already offers a setting to control which radios should be toggled when airplane mode is enabled. However, it requires an ADB command to change.
Since Android 11, BT wouldn't be turned off when airplane was enabled. The APM enhancement in Android 13 adds WiFi as a radio you can keep on, lets you choose whether WiFi/BT should be kept on, and adds a helpful notification that leads to a support page.
Image credits: 9to5Google.
This change shouldn't be exclusive to Pixels. It's part of the set of changes tagged "APM enhancement" in AOSP. The relevant changes in the Bluetooth and WiFi modules are available in AOSP.
(The Bluetooth module isn't updatable outside of an OTA update in Android 13, whereas the WiFi module is. The Bluetooth module will become updatable in Android 14, though.)
Power users might know that Android already offers a setting to control which radios should be toggled when airplane mode is enabled. However, it requires an ADB command to change.
Since Android 11, BT wouldn't be turned off when airplane was enabled. The APM enhancement in Android 13 adds WiFi as a radio you can keep on, lets you choose whether WiFi/BT should be kept on, and adds a helpful notification that leads to a support page.
Image credits: 9to5Google.
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The Google Play Store's new "Download Buddy" feature will roll out with version 33.5 of the app, according to the "what's new in Google System Updates" page!
This feature was first spotted by @AssembleDebug two months back, and it basically lets you view the progress of apps you're downloading while you're browsing the Play Store. Here's a video of it in action.
When it rolls out, there will be a "show download progress" toggle that controls this feature under the Play Store's "Notification settings". Its denoscription reads: "Show a small indicator of download progress when using Google Play."
(Screenshot credits: AssembleDebug)
This feature was first spotted by @AssembleDebug two months back, and it basically lets you view the progress of apps you're downloading while you're browsing the Play Store. Here's a video of it in action.
When it rolls out, there will be a "show download progress" toggle that controls this feature under the Play Store's "Notification settings". Its denoscription reads: "Show a small indicator of download progress when using Google Play."
(Screenshot credits: AssembleDebug)
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
The Google Play Store's new "Download Buddy" feature will roll out with version 33.5 of the app, according to the "what's new in Google System Updates" page! This feature was first spotted by @AssembleDebug two months back, and it basically lets you view…
Newer screenshots showing the feature in action, as well as the updated text for the feature's settings toggle, courtesy of @AssembleDebug.
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Features sometimes disappear in Android without any explanation. Android 11 introduced IORap (I/O Read Ahead Process), a feature that improves app startup times by predicting which I/O will be required and doing it ahead of time. IORap was silently removed in Android 13.
The cool thing about IORap is that app startup times would be improved without developers needing to make any changes to their apps. You can read about how it worked in this blog post from AndroidDev. IORap was also brought up by the Android engineering team during their annual AMA on /r/AndroidDev.
It was brought to my attention the other day (by arter97 on Twitter) that this feature was removed from Android recently. I looked/asked around and couldn't find out why. If you know why, let me know!
Here's the AOSP commit in question.
EDIT: The bug reported in this Issue Tracker post may be related to why IORap was removed. The exact reasoning still isn't clear, but the timing and the statement at the end line up.
The cool thing about IORap is that app startup times would be improved without developers needing to make any changes to their apps. You can read about how it worked in this blog post from AndroidDev. IORap was also brought up by the Android engineering team during their annual AMA on /r/AndroidDev.
It was brought to my attention the other day (by arter97 on Twitter) that this feature was removed from Android recently. I looked/asked around and couldn't find out why. If you know why, let me know!
Here's the AOSP commit in question.
EDIT: The bug reported in this Issue Tracker post may be related to why IORap was removed. The exact reasoning still isn't clear, but the timing and the statement at the end line up.
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Finally get to experience Android 13 on an OEM device in my possession, thanks to ASUS rolling it out to the Zenfone 9 today. It isn't based on the recent Android 13 QPR1 release, but it does have the latest December 2022 security patches!
Like I said the other day, the new unified Security & Privacy settings won't be exclusive to Pixels. I had to manually enable it using the shell command I mentioned before, but here it is on the Zenfone 9.
Like I said the other day, the new unified Security & Privacy settings won't be exclusive to Pixels. I had to manually enable it using the shell command I mentioned before, but here it is on the Zenfone 9.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
Finally get to experience Android 13 on an OEM device in my possession, thanks to ASUS rolling it out to the Zenfone 9 today. It isn't based on the recent Android 13 QPR1 release, but it does have the latest December 2022 security patches! Like I said the…
Let's see what Google thinks are the most important Android 13 features to introduce users to! This "Welcome to Android 13" notification is part of the "Android Upgrade Party" initiative I mention in this article.
1) Runtime permission for notifications
2) Cross-device copy/paste
3) Photo Picker
4) Update media player
5) Per-app languages
1) Runtime permission for notifications
2) Cross-device copy/paste
3) Photo Picker
4) Update media player
5) Per-app languages
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