The Linux Terminal app in Android 15 QPR2 is fairly barebones in terms of what it can let you do right now, but a lot of improvements are in the works, including:

* Hardware acceleration support. If the file /sdcard/linux/virglrenderer exists on the device, VirGL for the VM will be enabled. This requires enabling ANGLE for the Terminal app.

* Graphical environment support. By installing Wayland compositor and VNC backend, you can enable a graphical environment.

(Note: I tried this already, but it didn't work - likely need to wait for a future update.)

* A backup option to preserve your Linux VM install. (A restore option is still in the works.)

* Forced portrait mode if there's no hardware keyboard attached.

* NDK APIs for AVF.

* Removal of the VMLauncher app and full integration into the Terminal app. (vm_launcher_lib is being integrated into Terminal.)

* Google's compiled Debian images will soon be downloaded from Google's download servers rather than GitHub. eg. here's a static link to the latest AArch64 images.

Google has announced that it's hardening Play Integrity API verdicts so they're less spoofable but also faster and more privacy-friendly.

- Improved device integrity verdicts on Android 13+ will require the use of hardware-backed security signals using Android Platform Key Attestation, making them much harder to bypass. Google will adjust verdicts when it detects "security threats across Android SDK versions, such as when there is evidence of excessive activity or key compromise."

- The Play Integrity API will now have the "same level of reliability and support across all Android form factors."

- Because these new verdicts reduce the number of device signals that need to be collected and evaluated, Google says verdict latency can improve by up to 80%.

Developers can opt in to use these new verdicts today or wait until May 2025 which is when all API integrations will automatically transition.

In addition:

- The "meets-strong-integrity" response is being updated to require a security patch level within the last year on devices running Android 13+.

- A new device attributes field lets apps adjust their behavior based on the user's Android SDK version.

- All optional verdict signals are being standardized across apps, games, SDKs, and more.

📱Huawei's Harmony OS Next doesn't natively support Android apps, but that hasn't stopped some people

A new tool called 'EasyAbroad' lets you run various Android apps like YouTube, Gmail, and more in a container. It seems to work surprisingly well!

📄 Native PDF support is coming to Chrome for Android, and you can try it now

Google Chrome is adding support for Android's new, enhanced PDF reader library, allowing it to open PDF files without the use of third-party apps.

Details + how to enable it can be found in this article on Android Authority.

🔘 Samsung may finally let you long press the power button to launch Gemini

The side button on Samsung devices can currently only launch either Bixby or the power off menu when held down, but this could change in One UI 7.

More details can be found in this article.

The One UI 7 beta is finally live!

It's available for the Samsung Galaxy S24 series in Germany, India, Korea, Poland, the UK, and the US. You can sign up for it via Samsung Members.

I don't have an S24 myself to test it, so follow @jspring86az on Threads for the details.

Links:

[1] Samsung One UI 7 Beta Starts To Roll Out Showcasing the Glimpse of Future of Mobile AI

[2] Samsung One UI 7 Enhances Security and Privacy in the Age of AI, Giving Users Greater Transparency and Choice

Samsung's One UI 7 beta brings support for Google's Identity Check feature.

Google teased this feature back in October, but it now seems to be going live for the S24 series in the One UI 7 beta.

How Identity Check works: When your phone is in an untrusted location, biometric authentication will be required to make any changes to important security settings. This is similar to Stolen Device Protection on iPhones.

New devices launching with Android 15 or higher that support biometric authentication are required to preload a certain version of Google Play Services in order to ensure the Identity Check feature is available, so we'll see more and more devices soon with this feature.

The next Pixel Drop is here, bringing a TON of new features!

- Pixel Screenshots app now auto-organizes screenshots
- Pixel Recorder adds a Clear Voice mode
- Now Playing history FINALLY shows album art
- Widgets on lock screen for Pixel Tablet

More details can be found here.

Google's Gemini app is getting a bunch of new features, including:

- New Spotify extension
- ‘Utilities’ & other extensions to make phone calls, send text messages, etc
- ‘Saved info’ for tailored responses
- New languages for Gemini Live

Details on these Gemini updates can be found in this article.

Pixels aren’t the only Android phones getting new features today!

Other phones are getting:

- Expressive Captions
- Upgraded Image Q&A in Lookout
- QR codes in Quick Share
- Auto-enhancements in Google Drive
- New pizza emoji combos!

Details on these new features can be found in this article.

Captions on Android are getting a major upgrade today!

Expressive Captions is a new feature that lets captions include things like shouting, sighs, applause, & laughter.

We interviewed Google’s Angana Ghosh on the Android Faithful podcast to find out how it works.

Hands-on: Here's how Pixel's new Simple View feature makes your phone easier to use

The December Pixel Drop adds a new Simple View feature that makes content easier to read. This article shows you everything it does.

Google officially confirms the Pixel 6 series, Pixel 7 series, and Pixel Fold will get an additional 2 years of OS updates!

The company has updated a support page to mention that these Pixel phones are guaranteed 5 years of updates - including 5 years of OS and security updates - starting from when they went on sale.

This means the Pixel 6 series will get updates to Android 16 and Android 17, while the Pixel 7 series and Pixel Fold will get updates to Android 17 and Android 18.

H/T @nailsad_eleos

📱Pixel 9 finally gets adaptive refresh rate support in Android 15 QPR1

Adaptive refresh rate support was quietly added in Android 15. Here's why it matters.

Some users are seeing a new UI for the Google Gemini overlay on Android.

This was first spotted in a teardown a few weeks ago by @AssembleDebug. I haven't gotten it yet, but tipster Mustachedminer has. Here's a comparison of the old UI vs. the new UI.

LMK if you see it!

📱The new Pixel Drop also brings a platform update to Android 15 QPR1.

Android 15 QPR1 has some exciting new features, including:

- Desktop windowing
- 80% charging limit
- Status bar chips for screen recording

And much more that you can read about in this article.

The Android 15 QPR1 source code is now available in AOSP!

Branch: android15-qpr1-release

Tags: android-15.0.0_r6 (Global Pixel 6 and later)
android-15.0.0_r7 (EMEA Pixel 6 series)
android-15.0.0_r8 (Telstra Pixel 7 and later)

If you find something interesting in the source code, let me know!

Vanir is a new open-source tool by Google that helps Android platform developers "quickly and efficiently scan their custom platform code for missing security patches and identify applicable available patches."

The tool aims to significantly accelerate patch validation by automating it. By open sourcing the tool (licensed under BSD 3-Clause), Google hopes the broader security community can contribute to and benefit from it, as well as adapt it to other ecosystems.

Beginning in Android 16, the default User-Agent string in Android WebView will be reduced to minimize passive fingerprinting.

This is already the case in Chrome on Desktop and Android since version 107.

The default, reduced WebView User-Agent string is as follows:

Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 10; K; wv) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Chrome/125.000 Mobile Safari/537.36

The wv token will remain in the UA string so developers can detect WebView sessions.