Mishaal's Android News Feed
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๐Ÿ•ถ๏ธ Here's a first look at the UI of Android XR

We have screenshots that show off the Quick Settings, home screen, and other parts of Android XR.

You can see them in this article.
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โœ‰๏ธ Android 16 may automatically organize your notifications with Gmail-style categories

Google is working on a new โ€œbundled notificationsโ€ feature that groups together notifications that are similar.

More details can be found in this article.
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The Linux Terminal app is finally working in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2!

As I first reported, this is an all-in-one app that downloads, configures, runs, and interfaces with an instance of Debian running a virtual machine. It uses the Android Virtualization Framework APIs that Google introduced in Android 13 but updated in Android 15.

Right now, there's not much you can do with this since hardware acceleration support and support for running graphical environments is missing, but both of these things are being worked on.
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The Bluetooth panel in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2 now shows the actual icons for saved/connected Fast Pair accessories. Previously, it showed generic icons for them.

H/T @nailsad_eleos
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
I'm curious why the Themed Icons feature is still labeled as "Beta" on Pixel. I get why it had the beta label in Android 12 since the list of themeable icons was hardcoded, but in Android 13, there's a proper API and all. The feature's also available to OEMsโ€ฆ
The "Themed icons" toggle in Wallpaper & style no longer has the "Beta" label in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2.

It's about time. It made sense for the Themed Icon feature to be labeled "Beta" in Android 12 since the list of themeable icons was hardcoded, but Android 13 added a proper API and all, and it's been over 2 years since that release.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
The OnePlus 13 will be launching in the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the world in January 2025! It'll be coming in three different colorways: Midnight Ocean, Black Eclipse, and Arctic Dawn. The Midnight Ocean model will have "micro-fiber vegan leather"โ€ฆ
OnePlus has set a date for the global launch of its OnePlus 13 series, and we'll also see a new Sapphire Blue variant of the OnePlus Buds Pro 3.

The devices will launch on January 7, 2025 at 10:30 AM EST/4:30 PM CET/9:00 PM IST.
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Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2 introduces the redesigned keyboard shortcut menu that I previously told y'all about!

The revamped menu has a side navigation rail, making it easier to use on large screen Android devices like tablets.

I first spotted this in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 1, but it's finally live in QPR2 Beta 2.
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Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2 also introduces the lock screen widget resizing feature I previously spotted!

It's a bit unintuitive to do, but you can resize widgets by opening the widget editor and then tapping on a widget. This will show a handle you can drag vertically.

An example of this can be seen in the video embedded in the article linked here.
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๐Ÿ•“ Android prepares new options for customizing your lock screen clock

Android may soon let you customize the weight, width, roundness, and slant of the lock screen clock.

A short demo of these new customization options can be found in this article.
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Android 16 will introduce a new Night Mode Indicator API that will let apps know when the device is in a low light environment.

This will let social/camera apps know when they should use the Night Mode Camera Extension available on some devices.

The API will provide 3 possible values:

UNKNOWN

The camera is unable to reliably detect the lighting conditions of the current scene to determine if a photo will benefit from a Night Mode Camera Extension capture.

OFF

The camera has detected lighting conditions that are sufficiently bright. Night Mode Camera Extension is available but may not be able to optimize the camera settings to take a higher quality photo.

ON

The camera has detected low-light conditions. It is recommended to use Night Mode Camera Extension to optimize the camera settings to take a high-quality photo in the dark.

โ€”-

Google says there are already over "120 different devices" that support Camera Extensions, representing "over 75 million monthly active users." Instagram, for example, uses the Night Mode Extension on the Pixel 6 and later, the Galaxy Flip6 and Fold6, and more.
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Google is rolling out the Now Playing updates it announced as part of the December '24 Pixel Drop!

These updates bring a new Enhance Now Playing toggle that lets Google Search identify songs not recognized by your device and then provide album artwork. It also brings a new default music player setting that lets you choose which app you want to play identified songs on.

Image credits: @qtsmolcat
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The stable Android 15 update is now rolling out to the Nothing Phone (2) and Phone (2a)!

Nothing says the Nothing OS 3.0 update also introduces:

- A new native Nothing Gallery app
- Shared Widgets that are displayed on the new, more fully customizable lock screen
- Enhanced Productivity Widgets like the new Countdown Widget
- An AI-powered Smart Drawer
- Improved Quick Settings, enhanced pop-up view, visual and performance enhancements, and updated typography.

The update is rolling out now to the (2) and (2a) but will come to the (1), (2a) Plus, and CMF Phone 1 in early 2025.

For a more detailed look at some of these changes in Nothing OS 3.0, check out my hands-on of the update.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
OnePlus has set a date for the global launch of its OnePlus 13 series, and we'll also see a new Sapphire Blue variant of the OnePlus Buds Pro 3. The devices will launch on January 7, 2025 at 10:30 AM EST/4:30 PM CET/9:00 PM IST.
Alongside the OnePlus 13, OnePlus will also introduce the new OnePlus 13R at its January 7 launch event!

The OnePlus 13R will have a massive 6000mAh battery and will come in two colorways: Nebula Noir and Astral Trail. It'll feature Gorilla Glass 7i on the front and back, an aluminum frame, a flat screen with an 8mm body, and triple cameras.

The 13R will be available in the U.S. and Canada, and given prior R series phones, it can be assumed the 13R will be a more affordable version of the 13 with last year's flagship Snapdragon processor.

OnePlus has also revealed that its Buds Pro 3 will introduce an "AI Translation" feature in "partnership" with the OnePlus 13 series.

(Image caption: Left to right: OnePlus 13 in Arctic Dawn, OnePlus 13R in Astral Trail, and OnePlus Buds Pro 3 in Sapphire Blue)
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๐Ÿ“ฑAndroid 16 Developer Preview 2 is out: Here's everything you need to know

Google has released Android 16 DP2, giving apps better control over haptics, letting them know if devices support adaptive refresh rate, and more.

Read this article for all the details.
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๐Ÿ•ถGoogle plans to let you locate your Android XR smart glasses via Find My Device

Shahram Izadi, the VP & GM of AR/XR at Google, broke the news about Find My Device support during an interview about Android XR with Android Faithful.

More details can be found in this article.
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