Android 15 Beta 2 adds a new "Google Pixel Avatar Picker" app that can automatically sync your Android profile picture with your Google Account photo.

Surprised this functionality wasn't there already, but it's good to see it finally be added!

If you have a Pixel phone, good news: Android 15 Beta 2 finally restores the ability to control the volume of speaker groups you're casting to!

This feature was removed from Pixel in late 2021 due to the Sonos lawsuit, but it's finally back!

More details can be found in this article.

Google TV is finally adding a Find My Remote feature!

Find My Remote already launched on that new Walmart Onn 4K Pro streaming box, but it seems this is a new platform feature that's coming to more Google TV devices.

More details can be found in this article.

Patreon, Grammarly, and Adobe are among the first third-party companies to get access to Google's on-device Gemini Nano model. Adobe will use Gemini Nano to summarize and let users ask questions about documents in Acrobat.

More details can be found in this article.

Google TV is finally adding support for picture-in-picture mode! This is coming in the Android 14 for TV platform update.

However, there's a catch: It won't be available on all devices and won't work with all kinds of content.

More details can be found in this article.

The Daylight DC1 was just announced! It's an Android tablet with a 10.5in "LivePaper" display that's supposedly as calming to read on as eInk but much smoother like LCD (up to 60Hz refresh rate). This is BIG if true.

I chatted with the founder, Anjan Katta, back in September and came away pretty optimistic about the whole project, so I can't wait to try this myself!

By the way, the reason we chatted is because Anjan seems to really like the hacking/modding community. He told me he's open to letting tinkerers play around with the device by allowing its bootloader to be unlocked. I also told him it'd be nice if they could provide a factory image to restore the device back to stock.

Edit: refresh rate is 60Hz, not 120Hz

The next version of Android TV OS, Android 14 for TV, will bring some welcome performance improvements. A lot of Android TV devices have underpowered hardware, so any performance increases are welcome!

More details on these changes can be found in this article.

The Amazon Kindle app for Android is letting some users in Europe buy books again. Amazon has seemingly enrolled in Google Play's "alternative billing without user choice" program.

After 8 and a half years, Google Play is once again raising its app price limit: Developers can now charge up to $1,000 for apps or in-app content, up from $400.

Who will be the first to release a meme app that costs $1,000?

Yesterday, Daylight launched the DC1, a tablet with a REALLY interesting display that allegedly solves issues with both E Ink and RLCDs.

We have photos & videos from the launch event, and we found some interesting things.

The demo units at the event were using Niagara Launcher as the default home screen launcher!

Not only that, but the DC1 had Google Apps and a 120Hz refresh rate!

(Thanks to X user LordServerReset for sharing their photos, videos, and experience from the launch event.)

For more details, read this article.

WSA might be sticking around after all, at least in China.

In March, Microsoft announced they were ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android after March 5, 2025. WSA lets you run Android apps & games on Windows PCs.

Today, Microsoft announced a partnership with Tencent to bring Tencent App Store mobile apps to the Microsoft Store. Microsoft's announcement doesn't explicitly mention WSA, but it sure sounds like WSA is sticking around, at least for users in China.

For example, the blog post mentions that the "computer version of Tencent App Store" will also rely on Intel Bridge (IBT) and Celadon to enable running ARM apps on x86 PCs. The underlying Android OS is based on Android 13, which was the last version WSA utilized. Android apps are treated like native Windows apps in terms of windowing/search/launching.

It makes sense for WSA to stick around in China, where people are more likely to actually want to run mobile games on PCs. Microsoft ending its Amazon Appstore partnership was likely due to a lack of use, making it hard to justify continued development.

H/T @MlgmXyysd

Edit: Another possibility is that the Microsoft Store will instead download/utilize Tencent's Android emulator instead of WSA. Tencent's emulator seemingly uses Project Celadon's CaaS images with VirtualBox. Their current images might be updated to Android 13, with improved multi-window functionality and Windows integration.

We won't know for sure what technology is used until this actually goes live, though. Thanks to @hmtheboy154 for pointing this other possibility out.

Grammarly says they'll leverage Gemini Nano to power on-device grammar suggestions on select Android devices that support the LLM (eg. Pixel 8 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S24 series).

Meanwhile, Patreon will be building a feature that lets creators quickly catch up on unread messages.

This news slipped under my radar due to Google I/O, but I think it's quite significant:

Goodix unveiled its ultrasonic under-display fingerprint technology, and it's already made its debut in the Vivo X100 Ultra. Ultrasonic fingerprint scanners can work even when fingers are wet or dirty and don't need the screen to be lit up.

However, the only one really making ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner modules thus far has been Qualcomm, and they're apparently pretty expensive. That's why we've only seen them in Samsung's flagships and a couple of other, mostly China-exclusive phones.

Goodix is a pretty well-known sensor vendor. Their optical under-display fingerprint scanners are used by pretty much everyone. Although Synaptics was the first to market with optical under-display fingerprint scanners, I believe Goodix is the market leader now, simply due to offering better prices. It'll be interesting to see if Goodix offering ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanners now will increase their adoption in smartphones. I'd be interested in learning how they compare in price to the company's optical sensors and Qualcomm's ultrasonic sensors.