Google announced Developer-Powered CTS (CTS-D).

The Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) is a collection of more than two million test cases that check Android device implementations to ensure developer applications run on a variety of devices and enable a consistent application experience for users. Most CTS tests are written by Android engineers, but a new set of tests called CTS-D is created and run by regular developers.

Developers can build and contribute test cases to CTS-D to help catch issues, and they can run the CTS-D suite to verify compatibility. Google "strongly advising" device manufacturers to use CTS-D to discover and mitigate issues, so it's not required for them.

If a certain device does not pass a CTS-D test, Google recommends report the problem using issue tracker, after that company will work with the partner to resolve it.

🔗 Android Developers

Android 13 will restrict third-party file managers from accessing folders in the '/Android' directory.

In Android 11, Google introduced such a thing as Scoped Storage, the essence of which was to give applications access only to their own cache files, specific to the application, but in no way to others.

Soon the file managers found a loophole in the Storage Access Framework (SAF) that allowed them to access the /Android/data and /Android/obb subfolders.

But as Mishaal Rahman discovered on Esper Blog, Google has closed this loophole in Android 13. Now only the AOSP Files and Files by Google system apps have access to these directories. From now on, file manager developers will have to find another loophole.

See the link for a more detailed breakdown:

🔗 Esper Blog

Android 13 Beta 3.3 patch now available!

Build number : TPB3.220610.004 → TPB3.220617.002

Changelog:

• Fixed an issue with the Pixel launcher where if the Always show Keyboard option was enabled for the app drawer, then when the user closed the app drawer and opened an app folder on the Home screen, the keyboard was erroneously shown as well. (Issue #236584457)

• Fixed an issue where in some cases, such as gesturing to go back, the system UI crashed. (Issue #236558007)

• Fixed an issue where devices couldn't connect to a WiFi network even when the network was available and the signal strength was good. (Issue #236617510)

• Fixed an issue where the BluetoothManagerService continued to try and bind to the TbsService even when bluetooth.profile.ccp.server.enabled was false, leading to slow performance and cold starts for apps.

• Fixed an issue where in some cases after a device was plugged in to charge (for example, overnight), the device would become unresponsive until it was rebooted.

• Fixed a kernel issue with lib/list_debug.c that caused a kernel panic for some devices.

• Fixed an issue with the Connectivity Thermal Power Manager that caused slow UI rendering, unresponsiveness in apps, and poor battery performance in some cases.

Download:

• Factory images

• OTA builds

Google News | En

Android 13 Beta 3.3: The Easter Egg now opens when you set the clock to 1:00 (or 13:00), and also shows a variety of emoji.

Also, it now looks complete because it now shows the number 13, whereas in Beta 3.2 this page only had the number 3.

Upd: Also, when you hold down, the circles around will change to a variety of emoji.

Google News | En

Pixel's Car crash detection and Crisis alerts features will reportedly appear on non-Pixel devices.

As Mishaal Rahman discovered, the latest version of Personal Safety app 2022.05.25 contains "nonpixel" in the string names:

crash_settings_check_user_status_body_text_nonpixel, 
crash_settings_emergency_alert_body_text_nonpixel, 
crash_settings_footnote_nonpixel

These features are unlikely to appear on all non-Pixel devices, but at least a few OEM devices may receive them.

🔗 Mishaal Rahman

The Pixel 7 will have 4K video recording on the front camera, and the Pixel Tablet will lose some camera features.

In the Pixel 6 series, 4k recording on the front camera could boast only the Pixel 6 Pro. But as 9to5Google found out by digging into the latest Google Camera 8.5.300.450594193.08, both the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will be able to record 4K video on the front camera as they tagged as “p21_front_setup”, which was previously reserved for the Pixel 6 Pro.

The Pixel Tablet's main camera, meanwhile, won't be able to record 4K 60FPS, or even 4K at all. It may also lose some features such as Audio Zoom, Slow-Motion videos and Action Pan photos (a feature of the Pixel 6 series).

🔗 9to5Google

The June Google Play update added new changes.

Compared with the previous list, the lists now include the following changes:

Account Management
• [Phone, Tablet] Enabled Google account related critical security alerts within Google apps.

Device Connections
• [Phone, Tablet, TV] Add support for storing and sharing Thread network credentials.

Security & Privacy
• [Phone] Support for shortcuts to the Password Manager.[2]
• [Phone] The Google password manager can now be accessed through a URL.

Utilities
• [Phone] Updated Sync UI System with the latest Google Material design.

Available through Google Play services v22.21 updated on 06/27/2022.

Also, the Device Connection section earlier mentioned adding Fast Pair support to Wear OS devices, but Google deleted that item:

[Wear OS] Fast Pair on Wear OS to allows previously paired headphones to be discovered and connected to wearables.

Google News | En

Google's 'Switch to Android' app now supports data transfer to all Android 12 devices.

Back in April, iOS users got access to the app that transfers data to Android. Back then it was only compatible with Google Pixel smartphones, but as of today Google has added support for all devices with Android 12 on board.

With this, the company also the company also cited the top 10 reasons to switch to Android:

🔗 Google Blog

Nearby Share card now features new controls.

There is now a 'Device visibility' switch at the top. While the "Hidden" option at the bottom has been replaced by "Your Devices," which accordingly includes visibility only for devices running under your account.

This change is quite similar to the reorganized Nearby Share settings that Mishaal Rahman discovered earlier.

Image credit: @wurstse

Google News | En

Google launches Pixel 5a repair program for display issues.

Google is offering a one-year extended repair program for Pixel 5a (5G)s purchased in the U.S. and Japan for certain display-related issues. Certain types of display failures that show as a blank or black screen when the phone is on may be covered.

When Google or an authorized service provider, like Asurion/uBreakiFix, receives your phone, they’ll ask about your issues and inspect your phone before starting the repair to verify that it’s eligible for this program.

If you purchased your device through Google Store, and experienced this issue before June 30, 2022 and paid for a repair, but didn’t receive an email from Google, you can fill out this form.

🔗 Pixel Phone Help (via 9to5Google)

Gboard "Split keyboard" is now live on some Foldable devices.

Reddit user u/InspektrGdgt posted in the r/GalaxyFold that the new Gboard layout for foldable devices, previously discovered by the Rboard Themes channel, has now started to appear on end devices, at least in beta testing of the app.

The user did not specify which Fold he owned, but he stated that Gboard changes to full keyboard on the cover display automatically.

🔗 u/InspektrGdgt

Google News | En

A new firmware update to the Pixel Buds A-Series fixes an issue with the Bass slider.

Last December, this model received a new bass adjustment feature. However, users noticed that the next time they used the headphones, the set gain level reverted to the default setting.

And now, seven months later, Google has released a firmware update 3.282.0 → 3.415 with a fix for the problem, which should arrive to Pixel Buds A-Series owners "within two weeks."

🔗 Pixel Buds Help