Announcement

By the way, we are also going to post Pixel 6a updates on our existing Pixel 6 Chat/Channel so if you're interested, consider joining it
@Pixel6Updates

#Android #A13
Android 13 will let you know whether you are triggering the Back action better
Android Developers (YouTube)

Some people didn't prefer to use gesture navigation on their Android devices till today as sometimes you could accidentally trigger the wrong action. Google has further improved it in Android 13 to let users know whether you are really triggering the Back action or not.

When using the Back action, you will see the app is ready to quit to home screen animation. Applications that target Android 14 (SDK 34) will have the feature enabled by default, whereas targeting Android 13 requires enabling the optional flag <application android:enabledOnBackInvolvedCallback="true"> in order to have the feature.

Starting Android 13, this particular feature is available and you will be able to see it in applications that have enabled the feature.

#Pixel6a
First cases for the Pixel 6a are being released

The Canadian phone accessory maker dbrand, known for their Grip series of cases and vinyl skins has announced a preorder for their gear for the Google Pixel 6a shipping August 2022.

If you're interested in purchasing them, here are the links:
dbrand.com/6a-skins
dbrand.com/6a-cases

Other manufacturers also released their phone cases like:
Spigen: spigen.co/pixel6a
Caseology: caseologycases.com/collections/google-pixel-6a

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

If you're trying to root your Pixel running Android 13 Beta 2, use the latest Magisk Canary as it has the fix for it to work properly

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/topjohnwu/magisk-files/canary/app-debug.apk

(thanks to @Aspheric for the information 🥰)

#AndroidTV #A13
Android 13 Beta 2 for TV released
Esper Blog

A week ago, Google silently released the first Android 13 beta build for TV, and alongside Pixel devices receiving Beta 2 builds, Google has also released it for TV as well.

Detailed changes can be viewed by checking the images below for better understanding or here for all the technical explanations. Here's a quick glance of what's new:
• Accessibility audio denoscription
• Expanded picture-in-picture mode
• HDMI state changes are surfaced to the MediaSession lifecycle
• Keep clear APIs
• Keyboard layouts API
• Picture-in-picture mode support comes to Google TV

If you would like to try it out, you would need to get ADT-3 Developer Kit or use the Android Emulator to do so. Builds can be downloaded over here.

#Pixel6a
Pixel 6a bound to have a different fingerprint sensor than the Pixel 6/6 Pro
Android Central

According to this Rick Osterloh, the senior vice president of devices and services at Google, confirmed to Android Central that the latest mid-range smartphone from Google will feature a different fingerprint sensor.

We don't know the exact details yet, but let's hope that Google learned after their mistakes and it's going to be better than the one present in the Pixel 6 series as a lot of people complained about its speed or accuracy although it got better over time with updates.

#Pixel6a
Official Google plastic cases will be available for the Pixel 6a
9To5Google

Sadly, it seems like Google has killed their fan favorite Fabric cases in favor of the eco plastic cases featuring 30% of recycled plastic as they confirmed it being available for the Pixel 6a.

Like with the Pixel 6, Google will make matching cases to the Pixel 6a in translucent Black, White and Green colors. They could cost $29 like their Pixel 6/6 Pro cases.

*example photo, the Pixel 6a version should look similar

#PlayStore #MY
Google Play Store Material You redesign arrives on older Android versions
With the release of Android 12, Google has introduced Material You. After opening the Play Store, you are treated with the new Material You design. Finally a few months later, the Material You redesign for the Play Store is rolling out for devices running Android 11 or older.

The default green accent now has been changed from green to blue as you might have noticed.

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

#Android #A13
Fix for the Android 13 Beta 2 display flashing when put to sleep bug

Some people running Android 13 Beta 2 have noticed a bug when pressing the power button to put the phone to sleep, the display lights up again showing the lockscreen before finally turning going off after a few seconds.

There's a workaround to fix this issue though in
Settings > Security > Screen lock gear > Untick "Power button instantly locks".

Alternatively to fix this issue you can disable Tap to Wake from the display settings so the device would lock instantly and not have to rely on display timeout.

Thanks to u/IllAd731, enerGy and @DazeOne for the news, appreciate it 🙏

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

#Pixel #Android #A13
A Magisk hotfix for Pixels running Android 13 Beta 2 is coming soon!

Turns out there is a bug in magiskboot's vbmeta structure extraction logic, which is the cause of the requirement of disabling vbmeta verity manually in fastboot (or else bootloop). Fix coming soon...

We'll update the post when the update comes.

https://twitter.com/topjohnwu/status/1525034917670756353
(thanks to @Aspheric again for the info ❤️)

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

#Pixel6a
Pixel 6a prices and color variants around the world
9To5Google

Here's a list of all countries with a price comparison to USD and color variants available of the Pixel 6a in such region:

• Australia – AU$749 | 516 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• Canada – CA$599 | 460 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• France, Germany, Italy, Spain – €459 | 477 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• Japan – ￥53,900 | 419 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• Republic of Ireland – €459 | 477 USD
Colors: Charcoal
• Singapore – SGD 749 | 537 USD
Colors: Charcoal
• Taiwan – NTD$13,990 | 469 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• United Kingdom £399 | 498 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• United States – $449
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal

Surprisingly, Japan has the cheapest prices with all the colors being available and Singapore is the most expensive at 537 USD. India is not on the list as the device will be available there later in the year.

* conversion rates are rounded up. prices checked 9:00 AM GMT on 13th of May 2022

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

The update is live! The changes have been pushed to GitHub with the latest Canary build having this hotfix.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/topjohnwu/magisk-files/canary/app-debug.apk

#PixelWatch
Google Pixel Watch rumored to run on the same chip as 2018 Galaxy Watch + bonus Google rant
9To5Google

Google has a bad habit of reusing old hardware in new devices, like the rear Sony IMX 363 sensor from the Pixel 2 being in the Pixel 6a.

This time they have fully decided to use the WearOS partnership with Samsung allegedly by using a 4 year old chip in their watch.

Although the Exynos 9110 chip is using a thinner process (10nm) than the latest Qualcomm chip (12nm), its no match to the Exynos W920 (5nm) used in the Galaxy Watch 4.

With the launch of the W920, Samsung claimed “CPU performance around 20-percent and ten times better graphics performance than its predecessor.”

<rant>
Let's hope that the magic Google software isn't rushed and over time they fix all issues just like on the Pixel 6... oh wait while the software is fine now, the modem is still garbage and Tensor 1 is basically an Exynos 990 from 2020.

Sadly the bar is low as the Pixel 5 ran a midrange chip and before the collab WearOS devices ran the Qualcomm Wear 3100 with cores from 2011 so it's gonna be a big jump that's still far from desired. (i have a fossil sport with it. will never buy a qcom powered watch again)

Only if OEMs could slightly change their existing devices for them run Google's software. Maybe you could call these devices "Nexus", or just have OEM hardware run Google's software, "Google Play edition"

Apologies for the long post, i tried to add a hyperlink and accidentally deleted it whole making me rewrite the whole thing adding more to it.
</rant>