Google confirms that Android is switching to VideoLAN's libdav1d decoder for AV1 video playback!
I first reported back in February that Google plans to roll out a Play System Update that enables libdav1d as Android's default AV1 software decoder. Yesterday, Arif Dikici, Software Development Manager on the Android Video and Image Codecs team, confirmed the news.
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The libdav1d codec is available on Android 12+ devices with the March 2024 Google Play System Update or newer. However, the libgav1 codec is still used by default, so apps have to manually opt in to using libdav1d instead. YouTube has already started doing so (though this has led to mixed results for some users).
Compared to libgav1, libdav1d is significantly more efficient and performant at decoding AV1 videos. Of course, a hardware accelerated decoder is still preferred, but many devices don't have a HW AV1 decoder.
Let me know if you've noticed any changes in YouTube following the March 2024 GPSU!
I first reported back in February that Google plans to roll out a Play System Update that enables libdav1d as Android's default AV1 software decoder. Yesterday, Arif Dikici, Software Development Manager on the Android Video and Image Codecs team, confirmed the news.
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Android welcomes dav1d, the best AV1 software decoder. It's official! All Android devices back to Android S received this new codec over the air. Most devices can decode 720p30 in software using dav1d. Apps need to opt into dav1d to benefit for now yet soon it will become the default av1 software decoder."The libdav1d codec is available on Android 12+ devices with the March 2024 Google Play System Update or newer. However, the libgav1 codec is still used by default, so apps have to manually opt in to using libdav1d instead. YouTube has already started doing so (though this has led to mixed results for some users).
Compared to libgav1, libdav1d is significantly more efficient and performant at decoding AV1 videos. Of course, a hardware accelerated decoder is still preferred, but many devices don't have a HW AV1 decoder.
Let me know if you've noticed any changes in YouTube following the March 2024 GPSU!
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
Google confirms that Android is switching to VideoLAN's libdav1d decoder for AV1 video playback! I first reported back in February that Google plans to roll out a Play System Update that enables libdav1d as Android's default AV1 software decoder. Yesterday…
My Nothing Phone 2, which has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (which doesn't have HW AV1 decoding support), smoothly decodes 1080p60 AV1 videos in YouTube.
You can see using the Codec Info app that there's two AV1 decoders:
The latter is the libgav1 decoder, while the former is the new libdav1d decoder.
Currently, the libgav1 decoder has a higher priority than libdav1d, hence it's used by default.
(Higher number in the rank = lower priority.)
Edit: Hmmm, YouTube seems to have reverted its server-side change forcing AV1 videos to be served on devices that only support SW decoding. I'm no longer seeing AV1 videos served on my Nothing Phone 2. Anyone else notice this?
You can see using the Codec Info app that there's two AV1 decoders:
c2.android.av1-dav1d.decoderc2.android.av1.decoderThe latter is the libgav1 decoder, while the former is the new libdav1d decoder.
Currently, the libgav1 decoder has a higher priority than libdav1d, hence it's used by default.
(Higher number in the rank = lower priority.)
Edit: Hmmm, YouTube seems to have reverted its server-side change forcing AV1 videos to be served on devices that only support SW decoding. I'm no longer seeing AV1 videos served on my Nothing Phone 2. Anyone else notice this?
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
Pebblebee and Chipolo announced today that they’re set to deliver their Find My Device network-compatible item locator accessories that they announced last year! These accessories are also compatible with the unwanted tracker alerts feature. Pebblebee’s Card…
Pebblebee's Find My Device-compatible item finders, the Card, Clip, and Tag, will start shipping as early as May 27, 2024, according to an email I was sent from a spokesperson for the company.
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Alongside the new Nothing Ear (a) (which I'll share a review on soon!), Nothing also unveiled the Nothing OS 2.5.5 update for the Nothing Phone 2, which has already begun rolling out!
The update enables Nothing's "Ultra XDR" by default, which I can confirm is based on Google's Ultra HDR, as well as other new features such as:
* A new Quick Setting tile to change the ringer mode
* Ability to change the voice assistant that launches when you squeeze the Nothing Ear (a) to ChatGPT
* Ability to enable zRAM up to 8GB ("RAM Booster")
* New widgets to quickly start ChatGPT in text/voice/image query mode, start a quick recording in the Recorder app, and see the battery level of connected devices
* Ability to quickly paste text/images from the clipboard into ChatGPT. You'll see an "a|" button in the clipboard overlay that you can tap to open the ChatGPT app with your clipboard content preloaded.
Lastly, there's also new switches to toggle HDR for Photo and Portrait modes, a Glyph Interface Debug Mode, and lots of bug fixes.
The update enables Nothing's "Ultra XDR" by default, which I can confirm is based on Google's Ultra HDR, as well as other new features such as:
* A new Quick Setting tile to change the ringer mode
* Ability to change the voice assistant that launches when you squeeze the Nothing Ear (a) to ChatGPT
* Ability to enable zRAM up to 8GB ("RAM Booster")
* New widgets to quickly start ChatGPT in text/voice/image query mode, start a quick recording in the Recorder app, and see the battery level of connected devices
* Ability to quickly paste text/images from the clipboard into ChatGPT. You'll see an "a|" button in the clipboard overlay that you can tap to open the ChatGPT app with your clipboard content preloaded.
Lastly, there's also new switches to toggle HDR for Photo and Portrait modes, a Glyph Interface Debug Mode, and lots of bug fixes.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
Alongside the new Nothing Ear (a) (which I'll share a review on soon!), Nothing also unveiled the Nothing OS 2.5.5 update for the Nothing Phone 2, which has already begun rolling out! The update enables Nothing's "Ultra XDR" by default, which I can confirm…
This is not limited to Nothing of course, but I wish companies would stop making up new names for their HDR image features. It's just confusing.
Google's developer docs for Ultra HDR even brings this up😅
Generally, the reason that different branding is used is because companies want to highlight their entire HDR pipeline, while Ultra HDR just refers to the image format. But still, seeing "ProXDR" versus "Super HDR" versus "Ultra XDR" tells me, the consumer, nothing.
(To be fair to OnePlus and their ProXDR branding, it did exist before Ultra HDR was announced.)
Google's developer docs for Ultra HDR even brings this up😅
Generally, the reason that different branding is used is because companies want to highlight their entire HDR pipeline, while Ultra HDR just refers to the image format. But still, seeing "ProXDR" versus "Super HDR" versus "Ultra XDR" tells me, the consumer, nothing.
(To be fair to OnePlus and their ProXDR branding, it did exist before Ultra HDR was announced.)
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Meta has announced that they're opening up its AOSP-based Horizon OS platform (the company's mixed reality OS that powers the Meta Quest devices) to third-party hardware makers.
Very interesting announcement from Meta, given that we'll likely see the launch of the new Android Glasses SDK plus the new Android XR OS at I/O next month.
Very interesting announcement from Meta, given that we'll likely see the launch of the new Android Glasses SDK plus the new Android XR OS at I/O next month.
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Android 15 will make it easier to deal with notification clutter by hiding unused notification channels by default!
With this change, the Settings app now only shows me 3 channels from Instagram instead of 25.
More details in my latest article for Android Authority.
With this change, the Settings app now only shows me 3 channels from Instagram instead of 25.
More details in my latest article for Android Authority.
Android Authority
Android 15 will make it easier to deal with notification clutter
Android 15 will hide unused notification channels by default, making it easier to manage notifications from apps with lots of channels.
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Android 15 Beta 1.1 is rolling out now with a fix for NFC! Contactless payments and other features that rely on NFC should now work. The update does NOT revert the NFC Mainline changes that I mentioned previously, but it fixes the botched migration.
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Do you often forget to turn off extra dim in the morning?
Android 15 is preparing a new "even dimmer" display option that'll let adaptive brightness automatically go even dimmer, basically extra dim but adaptive to ambient lighting!
More details can be found in my latest article for Android Authority.
Android 15 is preparing a new "even dimmer" display option that'll let adaptive brightness automatically go even dimmer, basically extra dim but adaptive to ambient lighting!
More details can be found in my latest article for Android Authority.
Android Authority
Android 15 may make it even easier to use your phone while in bed
Android 15 is preparing an “even dimmer” display option that allows the display brightness to go dimmer than normal.
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Android 15 is preparing to add built-in screen share protections that could help protect users from oversharing sensitive content while screen recording/sharing.
More details in my latest article for Android Police.
More details in my latest article for Android Police.
Android Police
Android 15 could stop you from leaking sensitive content while screen sharing
Android 15 is preparing to add built-in screen sharing protections that could stop you from leaking sensitive content
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Android 15 may make it even harder for sideloaded apps to get sensitive permissions
Google is finally preparing to close a loophole in a security feature they introduced in Android 13. Before you get upset at the title, read the whole article I wrote over on Android Authority.
Google is finally preparing to close a loophole in a security feature they introduced in Android 13. Before you get upset at the title, read the whole article I wrote over on Android Authority.
Android Authority
Android 15 may make it even harder for sideloaded apps to get sensitive permissions
Android 15 could introduce a new Enhanced Confirmation Mode that makes it harder for malicious apps to get sensitive permissions.
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I'm back with yet another early first look at an upcoming Android 15 feature: audio sharing.
Audio sharing utilizes Auracast, a feature of the Bluetooth LE Audio standard, to stream audio from your phone to two or more nearby devices!
Full details are available in my hands-on article for Android Authority.
Audio sharing utilizes Auracast, a feature of the Bluetooth LE Audio standard, to stream audio from your phone to two or more nearby devices!
Full details are available in my hands-on article for Android Authority.
Android Authority
Here's a first look at Bluetooth audio sharing in Android 15
Android 15 is adding an audio sharing feature that lets you listen in or start broadcasting audio, and we have an early look at the feature.
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Google has just published the I/O 2024 schedule!
Though I think I've done an amazing job at documenting Android 15 this year, Google always seems to pull an announcement or two out of their hat that surprises me.
Looking forward to finding out what that is! I've heard some stuff about Wear OS 5 and future Android TV versions that I'm not super confident about reporting yet, so I've held off for now. I hope this information gets confirmed at I/O, though!
Though I think I've done an amazing job at documenting Android 15 this year, Google always seems to pull an announcement or two out of their hat that surprises me.
Looking forward to finding out what that is! I've heard some stuff about Wear OS 5 and future Android TV versions that I'm not super confident about reporting yet, so I've held off for now. I hope this information gets confirmed at I/O, though!
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Android 15 is preparing to add a new feature that makes all apps go dark, even if they don't have a dark theme. This feature can even force apps like Fitbit to go dark!
For more details plus a BUNCH of screenshots, read my latest article over on Android Authority.
For more details plus a BUNCH of screenshots, read my latest article over on Android Authority.
Android Authority
Android 15 will let you force apps to go dark, even if they don't support it
Android 15 may introduce a new “make all apps dark” feature that forces apps that don't have a dark theme to go dark.
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