News and notes on the latest from Google.
The Pixel series have amazing cameras, and they are a class apart when it comes to photography on Android. However, if you have an older Pixel device, you won’t be able to use the newer features that debuted on the Pixel 3 and 3 XL. However, with a modded APK, you can access a lot of the newer features on your older Pixel device.
Notches. Some absolutely hate them. Some are okay with it but keep the area blacked out. Some don’t mind them at all. Notches have been essential in getting a bezel-less display—keeping aside the fact that some still have chins—while still housing the front-facing camera, speakers, and sensors. Some are as big as the Pixel 3 XL’s and some are as small as the Essential PH-1’s.
Continue reading “Weekend Poll: Would you give up the selfie camera for no notch?”
If you want to unlock your Android device with your voice, Google allows you to with Voice Match. Simply saying “Ok Google” can unlock and give you access to the Google Assistant. However, it’s less secure than a passcode or fingerprint and a similar voice or a recording of your voice could unlock your device and give somebody total access to your device. Google’s now removing it and replacing it with “Lock screen personal results.”
Continue reading “Google might remove Voice Match unlocking on Android devices”
Google releases Android distribution numbers every month for developers to help them prioritize their efforts in supporting different devices. The month’s nearly over, so here are October’s distribution numbers:
Continue reading “October 2018 Android distribution numbers posted, still no Pie”
Fragmentation is a real problem in the Android world, and devices don’t get updated with the latest security patches regularly. This seems to be changing soon, at least for “popular” devices. Internal documents obtained by The Verge show that Google has mandated that OEMs provide at least 2 years of security updates for certain devices.
Continue reading “Popular Android phones will now have to provide two years of security updates”
Bharti Airtel (Airtel India) announced that all their customers, prepaid and postpaid, can now ask the Google Assistant questions related to their data usage, account balance, etc. It’s currently only available in English with support for regional languages rolling out later.
YouTube suffered a nearly two-hour long outage last Tuesday causing YouTube, YouTube Music, and YouTube TV to all go down.
The Pixel 3 and 3 XL come with arguably the best cameras on a smartphone and amazing software to match. However, it can’t be all perfect, and the Pixel 3 and 3 XL suffer from software issues that affect the user experience by a whole lot.
Continue reading “Some Pixel 3 and 3 XL users are experiencing widespread software issues”
Digital Wellbeing, one of Android Pie’s major features that lets you monitor your app usage, “wind down” at night, set app timers, and more, is now rolling out to some Google Home users.
Continue reading “Digital Wellbeing rolling out to some Google Home users”
Gboard, apart from being a standard keyboard app that supports auto-correct and swipe typing, offers some features unique to it. It has Google Search integration, can help you learn Morse code, and will soon include smart replies for notifications. Adding to that list is a “floating” mode that lets it float over apps.
