Mishaal's Android News Feed

UWB won't be available on every Snapdragon 8 Elite phone, after all You may have read that every phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite will support UWB, but Qualcomm confirmed to me that won't necessarily be the case. More details can be found in this article.

BIG changes are coming to Android’s release cycle! Google is not only releasing Android 16 MUCH earlier, but it’s also pushing out a second, minor release in Q4 2025 w/ new APIs. Here’s how Android’s faster release schedule affects apps.

Google Play is getting new features for users, including a new full-screen experience for portrait videos and abandoned cart reminders, but it’s also adding some new security features for devs like app access risk and hardware-backed security signals😳 More details in this article.

Android 14 ‘Upside Down Cake’, Android 15 ‘Vanilla Ice Cream’, Android 16 … ‘Baklava’? Yes, Android 16’s dessert code-name is Baklava - that’s not a rumor anymore, as Google officially confirmed it to us on the Android Faithful podcast!

Android 16, Android’s faster release schedule, and new Gemini features in Android Studio, oh my! We interviewed Seang Chau, VP & GM of Android Platform, and Matthew J. McCullough, VP of Android Developer Experience at Google, about these announcements over on the Android Faithful podcast. The interview is live now!

Google will release Android 16 months earlier than expected and will also roll out a second minor release in Q4 2025. How did Google speed up Android’s release cycle by so much? I interviewed Google’s VP and GM of the Android Platform to find out.

BIG changes are coming to Android’s release cycle! Google is not only releasing Android 16 MUCH earlier, but it’s also pushing out a second, minor release in Q4 2025 w/ new APIs. Here’s how Android’s faster release schedule affects apps.

Confirmed: Android 16 is coming MONTHS earlier than usual next year! I reported last month that Google will launch Android 16 in Q2 of 2025, and Google just confirmed the news. Plus, the developer preview is coming soon! More details here.

Ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanners work better in low light and with wet fingers than optical scanners, and all of a sudden are coming to so many new devices! Just this month alone, the OnePlus 13, Xiaomi 15, iQOO 13, and Vivo X200 Pro were announced with ultrasonic scanners, and they all use modules from Goodix. I mentioned earlier this year that Goodix entering the market would lead to more devices adopting the tech, and it's wild just how quick the shift has been! Of course, Goodix isn't the only supplier of these scanners. Google and Samsung use modules from Qualcomm for their Pixel 9 and Galaxy S flagship series respectively.

The OnePlus 13 just got unveiled in China, and it has some pretty nice upgrades over the OnePlus 12! - Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite - Flatter display - Larger 6000mAh battery - Ultrasonic instead of optical fingerprint scanner - IP69 rating for protection from high pressure liquids - Larger/better vibration motor - Runs ColorOS 15 based on Android 15 Looking forward to the eventual global/NA launch 😁

Here's a first look at Android's upcoming all-in-one Terminal app, which downloads, configures, runs, and interfaces with an instance of Debian running a virtual machine! Currently, the Debian images are hosted on a Googler's GitHub, but Google plans to host these images themselves soon. For more info on this Terminal app, check out this article. (Thanks to an anonymous dev for sharing this!)

Here's Ubuntu 24.04 LTS running in a virtual machine on the new OPPO Find X8 Pro, powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9400. As I've mentioned before, Google has been working with Qualcomm and MediaTek to upstream their hypervisor implementations (Gunyah and GenieZone respectively). With the latest Dimensity 9400 and Snapdragon 8 Elite devices, you should be able to run protected VMs, though whether you can do so without root is another story. @MlgmXyysd tells me they were able to run Ubuntu in a VM on their Find X8 Pro without needing to root or modify the stock firmware in any way, but YMMV.