Google

2022-09-02 14:00:14 Android 14 beta test will begin in April 2023. Android 13 QPR will end in March.

Google has updated its FAQ section to indicate that Android 13 QPR beta updates continue through March 2023, after which the Android 14 beta test will begin. This coincides with this year's Android 13 timeline.

Most likely, the company shortened the Android 13 QPR program to avoid confusion when two beta tests were conducted simultaneously, like this year. No, QPR3 is not canceled, just that there will be no public test.

Android Beta FAQ Open / Comment

2022-09-01 21:00:11 The Google Wallet app got a themed icon.

In rebranding Google Pay to Google Wallet, the company somewhat forgot about the themed icon.

Fortunately, the Google Wallet update version 2.153.469766798 corrects this flaw. Open / Comment

2022-09-01 14:00:12 Google has released Developer Support images for rolling back the Pixel 6, 6 Pro and 6a to Android 12 and 12.1.

As you may recall, the update to Android 13 for the Pixel 6, 6 Pro and 6a carries a bootloader update that closes a security hole and increments anti-rollback counter.

There are various reasons to go back to Android 12, first and foremost it's good for developers. To that end, Google has released "Android 12 Developer Support Images for Pixel." These are images of Android 12 and 12.1, with a new version of the bootloader. They do not pass CTS, "are for developers only and are not suitable for general use."

Android Developers Open / Comment

2022-08-31 21:00:10 Google Contacts is starting to feature a filter carousel.

Now there will be a carousel of three possible filters at the top under the search bar: Phone contacts, Email contacts and Companies. It looks just like the filter carousel in the Google Messages app, which is only available in certain regions.

We don't see a similar feature in the 3.75.24 version of the app, so Google is again distributing everything in waves through the server. Open / Comment

2022-08-31 14:00:09 Google Maps is starting to have a transparent system navigation bar.

Yes, it may seem like a small thing, but for every Android user it is a painful topic. The transparent system navigation bar applies to all the screens of the app: from the pop-up place cards to the settings.

Unfortunately, it doesn't fix the color mismatch in the bottom navigation bar container (this was broken in late July). If you're not happy with that either, you can follow this link to Issue Tracker and click +1. Open / Comment

2022-08-30 21:00:10 Google Arts & Culture will soon get a new logo.

Two new Google trademarks appeared on the Internet, each featuring a "stylized ampersand." One is in Google's signature four-color design, while the other is simply black. The text of the trademark application for the logo confirms the proposed rebranding of Google Arts & Culture, with mentions of existing features such as virtual galleries, VR tours and more.

In addition, Google itself seems to have posted the new logo on the Arts & Culture Wikipedia page, listing it as the logo for 2022. Open / Comment

2022-08-30 14:00:11 Google Photos will soon update the Memories interface.

There are plans to add black areas at the top and bottom, and the content itself will be separated by a container with rounded corners. Also, photos will have a zoom in or zoom out animation. Google calls this "auto play", it stops when you click backwards.

In addition, the navigation will also change. You'll still only need to tap once on the left or right to browse photos, but you'll now need to swipe up and down to switch between collections. Open / Comment

2022-08-29 21:00:12 YouTube app on Android is experimenting with the player's page interface.

Now, when playing a video in a dark theme, the page background is colored black, while the device status bar and the area under the video are dynamically colored according to the current color scheme in the video. This is not observed in the light theme. Open / Comment

2022-08-29 14:02:01 YouTube app on Android is starting to round corners.

In a new server-side test, the developers are introducing rounded elements for the video's covers in the history carousel, playlist thumbnails, the Shorts carousel, and the list of videos on the channel page.

Maybe in a couple of years they'll learn about Material Design 3. Open / Comment

2022-08-28 21:00:12 Open / Comment