Mishaal's Android News Feed

Do you work for an OEM or on an AOSP project and want to enable the USB webcam feature Google introduced in Android 14 (QPR1)? Good news, because Google has recently published documentation on how to do so! Use a device as a webcam

While digging into Android 15's new audio sharing feature, I discovered something pretty unfortunate: The Pixel 8a and Pixel 7 series might not get it. I sincerely hope this isn't the case, but the evidence I've seen suggests this will happen. You can read why I think so in this article on Android Authority.

Gemini's new Dynamic Contextual Suggestions feature inches closer to release! Google is preparing to push an update to Private Compute Services, the Android system app that securely handles ML model downloads, that adds support for displaying Dynamic Contextual Suggestions in the PCS network log (Settings > Security & privacy > More security & privacy > Android System Intelligence > Network usage log). The network log will reflect whenever the on-device model for using screen information to generate contextually relevant suggestions (ie. the new Gemini Nano with multimodality) has been updated.

PSA for users with a Pixel 6, 6 Pro, or 6A: Factory resetting your phone seems to trigger a bug that results in your phone (soft) bricking itself. A member of the Pixel support forums' product expert program says that Google is aware of the issue and is investigating. Via The Verge.

2076x2152: The likely display resolution of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. With such a resolution, Android normally wouldn't let users put apps into a left-right split-screen config, but fortunately Google quietly tweaked Android to support that. More details can be found in my article on Android Authority.

Adaptive Touch, Even Dimmer, Adaptive Timeout, and Audio Sharing: Here's even more info on these four upcoming Android 15 features! I managed to grab screenshots, too! You can read about these new features in my latest article on Android Authority.

Samsung will hold its annual developer conference on October 3, 2024, where we'll likely see the company detail its latest Android 15-based One UI 7 operating system (among other things) for Galaxy mobile devices! H/T Android Authority

Google is working to make the Android Find My Device network more reliable at locating lost items! A spokesperson for the company shared in a statement with me that they're "actively working to roll out enhancements" to the network over the coming weeks that'll improve the "speed and ability of locating lost items." As more and more devices opt into the network, lost item findability should also keep improving. However, by default the network is set to "with network in high traffic areas" when you opt in; Google encourages Bluetooth tracker tag owners to switch to "with network in all areas" to improve the FMDN's ability to locate your tags in lower-traffic areas. Here's Google's full statement:

We are actively working to roll out enhancements to how the Find My Device network operates that will improve the speed and ability of locating lost items over the coming weeks. Devices are continuing to join the new Find My Device network, and we expect the network to grow, which will also help improve lost device findability. We encourage Bluetooth tag owners to change their Find My Device network setting to 'With network in all areas' to help improve the network’s ability to find their lost items in lower-traffic areas.

I shared my experiences with the Chipolo and Pebblebee trackers during episode 47 of the Android Faithful podcast. I had the same experience as others: the location of my trackers was seldom updated. I'm confident this will improve, though, and hope Google will include an opt-in in the setup wizard for new Android devices!

Samsung's next Galaxy Unpacked event takes place in Paris before the 2024 Olympics! On July 10, 2024 at 9AM ET, Samsung will unveil its next-gen Galaxy mobile devices. You may have already heard of them, but here's hoping they have some surprises for us next month!

Google just sent out invites for a #MadeByGoogle press event in August. The event will "showcase the best of Google AI, Android software, and the Pixel portfolio of devices." The keynote kicks off on Tuesday, August 13 at 10:00 AM PT!