Mishaal's Android News Feed

Google Play Protect now asks you to enter your PIN or biometrics in order to sideload some Android apps that it hasn't scanned before. This seems to happen if it considers the app to be "unsafe" for various reasons, like it was built for an older SDK. I don't know when exactly this rolled out, but I noticed it over the weekend.

FINALLY! Chrome for Android is once again adding support for moving the address bar to the bottom. This feature is working in the latest Canary build if you toggle the #android-bottom-toolbar flag. You can then change the address bar location in settings. H/T Leopeva64 and Philip Chang

Google is preparing to let you run Linux apps on Android, just like Chrome OS The company is working on a Terminal app that downloads, configures, runs, and interfaces with an instance of Debian in a VM. 🔗Full details in my latest article over on Android…

Google is preparing to let you run Linux apps on Android, just like Chrome OS The company is working on a Terminal app that downloads, configures, runs, and interfaces with an instance of Debian in a VM. 🔗Full details in my latest article over on Android Authority.

In addition to the new status bar chips, Android 15 QPR1 also made another privacy-related improvement to screen sharing: Locking the device now automatically stops screen shares in apps like Google Meet. More details on this change can be found in this article.

One of the best new features of Android 15 is the Home Controls screensaver, because it lets you turn your device into a smart home dashboard when docked! The best part: It's not exclusive to Pixel devices OR the Google Home app! Yes, it works on other phones like the Nothing Phone (2a) running Nothing OS 3.0 as well as with other apps like Home Assistant. 🔗More details on the Home Controls screensaver can be found in this article.

Interesting: KTM announced that its new touchscreen dashboards on upcoming premium motorbikes will run Android Automotive OS. AAOS is open source so anyone can use it, but I don't think we've seen it on motorbikes before. "Cars with Google built-in" is the official branding for AAOS builds with GAS (Google Automotive Services), ie. Google apps for AAOS, which this doesn't seem to have. It'll be interesting to see if that ever changes, though. H/T Al Sutton on Mastodon

Neat: This free app called spoton lets you toggle your Android phone's hotspot from your Wear OS smartwatch! Just tried it and it worked with my OnePlus Watch 2 and Xiaomi 14T Pro, in case you were wondering about whether you need a Wear OS watch and Android phone from the same brand! Credits: Marco Gomiero on X

HONOR has announced that it's bringing Google's Circle to Search feature to the HONOR Magic V3 and HONOR 200 Series! Love to see Circle to Search expand to more phones - it's such a useful feature!

YouTube is testing a new video player UI on Android that some users feel is too cluttered. I'm curious to hear what y'all think, though. I've got a screenshot comparison of this new UI over on Android Authority.

Here's a first look at Priority Modes, the supercharged version of Do Not Disturb mode in Android 16! You can create custom modes and toggle them from a new Quick Settings tile. 🔗 Screenshots + details on Priority Mode can be found in my latest article.

Google is preparing a BIG multitasking upgrade for Android 16! They're working on a new feature that lets you put ANY app in a floating bubble. This works especially great on tablets when combined with the bubble bar! 🔗Full details + demo video can be found in my article for Android Authority.