Mishaal's Android News Feed

The Google Search app for Android is testing a "recently searched" chip at the bottom that shows your most recently searched query. You can tap it to quickly relaunch your previous search. @AssembleDebug spotted evidence for this feature during an APK teardown a few months ago, but I just noticed it had rolled out to me the other day. Anyone else?

📺Google’s new community offers a sneak peek at upcoming Google TV features Google is inviting a select few to join Google TV Advisors, an "exclusive online community where you can help improve the Google TV experience.” More details can be found in this article on Android Authority.

Beginning in Android 16, the default User-Agent string in Android WebView will be reduced to minimize passive fingerprinting. This is already the case in Chrome on Desktop and Android since version 107. The default, reduced WebView User-Agent string is as follows: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 10; K; wv) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Chrome/125.000 Mobile Safari/537.36 The wv token will remain in the UA string so developers can detect WebView sessions.

Vanir is a new open-source tool by Google that helps Android platform developers "quickly and efficiently scan their custom platform code for missing security patches and identify applicable available patches." The tool aims to significantly accelerate patch validation by automating it. By open sourcing the tool (licensed under BSD 3-Clause), Google hopes the broader security community can contribute to and benefit from it, as well as adapt it to other ecosystems.

The Android 15 QPR1 source code is now available in AOSP! Branch: android15-qpr1-release Tags: android-15.0.0_r6 (Global Pixel 6 and later) android-15.0.0_r7 (EMEA Pixel 6 series) android-15.0.0_r8 (Telstra Pixel 7 and later) If you find something interesting in the source code, let me know!

📱The new Pixel Drop also brings a platform update to Android 15 QPR1. Android 15 QPR1 has some exciting new features, including: - Desktop windowing - 80% charging limit - Status bar chips for screen recording And much more that you can read about in this article.

Google has published the Android Security Paper for 2024. This document offers a comprehensive overview of every feature in Android and the Google Play ecosystem that protects users, developers, and businesses from threats. It's really long but covers a TON of interesting topics, like hardware-backed security measures, virtualization, sandboxing, permissions, app review policies, and more. I've already skimmed over it and haven't found anything "new", ie. nothing that hasn't been previously reported, but it's worth a read if you're interested in this stuff! 2024 Android Security Paper (PDF warning)

Some users are seeing a new UI for the Google Gemini overlay on Android. This was first spotted in a teardown a few weeks ago by @AssembleDebug. I haven't gotten it yet, but tipster Mustachedminer has. Here's a comparison of the old UI vs. the new UI. LMK if you see it!

📱Pixel 9 finally gets adaptive refresh rate support in Android 15 QPR1 Adaptive refresh rate support was quietly added in Android 15. Here's why it matters.

Google officially confirms the Pixel 6 series, Pixel 7 series, and Pixel Fold will get an additional 2 years of OS updates! The company has updated a support page to mention that these Pixel phones are guaranteed 5 years of updates - including 5 years of OS and security updates - starting from when they went on sale. This means the Pixel 6 series will get updates to Android 16 and Android 17, while the Pixel 7 series and Pixel Fold will get updates to Android 17 and Android 18. H/T @nailsad_eleos

Hands-on: Here's how Pixel's new Simple View feature makes your phone easier to use The December Pixel Drop adds a new Simple View feature that makes content easier to read. This article shows you everything it does.

Captions on Android are getting a major upgrade today! Expressive Captions is a new feature that lets captions include things like shouting, sighs, applause, & laughter. We interviewed Google’s Angana Ghosh on the Android Faithful podcast to find out how it works.