A Redditor leaked the Zenfone 11 Ultra over the weekend, and it looks like a rebadged ROG Phone 8. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing since I think the ROG Phone 8 felt good to use, but for those of you expecting a new compact entry in the Zenfone lineup, it's a shame.
This leak is also interesting in what it says about the "Zenfone is dead" rumors from last year. Those leaks were wrong in that the Zenfone 10 was the last Zenfone, but they may have had some inkling of truth in them if this is how the lineup is going to be moving forward (ie. a rebadged ROG Phone).
By the way, if you're wondering how this leak came about, ASUS did an oopsie. In their "AsusDemoUI" app, they embedded all these assets directly into the APK. Be careful what you ship in your builds!
This leak is also interesting in what it says about the "Zenfone is dead" rumors from last year. Those leaks were wrong in that the Zenfone 10 was the last Zenfone, but they may have had some inkling of truth in them if this is how the lineup is going to be moving forward (ie. a rebadged ROG Phone).
By the way, if you're wondering how this leak came about, ASUS did an oopsie. In their "AsusDemoUI" app, they embedded all these assets directly into the APK. Be careful what you ship in your builds!
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Google Play added an app archiving feature last year, but it only works within the Play Store and doesn't support manually archiving apps.
In Android 15, though, app archiving support could be baked into the OS.
Full details over on Android Authority.
In Android 15, though, app archiving support could be baked into the OS.
Full details over on Android Authority.
Android Authority
Android 15 could add built-in support for app archiving
Google Play has an app archiving feature that lets you uninstall apps without deleting their data, and it's coming natively to Android 15.
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Google announced today that they've provided a grant of $1,000,000 to the Rust Foundation to support efforts to improve interoperability between Rust and C++. They're also going to aggregate and publish audits for the Rust crates that they use in their open-source projects. The goal is to further reduce the barriers to adoption and thus accelerate the adoption of Rust.
Rust is a programming language that enforces memory safety and is already widely used in Android's codebase. The Rust tooling and ecosystem already support interoperability with C/C++ in the Android platform.
Rust is a programming language that enforces memory safety and is already widely used in Android's codebase. The Rust tooling and ecosystem already support interoperability with C/C++ in the Android platform.
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Here are some of the "Galaxy AI" features coming to older Galaxy devices, according to Samsung UK:
These include:
* Circle to Search
* Live Translate
* Note Assist
* Photo Assist
Live Translate brings real-time voice translations during phone calls. Note Assist consists of the automatic formatting and summarization features in the Samsung Notes app. Photo Assist consists of the Edit Suggestion and Generative Edit features in the Gallery app.
At Unpacked, Samsung said that some of its Galaxy AI features would be coming to the Galaxy S23 series, the Galaxy Z Fold 5, the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and the Galaxy Tab S9 series in H1 2024, and that these features are free until the end of 2025. They didn't say which feature would be coming, but Samsung's online comparison tool lists some of them.
Other AI features not mentioned are:
* Writing assist (Samsung Keyboard) which includes Chat translation, Writing style, and Spelling and Grammar
* Interpreter
* Transcript assist and Summaries (Samsung Voice Recorder)
* Summarize and Translate (Samsung Internet)
* Generative wallpaper
* Photo ambient wallpaper
* Instant Slow-Mo (Samsung Gallery)
We don't know if these features will also be available on older devices.
(Thanks to FragmentedChicken for the tip!)
These include:
* Circle to Search
* Live Translate
* Note Assist
* Photo Assist
Live Translate brings real-time voice translations during phone calls. Note Assist consists of the automatic formatting and summarization features in the Samsung Notes app. Photo Assist consists of the Edit Suggestion and Generative Edit features in the Gallery app.
At Unpacked, Samsung said that some of its Galaxy AI features would be coming to the Galaxy S23 series, the Galaxy Z Fold 5, the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and the Galaxy Tab S9 series in H1 2024, and that these features are free until the end of 2025. They didn't say which feature would be coming, but Samsung's online comparison tool lists some of them.
Other AI features not mentioned are:
* Writing assist (Samsung Keyboard) which includes Chat translation, Writing style, and Spelling and Grammar
* Interpreter
* Transcript assist and Summaries (Samsung Voice Recorder)
* Summarize and Translate (Samsung Internet)
* Generative wallpaper
* Photo ambient wallpaper
* Instant Slow-Mo (Samsung Gallery)
We don't know if these features will also be available on older devices.
(Thanks to FragmentedChicken for the tip!)
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The Android 14 update started rolling out for the OnePlus Open last week, so I was curious to see if OnePlus added support for the rear display and dual display APIs. Sadly, it looks like they haven't.
That doesn't detract from my opinion of the device (the Open is still my favorite phone right now), but it doesn't bode well for developer adoption of these APIs if they aren't supported by all the foldables. Not like foldables sell in large enough numbers yet for developers to take advantage of this, but still.
If you're curious about the rear display and dual display APIs I'm talking about, refer to this article I wrote a few months ago.
That doesn't detract from my opinion of the device (the Open is still my favorite phone right now), but it doesn't bode well for developer adoption of these APIs if they aren't supported by all the foldables. Not like foldables sell in large enough numbers yet for developers to take advantage of this, but still.
If you're curious about the rear display and dual display APIs I'm talking about, refer to this article I wrote a few months ago.
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Google has published the Android Security Bulletin (ASB) for February 2024, detailing the vulnerabilities addressed in the 2024-02-0X security patch level (SPL). Patches are available for Android versions 11-14.
This month, there's 1 RCE vulnerability in Android's Bluetooth stack with a severity rating of "critical". There are no security issues addressed by Google Play System Updates this month.
This month, there's 1 RCE vulnerability in Android's Bluetooth stack with a severity rating of "critical". There are no security issues addressed by Google Play System Updates this month.
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The Pixel Watch is finally getting a grid view app drawer as well as Material You dynamic theming support, and I've got an early look at both upcoming features over on Android Authority!
Android Authority
Here's an early look at multiple Wear OS design changes coming to Pixel Watch 2
Google is preparing several design changes to Wear OS 4 on the Pixel Watch that will make the experience more personal.
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OnePlus started rolling out the Android 14 update to the OnePlus Pad to U.S. users a couple of days ago, and I finally got it on my device!
The update has been rolling out in other regions for over a month, so I know this isn't new for everyone, but here's what the update adds:
Pantanal Service
* Adds Aqua Dynamics, a way of interaction with morphing forms that allows you to view up-to-date information at a glance.
Smart efficiency
* Adds Smart Cutout, a feature that can separate multiple subjects in a photo from the background for copying or sharing.
Cross-device connectivity
* Improves Shelf by adding more widget recommendations.
Security and privacy
* Improves photo and video-related permission management for safer access by apps.
Performance optimization
* Improves system stability, the launch speed of apps, and the smoothness of animations.
* Adds support for app-specific refresh rates to improve user experience.
Aquamorphic design
* Adds Aquamorphic-themed ringtones and revamps the system notification sounds.
---
The update brings the software to OxygenOS 14 (OPD2203_14.0.0.300). The kernel version is still 5.10.168-android12 due to GRF.
The OnePlus Pad, for its price, is a pretty solid media consumption/productivity tablet. However, the Android experience on tablets, even when paired with a keyboard + mouse + stylus, still unfortunately pales in comparison to a Windows/macOS/Linux laptop. Hopefully as the tablet experience improves, I can make a device like this my on-the-go daily driver as well.
The update has been rolling out in other regions for over a month, so I know this isn't new for everyone, but here's what the update adds:
Pantanal Service
* Adds Aqua Dynamics, a way of interaction with morphing forms that allows you to view up-to-date information at a glance.
Smart efficiency
* Adds Smart Cutout, a feature that can separate multiple subjects in a photo from the background for copying or sharing.
Cross-device connectivity
* Improves Shelf by adding more widget recommendations.
Security and privacy
* Improves photo and video-related permission management for safer access by apps.
Performance optimization
* Improves system stability, the launch speed of apps, and the smoothness of animations.
* Adds support for app-specific refresh rates to improve user experience.
Aquamorphic design
* Adds Aquamorphic-themed ringtones and revamps the system notification sounds.
---
The update brings the software to OxygenOS 14 (OPD2203_14.0.0.300). The kernel version is still 5.10.168-android12 due to GRF.
The OnePlus Pad, for its price, is a pretty solid media consumption/productivity tablet. However, the Android experience on tablets, even when paired with a keyboard + mouse + stylus, still unfortunately pales in comparison to a Windows/macOS/Linux laptop. Hopefully as the tablet experience improves, I can make a device like this my on-the-go daily driver as well.
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ChatGPT can now be set as your default assistant app on Android ... unofficially.
Developer WSTxda released a FOSS app called VoiceGPT that simply acts as a shortcut to launch the ChatGPT Android app's new Assistant activity. VoiceGPT can be set as the default assistant, meaning you can invoke it by long pressing the home button, swiping from the corner with gesture navigation, or long pressing the power button.
The app is very simple and doesn't require any permissions, though it's up to you whether you actually want to make ChatGPT your default assistant because it might not give you the right info all the time lol.
As I reported last month, OpenAI is already working on adding support for setting ChatGPT as the default assistant app on Android. But if you don't want to wait for that, VoiceGPT does the trick. Adding native assistant API support in the app would give the ChatGPT app additional functionality, like being able to take a screenshot of the page and analyze what's on screen, though.
Developer WSTxda released a FOSS app called VoiceGPT that simply acts as a shortcut to launch the ChatGPT Android app's new Assistant activity. VoiceGPT can be set as the default assistant, meaning you can invoke it by long pressing the home button, swiping from the corner with gesture navigation, or long pressing the power button.
The app is very simple and doesn't require any permissions, though it's up to you whether you actually want to make ChatGPT your default assistant because it might not give you the right info all the time lol.
As I reported last month, OpenAI is already working on adding support for setting ChatGPT as the default assistant app on Android. But if you don't want to wait for that, VoiceGPT does the trick. Adding native assistant API support in the app would give the ChatGPT app additional functionality, like being able to take a screenshot of the page and analyze what's on screen, though.
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I hope you're ready for Pixel Fold 2 leaks, because the first one is here: Google is testing the Pixel Fold 2 with a Tensor G4 chip and 16GB of RAM, a first on a Pixel phone!
Full details are available over on Android Authority.
Full details are available over on Android Authority.
Android Authority
Source: Pixel Fold 2 might skip the Tensor G3 and add more RAM
A source has shared some key hardware details of the Pixel Fold 2, revealing its chipset, RAM, and storage specifications.
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Google seems to be quietly rolling out a new security feature on Android: scanning for deceptive apps.
I first reported on the existence of this feature in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2, but it's now appearing for some people on the latest Beta 3.1 release.
You can find it under Settings > Security & privacy > More security & privacy.
It's likely this feature is intended to launch with Android 15, though, so I'm not sure this rollout is intentional.
If you want to learn more about this "scanning for deceptive apps" feature, check out my original report from December.
(Thanks to @nailsad_eleos for the tip and to A_Button117 on my Discord for the screenshot!)
I first reported on the existence of this feature in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2, but it's now appearing for some people on the latest Beta 3.1 release.
You can find it under Settings > Security & privacy > More security & privacy.
It's likely this feature is intended to launch with Android 15, though, so I'm not sure this rollout is intentional.
If you want to learn more about this "scanning for deceptive apps" feature, check out my original report from December.
(Thanks to @nailsad_eleos for the tip and to A_Button117 on my Discord for the screenshot!)
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Android is adding support for Aliro, the open standard for smart locks and digital keys. As spotted by AssembleDebug, the latest version of Play Services added a new service named AliroNfcApduService. Also in AOSP, work has begun to update the UWB stack with Aliro host support.
Read this article on The Verge if you want to learn more about Aliro.
Read this article on The Verge if you want to learn more about Aliro.
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