Android 13 QPR3 Beta 3.2 bugfix is out.

Build number: T3B3.230413.006 → T3B3.230413.009
Security patch: May 2023

Release Notes:
• Fixed an input synchronization issue with the system UI that caused windows to stop receiving touch input or to receive touch input in the wrong location. (Issue #279560321)
• Fixed an issue that could cause calls over Wi-Fi to disconnect unexpectedly.
• Fixed issue that could prevent a SIM card from being detected properly or from being activated during phone setup.
• Fixed an issue where a device could fail to register IMS over Wi-Fi when leaving LTE coverage and entering Wi-Fi coverage.
• Fixed issues that caused unexpected dips with cellular connectivity speeds or reliability.

🔗 OTA images
🔗 Factory Images

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Google will delete personal accounts inactive for 2 years.

Starting later this year (December 2023), if a Google account has not been used and logged in for at least 2 years, Google can delete the account and its content, including content in Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar), YouTube and Google Photos.

This policy applies only to personal Google accounts and does not affect accounts of organizations, such as schools or businesses.

Before the account is deleted, the company will send several notifications in the months leading up to the deletion to both the account's primary and backup email address.

The easiest way to keep your Google account active is to log in at least once every 2 years. You can also sign up for a subnoscription set up through your Google Account, which would also count as activity.

🔗 Google Blog

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Port of live wallpaper from Google Pixel Fold for phones.

• Author: @trzpro (via Xiaomiui resource)

• Demo

Notes:
• You may face Google Play Protect window pop up with a suspicious app warning.
• The wallpaper does not rotate to landscape mode.
• Don't expect any magic or smoothness, as this is a port from a folding device, where the progress of the animation depends on the angle of folding the device.

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The first live video of the Pixel 8 Pro showing off the new thermometer feature has been leaked.

Kuba Wojciechowski (via 91 Mobiles) has shared a video of the Pixel 8 Pro that reveals the full design of the phone, as well as demonstrating the thermometer feature.

From a previous Pixel 8 Pro renders leak, we remember that there was an unknown sensor underneath the flash. As it turns out, it's a special infrared temperature measurement sensor. This sensor is similar to the one used in most non-contact thermometers. In the video we can see a clear demonstration of how this would work.

In addition to measuring body temperature, the Pixel 8 Pro will be able to measure the temperature of objects. The collected data will be stored locally, and it will be processed through Android Private Compute Core.

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Android 14 will allow you to 'save app pair' shortcut.

As Mishaal Rahman discovered, Android 14 Beta 2 added a new ENABLE_APP_PAIRS developer flag to the Pixel Launcher. If you turn it on, you will be able to 'save app pair' of two apps in split screen mode from the context menu in recents overview.

Most likely, after that a corresponding shortcut will appear on the home screen, and when you click on it, it will open the previously saved pair of apps in split-screen mode.

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Google Chrome on Android begins work on a transparent navigation bar.

In one of the latest Chrome Canary builds, there is a new "DrawEdgeToEdge" flag, whose denoscription says, "Enables the Android feature Edge-to-Edge to draw below the Nav Bar". After enabling this flag, the Android navigation gesture bar finally becomes transparent, as many users have requested.

But as stated in the corresponding commit on Chromium Gerrit, this is a basic implementation that is not
a suite for launch but fine for a Dev demo.

From personal observations, I can say that the transparency only affects the home and web pages, while the settings, bookmarks, etc. are still unchanged. It is also accompanied by unintentional gesture pill overlap on sites with bottom navigation bars, and the top bars are overlapped by the status bar by the height of the navbar.

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A bunch of new upcoming changes to the Google Contacts app:

• Redesigned Call, Text, etc. buttons, which are now presented as a circle with an icon inside.
• A new 'Google Maps · Location sharing' tile, which when clicked will open a map with the contact's location (if they have shared the location with you).
• A new tile will appear on the 'Highlights' tab with Suggestions for who to add to your favorites. As stated, this is "based on who you interact with most".

These hidden features complement the previous changes I discovered, such as the time and weather tile by contact's home address and the new round-frame photo display.

All of these new features are built inside the latest version 4.9.19.533509922 and require only server-side activation (means, they are not yet available).

Google News | En

Android 14 Beta 2.1 bugfix has been released.

Fixed issues:

• Battery percentage could still display as 0% regardless of the device's actual charge level.
• Issues that sometimes caused audio disruptions with the device's speakers.
• System stability issues that could cause apps or the device to freeze or crash.
• An Issue with always-on-display mode when using a device with Android Auto.
• Google Photos app could crash when trying to open certain photos.
• An Issue with Google TV app that caused the PiP window to disappear when switching to picture-in-picture mode with gesture navigation turned on, although playback continued and sound was audible.
• An Issue that caused the Google Contacts app to crash when managing account settings.
• An Issue where the Google Messages app icon did not appear in notifications if Always-on-display mode was enabled.

Build: UPB2.230407.014 → UPB2.230407.019
Patch: May 2023

• OTAs
• Factory Images

🔗 Register for Android beta testing

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