While there isn't a Pixel Drop today, there is an Android drop!

Today's drop brings new features to Circle to Search, Chrome, TalkBack, and Google Maps for Wear OS, plus an expansion of Android Earthquake Alerts across the U.S.

More details on these new features can be found in this article on Android Faithful.

Since Google isn't rolling out the Android 15 update for Pixel devices today, they're instead pushing a new Android 14 QPR3-based update with the latest September 2024 security patches.

The update also removes a "third party APK to address [a] security vulnerability." Presumably, this refers to the vulnerability within the Showcase app that caused a stir recently (which was blown way out of proportion, to be honest.)

Google's TalkBack screen reader is getting a neat new feature that uses Gemini AI to generate descriptions of images that don't have alt. text.

Unfortunately, this feature won't be available on Samsung devices. Here's why.

If you're working on an Android 15 "custom ROM" or custom operating system project and find something interesting while digging through the AOSP source code, let me know!

My DMs are open.

Everything is not OSOM: The company born from Essential's ashes is shutting down

OSOM is effectively closing up shop later this week and laying off most of its employees. My condolences to the employees who will soon be out of a job 😔

If you update your work phone to Android 15 and find that Circle to Search suddenly doesn't work, it's because the update gives IT admins the ability to block the feature.

Here's how.

Gboard is rolling out a new UI for picking emojis, stickers, GIFs, and emoticons that's more optimized for tablets and foldables.

More details + screenshots can be found in this article.

You don't have to use Google Assistant or Gemini anymore to enjoy Circle to Search!

Circle to Search can finally be used even when the Google app isn’t set as the default assistant.

More details here.

Turns out I wasn't overthinking this :)

(Though I was wrong about this being the "only" change in the Easter egg in Android 15, as a later beta added the Landroid screen saver!)

Google is making your smart home setup even easier by backing up Thread credentials

Thread network credentials stored on your Android device are now synced to the cloud for quicker setup of new smart home devices.

Here's what this means for you.

Google is preparing a major overhaul to notifications and Quick Settings in Android 16

The good news? You might see more info in each panel.

The bad news? You'll need two fingers to pull down Quick Settings.

Full details + a demo can be found in my latest article for Android Authority.

Remember those revamped status bar icons that I posted about a few months back?

Yeah, they're in Android 15's source code, they're just not used/enabled by default yet. But you can build your own Android 15 ROM and enable them.

[Sb] New status bar wifi and mobile icons | [Sb] New unified battery icon

Android 15's top-level settings revamp that I posted about back in June will likely go live in QPR1.

AOSP trunk staging builds have the flag controlling this feature set to enabled by default, so we'll likely see this new design in an upcoming Android 15 QPR1 beta.

For reference, here's where the flag is read and here's the top_level_settings_v2 preference screen XML.

The general reaction to this first look at Android 16's new Quick Settings/notification panel design seems to be positive.

People like the new panels and how they have more space for notifications and QS tiles, but people don't like the idea that you'd have to use two fingers to bring down the QS panel.

As many have pointed out, this is still a very early look, so things can and will change. I hope the two-finger gesture requirement doesn't stick around. If Google changes it, I'll let you all know.

One other thing: @beachfuneral on Telegram pointed out that this new in-development QS/notification panel is actually in Android 15's source code already, so you can build an AOSP ROM and enable it yourself. Here's the documentation on flexiglass to get started.

One of the most exciting new features of Bluetooth 6.0 is Channel Sounding, which offers significantly more precise distance measurements than RSSI.

Even though the spec was just released, Android 15 already supports Channel Sounding.

More details can be found in this article.

Android 15 has made BIG changes to factory reset protection that make it much harder for thieves to sell stolen devices.

Here's everything you need to know about how Google has changed FRP in Android 15, including many previously unreported details.

Neat: You can now freely resize the note window in Google Keep! Slide the grab bar left and right to resize the window.

This is rolling out on both book-style foldables like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and on tablets like the OnePlus Pad 2.

Thanks to Anh on Discord for the tip!

AssembleDebug first spotted this feature about 3 months back, writing about it for Android Authority, but it seems to be widely rolling out now. It's not available on my Galaxy Z Fold 6, oddly, though Keep's tablet UI was never available for me on that device.

Want to use a cheap eSIM plan but don't have an eSIM compatible phone?

Try an eSIM adapter! These nifty cards are basically removable eUICCs that you can provision eSIM profiles onto.

The one I'm recommending uses an open source app to manage profiles. The eSIM management app in question is OpenEUICC, a fully open-souce LPAd implementation for Android. Other eSIM adapters use proprietary, closed source apps and require account sign-ups.

More details on how this works can be found in this article.

Ultra HDR is a great format that lets you save the SDR and HDR version of an image in the same file.

Google is finally making Ultra HDR support a requirement...but only for some phones running Android 15.

Here's how they'll enforce it.

Apps can now block sideloading more easily and force downloads through Google Play, thanks to the Play Integrity API.

The API makes it easy for apps to detect when they weren’t installed from the Play Store and show a "remediation dialog" to fix this.

More details on this change can be found in this article.

Apps can now better protect your data by making you close potentially risky apps

The Play Integrity API has added a new app access risk feature that detects if other apps running on the device can capture the screen or control it.

Here's how it works.