Google's Manifest V3 changes will BLOCK uBlock Origin on Chromium based browsers

uBlock Origin is one of the BEST ad blocker extensions for Google Chrome

Google will now deprecate Manifest V2 & roll out Manifest V3, allowing Chrome to restrict APIs & features to reduce negative impact & fix security issues caused by older API's

Google will deprecate Web Request API in Manifest V3 because it's pretty dangerous since extensions could access & modify ALL the data in a network request, basically changing everything that a user could do on the web

Now, Declarative Net Request API will become the primary way as the extensions cannot access all the network information.

But uBlock Origin uses the Web Request API to perform their ad-blocking functions
So, deprecating Web Request API will KILL uBlock Origin.

Although, uBlock Origin Lite exist & is even Manifest V3-compliant but it is NOT as powerful as uBlock Origin

Note: This APPLIES to Chromium based browsers as well

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YouTube is getting into games, too

YouTube is offering its Premium members, access to a set of online games that can be directly played on either the mobile app or the desktop app.

This was an experimental feature for YouTube premium users back in September and is now available for ALL premium subscribers

There are a total of 37 mini-games available to play that effectively live inside the YouTube app — there’s NO need to download or install them.

Premium members can find the full library of games under the “Playables” section in the Explore tab.

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#Pixel #FeatureDrop
December 2023 Feature Drop is out!

Google has announced new features on Pixel devices:
• Balance Light in Google Photos Portrait light tool
• Clock app now shows the weather
• Clear Calling on Pixel Tablet
• Clean feature to remove smudges, stains and creases in documents
• Photo Unblur is better at sharpening cats and dogs
• Repair mode protects your data when sending your device to a repair shop

• Google Assistant will suggest contextual replies in Call Screen (Tensor only)
• Pixel can be used as a desktop webcam (Tensor only)
• Dual Screen Preview lets you project what you're seeing in your inner screen on the outside (Pixel Fold)
• Night Sight Timelapse for detailed timelapses at night (Pixel 8/8 Pro)
• Video Boost to enhance video quality using Google's cloud (Pixel 8 Pro)
• Night Sight Video for rich detail and color in low light (Pixel 8 Pro)
• Summarize recordings, even offline (Pixel 8 Pro)
• Smart Reply beta in Gboard (Pixel 8 Pro, WhatsApp supported)

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#PIxelWatch #FeatureDrop
Pixel Watches also get new features in the December 2023 Feature Drop!

Google has updated Pixel Watches with a few new features in the latest update:
• Auto Call Screen will show your conversation trannoscript (requires Pixel 6 or newer)
• Pixel Watch 1 will now synchronize the Do Not Disturb and Bedtime mode with your phone like Watch 2
• Pixel Watch can unlock your phone when nearby
• Six new watchfaces and complication styles

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If you want to try the new Gboard Smart Reply feature on the Pixel 8 Pro, you need to go to Settings > Developer Options > AiCore Settings and toggle "Enable Aicore Persistent".

Then, open a WhatsApp conversation to see LLM-powered Smart Reply suggestions in Gboard's suggestion strip.

These suggestions are powered by Google's Gemini Nano model, which is rolling out to Pixel 8 Pro devices via an update to the AICore app, so if you don't see the new Smart Reply behavior yet, you may need to wait for the model to be downloaded in the background.

Google says this feature is currently available as a limited preview for US English in WhatsApp but that support for more apps is coming next year.

The Pixel's December 2023 Feature Drop is rolling out today, and it brings a new feature I previously detailed called Repair Mode.

What is it and how does it work? Here's a first look at Repair Mode and an explanation of how it works under-the-hood.

The December 2023 Feature Drop update brings a much newer Arm Mali GPU kernel driver to Tensor Pixels, which users report significantly improves performance in games like Genshin Impact and Fortnite!

The GPU kernel driver has been upgraded from r38p1 released on August 18, 2022 to r44p1, which was released on October 11, 2023 (H/T @mile_freak07). (The GPU kernel driver version in the current Android 14 QPR2 beta is still r44p1.)

If you have a Tensor Pixel, try out some games/GPU benchmarks and see if the performance has improved significantly for you.

Alex Mullis noticed a major performance improvement in Genshin Impact a few weeks back after the game's version 4.2 update. The game ran quite poorly on the Pixel 8's Android 14 stable release, but ran much better on the QPR beta.

User TechDroider did a performance comparison between stable Android 14 and Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1 in Fortnite.

#Android #A14QPR2
Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2 has been released!
Release date: December 11, 2023
Build: AP11.231117.006
Security patch level: December 2023
Play Services version: 23.44.15

Google has released the second update of Android 14 QPR2 Beta for Pixel 5a to 8 devices. It's final release will be in March 2024. Enroll into the beta program to get OTA directly from Google. Here's the list of fixes.

Download for Google Pixel devices:
Factory Image | OTA update

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#Android #A14QPR2
Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2 Changelog & Known issues

Changelog:
• Fixed an issue where battery usage information that was reported in system settings was sometimes incorrect
• Fixed an issue where the fingerprint icon on the lock screen would sometimes display before other information had loaded in always-on display mode
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the biometric prompt to crash, causing it to be dismissed before a user could interact with it
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the Internet Quick Settings tile to indicate that there was no Wi-Fi connection, even when the device was connected to a Wi-Fi network

Known Issues:
• Sometimes when a user unlocks the device using their fingerprint, there is no haptic feedback
• For Pixel Fold phones, sometimes after a user unlocks the device while it's folded, the inner display doesn't turn on after unfolding the device
• The Assistant At a Glance widget sometimes displays weather information for the wrong location

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Sweet: Android may soon make it even easier to switch Bluetooth devices. Once this rolls out, you won't have to dive into the full Bluetooth settings page just to change the actively connected device anymore!

In Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1, I enabled a flag that let you remove the At a Glance widget entirely, but there was another interesting flag called SMARTSPACE_AS_A_WIDGET that didn't work at the time.

In Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2, I've enabled this flag, which lets you move the At a Glance widget around on screen and even rearrange it if you want!

Sadly, even with this flag enabled, you still cannot add the At a Glance widget to third-party launchers like Nova Launcher. This is because At a Glance isn't actually a widget under-the-hood, it's a "custom element behaving like a widget." (Thanks to Kieron Quinn for digging into this.)

RIP Google Podcasts

Google Podcasts will stop working in the US “as early as April 2024,” in favor of YouTube Music

" In YouTube Music, you will be able to listen to your podcasts just like you did on Google Podcasts, NO paid subnoscription required."

Google Podcasts will get an online tool soon to “Export subnoscriptions” to YouTube Music
There will be an option to export Google Podcasts subnoscriptions as an OPML file if you want to switch to a 3rd-party app.

For podcasts that aren’t currently available on YouTube, listeners will be able to add shows directly to their YouTube Music library via the podcast’s RSS feed

" We’ll share more about Google Podcasts’ availability and the release of this migration tool for other countries soon."

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Google Keep is FINALLY adding support for Android 14's new note-taking feature!

As I previously revealed, Android 14 quietly added a lock screen shortcut that lets you quickly launch a notes app in a floating bubble.

You can read more about how this feature will work in this Android Authority article.