#News
Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset to get new naming scheme
Qualcomm
Although Google may have released their own chipset Google Tensor on the Pixel 6, the upcoming Pixel 6a could be once again powered by a Snapdragon chip, and Qualcomm is set to giving its future flagship chipset a new naming scheme.
First, they said "Snapdragon" will be a standalone product brand, no more Qualcomm branding at the front. Next, they are switching to a single-digit series and generation number, starting with their Snapdragon 8-series.
And they also announced several other changes to their brand. Their premium-tier products will be using Gold as representative color, while other colors include Midnight, Gunmetal, Nickel and Snapdragon Red. They also said the “fireball” icon will “gain new prominence.” There also will no longer be a 5G naming at the back as all of their upcoming chipsets will be including it.
Not sure what Google is planning with their upcoming mid range A-series Pixel phones, but anyway time will tell.
Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset to get new naming scheme
Qualcomm
Although Google may have released their own chipset Google Tensor on the Pixel 6, the upcoming Pixel 6a could be once again powered by a Snapdragon chip, and Qualcomm is set to giving its future flagship chipset a new naming scheme.
First, they said "Snapdragon" will be a standalone product brand, no more Qualcomm branding at the front. Next, they are switching to a single-digit series and generation number, starting with their Snapdragon 8-series.
And they also announced several other changes to their brand. Their premium-tier products will be using Gold as representative color, while other colors include Midnight, Gunmetal, Nickel and Snapdragon Red. They also said the “fireball” icon will “gain new prominence.” There also will no longer be a 5G naming at the back as all of their upcoming chipsets will be including it.
Not sure what Google is planning with their upcoming mid range A-series Pixel phones, but anyway time will tell.
Qualcomm
Welcome to the new era of Snapdragon [video]
There's a new look and feel coming for Snapdragon...
#Pixel
Google added favourite songs feature in Now Playing
9To5Google
Now Playing on Pixel, which can identify what music is playing in the background without Internet, is set to gain favourite song feature.
Past record of the music list will now appear in the "History" tab, and you will see there a heart button at the right side, tapping on it reveal a sheet which also show the heart button too. Saving as favourite is also possible via “note next to the track name on your Lock Screen” and the “heart icon in a Now Playing notification.”
As the name suggested, the "Favourite" tab will store all of your songs that you have favourite. The changes is spotted in the Android System Intelligence S10 update for the Pixel 6, which also include the new At A Glance feature, but currently all these features aren't rollout yet.
Google added favourite songs feature in Now Playing
9To5Google
Now Playing on Pixel, which can identify what music is playing in the background without Internet, is set to gain favourite song feature.
Past record of the music list will now appear in the "History" tab, and you will see there a heart button at the right side, tapping on it reveal a sheet which also show the heart button too. Saving as favourite is also possible via “note next to the track name on your Lock Screen” and the “heart icon in a Now Playing notification.”
As the name suggested, the "Favourite" tab will store all of your songs that you have favourite. The changes is spotted in the Android System Intelligence S10 update for the Pixel 6, which also include the new At A Glance feature, but currently all these features aren't rollout yet.
#Pixel
The upgraded version of At A Glance is more powerful than you thought
Android Police
Earlier 9To5Google did an APK teardown of the Android System Intelligence app and found out that Google is preparing an upgraded "At A Glance" which will do much more thing, and Kieron Quinn manage to enable the feature and show how it works.
Google seems to renaming At A Glance to "Smartspace," and as we mentioned earlier, there will be toggle to whether enable certain stuff to show in Smartspace or not. By the way, Kieron Quinn get to enable it and show us an early preview of how the new Smartspace works.
Beside showing on your home screen after unlocked, you can also access it in your lock screen too (and guess what, Google kind of brought back the lock screen widget). You can swipe across to access different cards.
Kieron Quinn shares much more screenshots of how it work in his Twitter (3rd video link), and that just the tip of the iceberg. Excited to see how it works when it start to roll out.
The upgraded version of At A Glance is more powerful than you thought
Android Police
Earlier 9To5Google did an APK teardown of the Android System Intelligence app and found out that Google is preparing an upgraded "At A Glance" which will do much more thing, and Kieron Quinn manage to enable the feature and show how it works.
Google seems to renaming At A Glance to "Smartspace," and as we mentioned earlier, there will be toggle to whether enable certain stuff to show in Smartspace or not. By the way, Kieron Quinn get to enable it and show us an early preview of how the new Smartspace works.
Beside showing on your home screen after unlocked, you can also access it in your lock screen too (and guess what, Google kind of brought back the lock screen widget). You can swipe across to access different cards.
Kieron Quinn shares much more screenshots of how it work in his Twitter (3rd video link), and that just the tip of the iceberg. Excited to see how it works when it start to roll out.
#Android
Latest Android version distribution shows Android 10 still have more users than Android 11
Android Police
It just too bad to see Google discontinued updating public dashboard of the Android version distribution. Anyway, Google is still updating in the Android Studio and here how the numbers look like.
Recently, Google just updated the statistics and 9To5Google estimated the data is about 3 weeks old. The latest data shows that Android 11 has 24.3% of users, slightly less than Android 10, holding 26.5%. For now, Android 12 is not being included in the list yet.
Pie and Oreo still got over 10% of market share respectively. Less than 1% of active Android phones are still running Android Jelly Bean, and Google is planning to kill it off soon, starting with no Play Service update which is done in August.
Latest Android version distribution shows Android 10 still have more users than Android 11
Android Police
It just too bad to see Google discontinued updating public dashboard of the Android version distribution. Anyway, Google is still updating in the Android Studio and here how the numbers look like.
Recently, Google just updated the statistics and 9To5Google estimated the data is about 3 weeks old. The latest data shows that Android 11 has 24.3% of users, slightly less than Android 10, holding 26.5%. For now, Android 12 is not being included in the list yet.
Pie and Oreo still got over 10% of market share respectively. Less than 1% of active Android phones are still running Android Jelly Bean, and Google is planning to kill it off soon, starting with no Play Service update which is done in August.
#Pixel6a
Google Pixel 6a could be powered by Google Tensor
9To5Google
After the Pixel 6, we are expecting Google to release Pixel 6a next year. Earlier 91mobiles release the render of how it would look like, and here are some of the specs it could be having.
9To5Google did an APK teardown of the Camera app, and found out that the Pixel 6a could be having these cameras:
• Primary: 12.2MP Sony IMX363
• Ultrawide: 12-megapixel IMX386
• Front: 8-megapixel IMX355
Well, you might noticed that Google is reusing the 12.2MP camera module that is used way back since the Pixel 2, and have identical ultrawide and front camera as the Pixel 6. Also 9To5Google found evidence of Google Tensor GS101 chip somewhere else.
The rumored Pixel Fold is also expected to have similar camera specs, but end out being canceled by Google. Anyway, hope Google can launch it in more countries instead of limiting to just two like the Pixel 5a.
Google Pixel 6a could be powered by Google Tensor
9To5Google
After the Pixel 6, we are expecting Google to release Pixel 6a next year. Earlier 91mobiles release the render of how it would look like, and here are some of the specs it could be having.
9To5Google did an APK teardown of the Camera app, and found out that the Pixel 6a could be having these cameras:
• Primary: 12.2MP Sony IMX363
• Ultrawide: 12-megapixel IMX386
• Front: 8-megapixel IMX355
Well, you might noticed that Google is reusing the 12.2MP camera module that is used way back since the Pixel 2, and have identical ultrawide and front camera as the Pixel 6. Also 9To5Google found evidence of Google Tensor GS101 chip somewhere else.
The rumored Pixel Fold is also expected to have similar camera specs, but end out being canceled by Google. Anyway, hope Google can launch it in more countries instead of limiting to just two like the Pixel 5a.
9to5Google
Google Pixel 6a will run on a Tensor chip, but a lesser camera than Pixel 6
We've uncovered the first specs for the Pixel 6a, including its Google Tensor chip and how the cameras will be a downgrade from the Pixel 6.
#Accessibility
Google's accessibility app 'Look to Speak' gain 17 new languages support
Android Police
Look to Speak is an accessibility tool by Google, which can help disabilities to use eyes and communicate their phone. Recently the app has received an update, adding 17 languages support into the app.
These are the 17 languages that are being added into the app: Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic), Bengali, German, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (LatAm), French, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Portuguese, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Vietnamese.
Look to Speak use machine learning algorithms that track a person's eye movements using the front camera. Moving your eye to certain directions let you select text and the phone will speak out loud for you. You can also add more vocabulary into the app manually. It available on the Play Store for all Android devices running Android 9 and higher.
Google's accessibility app 'Look to Speak' gain 17 new languages support
Android Police
Look to Speak is an accessibility tool by Google, which can help disabilities to use eyes and communicate their phone. Recently the app has received an update, adding 17 languages support into the app.
These are the 17 languages that are being added into the app: Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic), Bengali, German, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (LatAm), French, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Portuguese, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Vietnamese.
Look to Speak use machine learning algorithms that track a person's eye movements using the front camera. Moving your eye to certain directions let you select text and the phone will speak out loud for you. You can also add more vocabulary into the app manually. It available on the Play Store for all Android devices running Android 9 and higher.
Android Police
Google's incredible 'Look to Speak' app now works with more languages
Allowing you to use nothing but your eyes to communicate, if everything else fails
#Chrome
Chrome will soon add support for images and video with 'copy link to highlight' feature
Android Police
Copy link to highlight is a great way to share some text that you want your recipients to know directly. The Chrome team might be planning to add support for highlighting media too.
Spotted by Chrome Story, the flag is given the name "CSS selector fragment anchors" (
"Similar to text directives, CSS selector directives can be specified in a URL which is to be scrolled into view and highlighted."
This is similar concept to highlighting text, and soon you will be able to point where the media in a long article or webpage that are large. The changes are merged as spotted in the commit, and you can learn more over at GitHub on how it works.
*Just tested it. So far, it add support to jump to the media and sharing highlighted media link (not working for now).
Chrome will soon add support for images and video with 'copy link to highlight' feature
Android Police
Copy link to highlight is a great way to share some text that you want your recipients to know directly. The Chrome team might be planning to add support for highlighting media too.
Spotted by Chrome Story, the flag is given the name "CSS selector fragment anchors" (
chrome://flags/#enable-css-selector-fragment-anchor). Here is what written in the denoscription:"Similar to text directives, CSS selector directives can be specified in a URL which is to be scrolled into view and highlighted."
This is similar concept to highlighting text, and soon you will be able to point where the media in a long article or webpage that are large. The changes are merged as spotted in the commit, and you can learn more over at GitHub on how it works.
*Just tested it. So far, it add support to jump to the media and sharing highlighted media link (not working for now).
#Chrome
Google Chrome on Windows might get much more personalise with expanded support of accent color
XDA Developers
It seems like Google Chrome for Windows might get more colorful and personalise as Google is adding more accent color support for other parts of the UI in the browser.
Google has been using blue as default accent color on almost any of their applications, including Chrome desktop. Spotted by Leopeva64, soon you will see parts like buttons, focus rings, text selection background, and other following the accent color of your Windows operating system. So far, this feature isn't live yet.
Besides that, you can also read articles in the side panel. Sites that support Chrome's Reader Mode will show you an option in the small window and you can continue to read it while jumping to other tabs. It is available on the Canary build for a while.
Google Chrome on Windows might get much more personalise with expanded support of accent color
XDA Developers
It seems like Google Chrome for Windows might get more colorful and personalise as Google is adding more accent color support for other parts of the UI in the browser.
Google has been using blue as default accent color on almost any of their applications, including Chrome desktop. Spotted by Leopeva64, soon you will see parts like buttons, focus rings, text selection background, and other following the accent color of your Windows operating system. So far, this feature isn't live yet.
Besides that, you can also read articles in the side panel. Sites that support Chrome's Reader Mode will show you an option in the small window and you can continue to read it while jumping to other tabs. It is available on the Canary build for a while.
#YouTube
YouTube is starting to add support for unlimited Shorts scroll feed in desktop web experience
UPDATE: Sidebar menu option is live for some now.
YouTube Shorts is slowly evolving and has been available on the mobile app for awhile. Now it is starting to make it ways to the desktop web version.
When sharing a YouTube Shorts link, you might noticed the link starts with youtube.com/shorts, and opening on the desktop will now show you a TikTok similar scroll feed page. For now, you will need to open a YouTube Shorts video link in order to get access to the page.
The link in the address bar changes as you scroll through the video feed. Comments and denoscription section are open up in a popup box. Hovering over the video shows you play/pause button and also a simple mute toggle button.
If you want to check out with the experience, try with this link.
Follow @PixelHubUpdates
YouTube is starting to add support for unlimited Shorts scroll feed in desktop web experience
UPDATE: Sidebar menu option is live for some now.
YouTube Shorts is slowly evolving and has been available on the mobile app for awhile. Now it is starting to make it ways to the desktop web version.
When sharing a YouTube Shorts link, you might noticed the link starts with youtube.com/shorts, and opening on the desktop will now show you a TikTok similar scroll feed page. For now, you will need to open a YouTube Shorts video link in order to get access to the page.
The link in the address bar changes as you scroll through the video feed. Comments and denoscription section are open up in a popup box. Hovering over the video shows you play/pause button and also a simple mute toggle button.
If you want to check out with the experience, try with this link.
Follow @PixelHubUpdates
#News #Pixel6
Pixel 6 received its first custom ROM
Download (ProtonAOSP v12.1.0)
Good news, Google Pixel 6 early custom ROM development has kicked off after one month of being released.
ProtonAOSP is the first ROM made available for Pixel 6 & Pixel 6 Pro, made by well-known developer @kdrag0n. The new v12.1.0 update bring support and also several improvements to the device. Improvements for the device includes faster unlock speed for fingerprint sensor by 50ms, better signal retention for 5 GHz Wi-Fi and lower background memory usage.
ProtonAOSP 12.1.0 brings update to Pixel 4, 4 XL, 4a 5G and 5. At the time of writing, the update is only opened to patrons, public builds will be available in about a week time. By the way, as Pixel 6 development is slowly building up, if you want to receive those updates, consider following @Pixel6Updates too.
Pixel 6 received its first custom ROM
Download (ProtonAOSP v12.1.0)
Good news, Google Pixel 6 early custom ROM development has kicked off after one month of being released.
ProtonAOSP is the first ROM made available for Pixel 6 & Pixel 6 Pro, made by well-known developer @kdrag0n. The new v12.1.0 update bring support and also several improvements to the device. Improvements for the device includes faster unlock speed for fingerprint sensor by 50ms, better signal retention for 5 GHz Wi-Fi and lower background memory usage.
ProtonAOSP 12.1.0 brings update to Pixel 4, 4 XL, 4a 5G and 5. At the time of writing, the update is only opened to patrons, public builds will be available in about a week time. By the way, as Pixel 6 development is slowly building up, if you want to receive those updates, consider following @Pixel6Updates too.
#Google
Google App is the 5th app in Play Store to cross 10 billion downloads milestone
We have Google Play Services, YouTube crossing 10 billion installs milestone earlier this year. Maps and Speech Services just recently passed it a few weeks ago, and guess what, Google app is the 5th app to join the elite club of apps which reached 10 billion downloads milestone.
The Google app powered a lot of stuff, like being your Assistant, or scan things around you with Lens, and most importantly, it the place where you can search for info around the world. It also includes AR features, Podcast service, search for songs and probably much more.
More and more Google applications that are preinstalled on various Android phones starting to cross the 10 billion installs mark, so expect to see more of it reaching the milestone in the coming months.
Follow @PixelHubUpdates
Google App is the 5th app in Play Store to cross 10 billion downloads milestone
We have Google Play Services, YouTube crossing 10 billion installs milestone earlier this year. Maps and Speech Services just recently passed it a few weeks ago, and guess what, Google app is the 5th app to join the elite club of apps which reached 10 billion downloads milestone.
The Google app powered a lot of stuff, like being your Assistant, or scan things around you with Lens, and most importantly, it the place where you can search for info around the world. It also includes AR features, Podcast service, search for songs and probably much more.
More and more Google applications that are preinstalled on various Android phones starting to cross the 10 billion installs mark, so expect to see more of it reaching the milestone in the coming months.
Follow @PixelHubUpdates
#YouTube
YouTube is testing out video settings menu with icons addition on desktop web
YouTube desktop web version seems to be gaining icons addition beside video settings menu options.
As you can see from the images attached, all available options are having an icon on the left side. All the icons are using the art-line icons which YouTube is using across over its website too. It is currently rolling out via server side for now.
Follow @PixelHubUpdates
YouTube is testing out video settings menu with icons addition on desktop web
YouTube desktop web version seems to be gaining icons addition beside video settings menu options.
As you can see from the images attached, all available options are having an icon on the left side. All the icons are using the art-line icons which YouTube is using across over its website too. It is currently rolling out via server side for now.
Follow @PixelHubUpdates