Mishaal's Android News Feed

The Search for an AOSP Developer Community. At the recent Linux Plumbers Conference, Chris Simmonds, who organizes the bi-monthly AOSP and AAOS meetup, did a talk about the need for an AOSP Developer Community. There are a lot of great online and offline communities for Android app developers, but nothing of the sort exists for Android platform developers, which is a big shame. The closest thing for me is a few Telegram/Discord groups I hang out in, but none are open to the public or really focused on AOSP discussions. I support this effort and look forward to helping foster a new AOSP developer community! If you're an Android platform developer who wants to be involved, let me know!

The October 2024 Android Security Bulletin is now live. The Android Security Bulletin for October 2024 is the first bulletin after the launch of Android 15, and it lists some fixes for security vulnerabilities that impact the latest version. Fortunately, there are no "critical" severity vulnerabilities in this month's bulletin.

Google is testing a new version of Chrome for Android with extensions support The new Desktop Android project brings browser extensions support to Chrome for Android, but there's a catch: It's not intended for mobile devices at the moment. More details on this new project can be found in my latest article on Android Authority.

Circle to Search is rolling out to the Xiaomi 14T series! Xiaomi announced that its 14T series would begin getting Google's Circle to Search feature on October 6. I checked yesterday but didn't have it, but this morning it seems to have rolled out!

MediaTek has announced that its new Dimensity 9400 chipset is optimized for Google's Gemini Nano with multimodality LLM! Gemini Nano with multimodality is the newer version of Gemini Nano that's currently only available on the Pixel 9 series. It supports audio, speech, and image inputs in addition to text and powers features like Pixel Screenshots, on-device Talkback descriptions, and Call Notes on the Pixel 9. Expect upcoming phones with this new MediaTek chip to support the LLM. I'd imagine Qualcomm will make a similar announcement soon as well.

TIL that you can immediately start a search in the Google Play Store and Google Photos apps by double tapping the search tab on the bottom. Knowing that makes the removal of the search bar a bit less annoying.

Google is starting to roll out Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock, and Remote Lock to Android users around the world! I just checked my Xiaomi 14T Pro and noticed that I have Theft Detection Lock and Offline Device Lock but not Remote Lock. Some users tell me they have Remote Lock but not the other two. YMMV. * Theft Detection Lock uses a ML model to detect when someone snatches your phone from your hand and tries to run away with it on foot, by bike, or by car. If detected, your phone will automatically lock, blocking unwanted access to your apps and data. * Offline Device Lock automatically locks your screen if a thief tries to keep your phone disconnected from the Internet for an extended period of time. * Remote Lock lets you remotely lock your phone using just your phone number in case you can't sign into Find My Device using your Google account password. All three features entered beta in August, starting in Brazil. Google told me the final versions of these features would more widely roll out this year, and it seems the features have begun expanding. LMK which (if any) of these 3 new features you have!

Have you gotten Google Photos' Gemini-powered Ask Photos feature yet? I signed up for the waitlist last month but still don't have it myself. Here's what the feature is like once you get it. Thanks to Dan on Telegram for the images!

Google is working on a new "ADB trade-in mode" feature for Android. This will hopefully make it faster for your phone to be evaluated so you can get your refund more quickly. ✅ADB trade-in mode details.

The first-gen Pixel Buds Pro are now getting Gemini support! Last week, Google sent out an email stating that Gemini will be "coming soon" to the Pixel Buds, and it's now rolling out to some users. In addition, "Hey Google" for the buds is no longer controlled by a separate setting but rather tied to your connected device's setting. There's also a new "only require one unlock" toggle that makes it so, after connecting and putting on your buds, you only have to unlock your connected device once to talk to Gemini with personalized responses. Otherwise, you'd need to unlock your connected device every time you want to talk to Gemini. Thanks to Dan on Telegram for the tip!

Android 16 may be adding an 'Advanced Protection Mode' I spotted evidence that next year's update will let users enroll in 'advanced protection' via Settings. Here's how this new feature could help protect your data.

This is apparently the new notifications and Quick Settings panel of One UI 7! Credits go to Jeff Springer for these images!