Samsung said at CES that you'll be able to use your Galaxy phone as a webcam for your Windows PC, but they didn't say which Galaxy phones & which PCs this'll work on.

Here are the devices Phone Link's webcam feature will work on, and when it'll launch. Article over on Android Police.

Last night, Google announced that it is piloting a new security feature in Singapore (with consent from its government) to combat financial fraud. This new "enhanced fraud protection", part of Google Play Protect, will "analyze and automatically block the installation of apps that may use sensitive runtime permissions frequently abused for financial fraud [RECEIVE_SMS, READ_SMS, BIND_Notifications, and Accessibility] when the user attempts to install the app from an Internet-sideloading source (web browsers, messaging apps or file managers)."

The SMS and notifications permissions can be abused to intercept OTPs sent via SMS or notifications, while the Accessibility permissions can be abused to read and interact with screen content. While this makes sense, one concern I have is how Play Protect will differentiate between apps that are sideloaded by app stores versus apps sideloaded via "standalone app distribution sources" like web browsers or messaging apps. If they're using the same method that Android 13's restricted settings feature uses to differentiate (ie. whether the app was sideloaded via session-based or non-session-based APIs), then it's possible fraudsters can work around this. This should still prove effective, though.

In addition, Google says that Play Protect's real-time scanning behavior is now deployed in Thailand, Singapore, and Brazil. This feature rolled out to Google Play Services in India in October of last year, and Google says that it has identified 515,000 new malicious apps and issued over 3.1 million warnings or blocks.

Exclusive: Here's a first look at what could be the Pixel Fold 2!

A source shared a photo of what could be Google's second-generation foldable, and there are some surprising design changes!

See the photo + all the details over on Android Authority.

Edit: If you're wondering why the corners (especially the bottom right corner) look funny, it's because the original background was cropped out (obviously). The bottom right corner especially suffered because the original photo didn't have it fully in frame.

Google has released Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1! The beta is available for the Pixel 5a and later, and includes support for the new Circle to Search gesture (still only available on the Pixel 8 series)!

The update brings the build ID to AP21.240119.009.

FYI: I will be prioritizing writing articles on new features I find in Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1, so my deep dive thread on the changes may come a bit later.

Google is preparing a new "easy pre-set" mode in Android that'll make it easier for your grandma to use her phone.

I spotted the feature in the Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 release, but it might be intended for Android 15 instead.

Full details over on Android Authority.

The Pixel Fold might be borrowing one of the better software features from the OnePlus Open: the ability to continue apps on the cover screen by swiping up on the lock screen!

This might land in Android 14 QPR3.

Full details over on Android Police.

Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 hints at a new "adaptive touch" feature for Pixel that'll automatically adjust the touch sensitivity based on the current environment or activities.

More details are available on Android Police.

Google is finally giving Android's chat bubbles feature some love.

In Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1, I enabled a hidden "bubble bar" feature that revamps the chat bubbles experience on large screen devices like the Pixel Tablet.

Here's a first look, over on Android Authority.

Gemini for Android is here! This new app makes it easier to access Google's chatbot, powered by the Gemini Pro LLM, right from your Android device. You can ask Gemini a question by tapping the launcher icon or long-pressing the power button. Once invoked, the Gemini overlay lets you enter a text or text+image prompt. You can tap the camera icon to snap a photo or press the "add this screen" button to take a screenshot of the current page to include in your prompt.

The Gemini app for Android is available on Google Play with support for English, but support for Korean and Japanese will be coming next week. While there won't be an app for iOS, iPhone users can access Gemini by opening the Google App and tapping the "Gemini" button up top.

How can you long-press the power button to invoke Gemini if that gesture is handled by Google Assistant? The answer is that the Gemini Android app can replace Google Assistant as your default assistant if you want, meaning all the ways you'd normally invoke Google Assistant on your phone can instead invoke Gemini. Unfortunately, Gemini currently doesn't offer ALL the same functionality as Google Assistant and requires an active data connection, but more features will be added over time.

There's also now a Gemini Advanced tier, which offers access to Google's most powerful Ultra 1.0 LLM. Access to Gemini Advanced requires a subscription to the new $20/month "AI Premium" Google One plan, which offers the same benefits as the 2TB plan but adds access to Gemini Advanced and soon Gemini features in Gmail, Docs, & other Workspace apps (formerly under the Duet AI umbrella). Gemini Advanced is available in English on the web.

Here's the Play Store link for Google Gemini, and attached to this post is the APK. The Gemini app isn't really standalone; it just acts as a shortcut to the Gemini entrypoint in the Google App, much like the Assistant and Lens "apps" on Google Play.

Note that Gemini is only available in English right now.

Here's a quick demo of Google Gemini on Android! Let me know how Gemini fares with your queries.

This is just a simple query, but there are "Extensions" you can enable that let you pull data from Google Flights, Google Hotels, Google Maps, Workspace, and YouTube.

Also, I didn't show it in the video, but Gemini can also be invoked by saying "Hey Google" or long-pressing the power button, as it replaces Google Assistant as the default Android assistant service.

Wondering what new Android features you'll get in the next Pixel Feature Drop?

I wrote a roundup over on Android Central of every feature you can expect to get.

Some of these Android features will be coming to other devices in Android 15, while the remaining are Pixel-exclusive.

If you're on Android 14 and you install an app via Google Play and then later try to sideload an update to it from another source, you may see a dialog that warns you that by updating from a different source, "app functionality may change."

This is because Google Play is using Android 14's new update ownership API that I previously reported on. When I first reported on this change back in July, Google Play was only claiming update ownership over core Google apps like Play Services. However, a few weeks ago, some AndroidPolice readers noticed this dialog appearing when sideloading third-party apps, and I just saw this today myself.

Here's Google's statement to AP regarding the change:

We introduced several new APIs in Android 14 that allow app stores, including third-party stores, to improve their user experience.When you install an app from a store, you typically expect to receive automatic updates for the app from that same store. With Android 14, if a store claims responsibility for future updates for the apps you install through it, then Android ensures that you won't unexpectedly receive updates for these apps from a different store. You can still allow your apps to be updated from other sources if desired, including via sideloading, through the new confirmation dialog. As stores, including Google Play, adopt the Android 14 change, users who subsequently update apps from different sources may notice this message.

If you install FOSS apps from F-Droid, upgrade to version 1.19.0 because it finally adds support for Android's unattended updates API introduced in Android 12. This means F-Droid can update apps in the background (so long as you first installed those apps through F-Droid).

The update also adds Themed Icon support, which is nice. Here's F-Droid's blog post on the release.

That was fast: Google pushed an update to Gemini for Android last night that enabled auto sending queries when you invoke it via a swipe up gesture or long press of the power button.

Previously queries only auto sent if you invoked Gemini via "Hey Google."

Hopefully continued conversation is added next!

Device Streaming in Android Studio is now in Open Alpha! This means you can access the service without registering for the Early Access Program - just download the latest version of Android Studio Jellyfish and link a Firebase project.

Device Streaming lets you test apps on real Android devices from a variety of OEMs located remotely in a Google data center, all through Android Studio. The service is free to use during the alpha period.