Mishaal's Android News Feed
Here's a demo of the new Magic Editor feature, but on a Pixel 7 Pro 👀 I had to back up this photo before I could use Magic Editor on it, so most of the processing is likely done on the cloud. Also, you have to agree to Google's generative AI ToS to use this…
Here's a look at some of the other capabilities of the new Magic Editor feature:
* Change image styling
* Enhance portraits
* Change the sky
* Change the water
Videos via @nailsad_eleos
* Change image styling
* Enhance portraits
* Change the sky
* Change the water
Videos via @nailsad_eleos
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Pixel Camera Services v1.2 adds a CameraX Night Sight Extension on Android 14.
The vendor extension is available for both the rear and front logical cameras, ie. it's available for all physical sensors. I'm not sure exactly which Pixels are getting this update, but it's likely at least all Tensor devices.
Notably, Pixels previously only had a Camera2 vendor extension for Night Sight, which was released as part of the Pixel Feature Drop that brought Night Sight to Snapchat.
Here's the full changelog:
The vendor extension is available for both the rear and front logical cameras, ie. it's available for all physical sensors. I'm not sure exactly which Pixels are getting this update, but it's likely at least all Tensor devices.
Notably, Pixels previously only had a Camera2 vendor extension for Night Sight, which was released as part of the Pixel Feature Drop that brought Night Sight to Snapchat.
Here's the full changelog:
Version 1.2 contains new feature for 3rd party apps
• Support for CameraX Night Sight Extension (Requires Android 14)
• Including various bug fixes and performance improvements
This means that third-party apps that use the CameraX API for in-app camera functionality can utilize the Pixel's Night Sight feature.👍48❤11
New features coming to the Google Recorder app:
* The ability to add certain recordings to a "Favorites" list
* A new "audio channels" setting that lets you change between mono and stereo
(The new AI summarization feature is not available yet.)
* The ability to add certain recordings to a "Favorites" list
* A new "audio channels" setting that lets you change between mono and stereo
(The new AI summarization feature is not available yet.)
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Google is making passkeys the default option for signing into your personal Google Account.
"
Also, WhatsApp will soon support passkey sign-ins.
Source
"
Today we’re making passkeys even more accessible by offering them as the default option across personal Google Accounts.
This means the next time you sign in to your account, you’ll start seeing prompts to create and use passkeys, simplifying your future sign-ins."Also, WhatsApp will soon support passkey sign-ins.
Source
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"Potential BIG NEWS for those in the Google Smart Home Ecosystem.
Previously, you could control the volume of a group of Google Home speakers. This was removed due to a patent dispute between Google and Sonos, which holds the patent for this feature. This led to an import ban on some Google Devices.
The long-short:
- Google began selling competing devices with this feature in 2015
- Sonos applied for a patent for this feature in 2019 but connected it to an application from 2006, artificially backdating when it was issued.
- A judge agreed that this shouldn't count, stating: "This was not a case of an inventor leading the industry to something new. This was a case of the industry leading with something new, and only then, an inventor coming out of the woodwork to say that he had come up with the idea first."
The Takeaway:
If Google manages to succeed against Sono's inevitable appeal, this may mean that Google Home devices may regain group volume control."
In Google's blog post responding to this decision, the company said the decision is "good news for our users who will once again be able to seamlessly group and integrate Google smart speakers, and for continued innovation of new features across the industry."
I wonder if Google will be re-enabling these two features (speaker group volume controls while casting & stream expansion) or if they'll wait until Sonos loses on appeal (assuming they do).
Edit: Oh wow, they're rolling out some of these changes immediately. Specifically, the ability to add Nest speakers, displays, and Chromecast devices to multiple speaker groups. Rolling out now in the Home app on Android, coming soon on iOS.
Sources: [1] [2], Via M. Brandon Lee on Twitter (thanks for letting me quote him!), 9to5Google
Previously, you could control the volume of a group of Google Home speakers. This was removed due to a patent dispute between Google and Sonos, which holds the patent for this feature. This led to an import ban on some Google Devices.
The long-short:
- Google began selling competing devices with this feature in 2015
- Sonos applied for a patent for this feature in 2019 but connected it to an application from 2006, artificially backdating when it was issued.
- A judge agreed that this shouldn't count, stating: "This was not a case of an inventor leading the industry to something new. This was a case of the industry leading with something new, and only then, an inventor coming out of the woodwork to say that he had come up with the idea first."
The Takeaway:
If Google manages to succeed against Sono's inevitable appeal, this may mean that Google Home devices may regain group volume control."
In Google's blog post responding to this decision, the company said the decision is "good news for our users who will once again be able to seamlessly group and integrate Google smart speakers, and for continued innovation of new features across the industry."
I wonder if Google will be re-enabling these two features (speaker group volume controls while casting & stream expansion) or if they'll wait until Sonos loses on appeal (assuming they do).
Edit: Oh wow, they're rolling out some of these changes immediately. Specifically, the ability to add Nest speakers, displays, and Chromecast devices to multiple speaker groups. Rolling out now in the Home app on Android, coming soon on iOS.
Sources: [1] [2], Via M. Brandon Lee on Twitter (thanks for letting me quote him!), 9to5Google
Google
Update on Sonos’ misleading patent campaign
An update on Sonos’ misleading patent campaign and our ongoing work to advocate for patent reform.
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Android may soon add a Quick Settings tile to change the current SIM used for data.
Currently, you have to go to Settings > Network & Internet > SIMs to switch SIMs.
User Sukumar Patel put in a request for this feature back in December 2022. A Googler just marked the issue as "fixed" and said it'll be available "in a future build."
We'll hopefully see this new Quick Settings tile in an upcoming Android 14 QPR beta.
(By the way, it looks like someone made an app a while back that helps simplify changing your data SIM. The app creates a QS tile that, when tapped, opens SIM settings. I haven't used it myself, but you may find it useful.)
Currently, you have to go to Settings > Network & Internet > SIMs to switch SIMs.
User Sukumar Patel put in a request for this feature back in December 2022. A Googler just marked the issue as "fixed" and said it'll be available "in a future build."
We'll hopefully see this new Quick Settings tile in an upcoming Android 14 QPR beta.
(By the way, it looks like someone made an app a while back that helps simplify changing your data SIM. The app creates a QS tile that, when tapped, opens SIM settings. I haven't used it myself, but you may find it useful.)
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The Pixel 8's AI Wallpapers app is now on Google Play, and a new update is rolling out to Pixel 8 users.
The current themes are:
* Imaginary
* Mineral
* X-ray
* Night
* Terrain
* Translucent
* Luminous
* Painting
* Texture
* Bloom
* Soft-focus
* Volcanic
Currently, you can't export the wallpapers you create from this app, but if you have root access, you can grab them from
Here's the Play Store listing for the AI Wallpapers app. Note that this Play Store listing is only visible on compatible devices (or if you navigate to it directly).
For a full video demo of the new AI Wallpapers feature, check out my previous post.
The current themes are:
* Imaginary
* Mineral
* X-ray
* Night
* Terrain
* Translucent
* Luminous
* Painting
* Texture
* Bloom
* Soft-focus
* Volcanic
Currently, you can't export the wallpapers you create from this app, but if you have root access, you can grab them from
/data/user_de/0/com.google.android.apps.aiwallpapers/files.Here's the Play Store listing for the AI Wallpapers app. Note that this Play Store listing is only visible on compatible devices (or if you navigate to it directly).
For a full video demo of the new AI Wallpapers feature, check out my previous post.
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Factory images are now available for the Pixel 8 (shiba) and Pixel 8 Pro (husky).
Images are currently only available for the release build (UD1A.230803.0XX) and not for the Android 14 QPR1 beta.
Rooting the Pixel 8 series is easy: Just extract the init_boot image from the factory image, patch it with Magisk, and then flash the patched init_boot image using fastboot.
Thanks to PlayGloriaMMXIX for the heads up!
Images are currently only available for the release build (UD1A.230803.0XX) and not for the Android 14 QPR1 beta.
Rooting the Pixel 8 series is easy: Just extract the init_boot image from the factory image, patch it with Magisk, and then flash the patched init_boot image using fastboot.
Thanks to PlayGloriaMMXIX for the heads up!
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Smartspacer is a supercharged version of Google's At a Glance widget.
Google's At a Glance widget can already do a lot of things like show you timer and stopwatch info, flashlight reminders, and more, but it has limited support for showing info from other apps. It can show the status from ridesharing apps like Uber, doorbell alerts from Nest, safety check countdowns from Personal Safety, fitness tracking info from Adidas Running and Strava ... but not much else.
Smartspacer, though, has 20 different plugins to pull info from a variety of apps and OS settings, including:
* Aftership
* Amazon
* BBC Weather
* Google Finance
* Google Keep
* Google Maps
* Google Wallet
* Health Connect
* Pokemon Go
* Samsung Health
* Uber
* Yahoo Sports
* YouTube
There are also plugins for showing the battery (of the device, connected devices, and remote devices), notifications, sunrise/sunset info, data usage, and energy monitor.
Oh. And it HAS A PLUGIN FOR TASKER! That means you can basically program Smartspacer to show ANYTHING you want.
Using Smartspacer, you can do things like show your loyalty cards or Keep lists when you're at certain locations. You can also show more advanced flight tracking info, better delivery alerts, and so much more.
Best part: It doesn't require root access and works on both Pixel and non-Pixel devices. On Pixel devices, Smartspacer even keeps all the original At a Glance functionality, so you lose nothing by switching to it.
My friend Kieron Quinn has been working on Smartspacer for nearly a year and a half now and is getting ready to release it. Right now, it's in a preview state and is only available to a handful of testers. If you're interested, then join the Discord group!
(Developers: Kieron says he's making an SDK for launcher integration. Documentation and the SDK for plugin development will also be released soon.)
Google's At a Glance widget can already do a lot of things like show you timer and stopwatch info, flashlight reminders, and more, but it has limited support for showing info from other apps. It can show the status from ridesharing apps like Uber, doorbell alerts from Nest, safety check countdowns from Personal Safety, fitness tracking info from Adidas Running and Strava ... but not much else.
Smartspacer, though, has 20 different plugins to pull info from a variety of apps and OS settings, including:
* Aftership
* Amazon
* BBC Weather
* Google Finance
* Google Keep
* Google Maps
* Google Wallet
* Health Connect
* Pokemon Go
* Samsung Health
* Uber
* Yahoo Sports
* YouTube
There are also plugins for showing the battery (of the device, connected devices, and remote devices), notifications, sunrise/sunset info, data usage, and energy monitor.
Oh. And it HAS A PLUGIN FOR TASKER! That means you can basically program Smartspacer to show ANYTHING you want.
Using Smartspacer, you can do things like show your loyalty cards or Keep lists when you're at certain locations. You can also show more advanced flight tracking info, better delivery alerts, and so much more.
Best part: It doesn't require root access and works on both Pixel and non-Pixel devices. On Pixel devices, Smartspacer even keeps all the original At a Glance functionality, so you lose nothing by switching to it.
My friend Kieron Quinn has been working on Smartspacer for nearly a year and a half now and is getting ready to release it. Right now, it's in a preview state and is only available to a handful of testers. If you're interested, then join the Discord group!
(Developers: Kieron says he's making an SDK for launcher integration. Documentation and the SDK for plugin development will also be released soon.)
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
Smartspacer is a supercharged version of Google's At a Glance widget. Google's At a Glance widget can already do a lot of things like show you timer and stopwatch info, flashlight reminders, and more, but it has limited support for showing info from other…
Okay, originally the Discord group for this app wasn't going to be open, but since there's SO much interest in trying it out, here it is.
(Please don't overwhelm the dev, he's just one dude!)
Also, no I'm not getting paid to promote this app, nor am I getting any money from ad revenue or anything. Kieron just makes insanely cool apps (Pixel Launcher Mods; Ambient Music Mod; Tap, Tap), so I figured y'all would be interested in his new project.
(Please don't overwhelm the dev, he's just one dude!)
Also, no I'm not getting paid to promote this app, nor am I getting any money from ad revenue or anything. Kieron just makes insanely cool apps (Pixel Launcher Mods; Ambient Music Mod; Tap, Tap), so I figured y'all would be interested in his new project.
Discord
Discord - A New Way to Chat with Friends & Communities
Discord is the easiest way to communicate over voice, video, and text. Chat, hang out, and stay close with your friends and communities.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
Since I'm not gonna have my own Pixel 8 for a while, I might as well put this out there so someone else can test it ASAP: You might be able to enable DisplayPort Alternate Mode (ie. display output over USB-C) if you root the device. That's because it seems…
Here's the code change that added this system property. It seems that USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode is currently only enabled on userdebug/eng builds. I'm not sure why it doesn't work when spoofing that property on user builds, though.
Edit: DP was disabled on userdebug/eng builds, too.
Edit: DP was disabled on userdebug/eng builds, too.
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Google's new "Pixel Troubleshooting" app, which helps Pixel users diagnose battery or network issues, is available on the Pixel 8 per Andreas Proschofsky for The Standard.
This app will likely come to other Pixel devices in the Android 14 QPR1 release.
This app will likely come to other Pixel devices in the Android 14 QPR1 release.
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Good news for developers: The Pixel Watch 2's new charging puck with POGO pins supports USB data, so you don't have to deal with wireless ADB debugging!
The Pixel Watch 2 will be a good device to test apps on Wear OS 4.
Thanks to Rob for the tip (and images)!
The Pixel Watch 2 will be a good device to test apps on Wear OS 4.
Thanks to Rob for the tip (and images)!
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