The June 2023 Pixel Feature Drop is rolling out today! This update also brings Android 13 QPR3 to supported Pixel phones. The build IDs for the Pixel 4a and later are as follows: TQ3A.230605.0XX. The update brings numerous bug fixes and improvements in addition to the new Feature Drop changes.

One thing to note: Google Home's new "home panel" accessed through the Device Controls interface is only available in Android 13 on Pixel phones but should become available on other devices in Android 14. See this thread for more details on why.

For those of you still on the Android 13 QPR3 beta: If you want to receive the Android 13 QPR3 stable update, Google says to opt-out of the Beta program. You will not receive a downgrade OTA so your device will not get wiped. Otherwise, if you stay enrolled in the beta, you'll automatically receive the next Android 14 beta release.

Here's a chart summarizing the availability of each feature per device, courtesy of Google.

In addition, here are the AOSP tags that correspond to each build ID:

Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a (5G), Pixel 5, Pixel 5a (5G)
TQ3A.230605.011
android-13.0.0_r51

Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a
TQ3A.230605.010
android-13.0.0_r50

Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a
TQ3A.230605.012
android-13.0.0_r52

I've generated changelogs for each new tag you can view here.

The moderators of /r/Android, Reddit's largest community centered around the Android OS, have decided to extend their blackout until 20:00 EDT on June 20th, 2023. They will "continue to monitor the situation" and are ready to further extend the blackout if necessary and even join other subreddits in an "indefinite blackout".

Here's the statement I was given:

"r/Android will be extending our blackout, and will be private until June 21st, 2023 UTC / June 20th, 2023 20:00 EDT / June 20th, 2023 17:00 PDT. r/Android has not ruled out an indefinite blackout, but also is not opposed to joining the indefinite blackout. r/Android will continue to monitor the situation and is prepared to continue to extend our blackout if the situation does not show positive improvements. This is not the first time Reddit has shown a continued lapse in judgement, and communication, for volunteers who do their work essentially for free. Reddit is a community that thrives off community itself.

We sympathize with those who want to see the subreddit. We've gotten many requests to open back up, but truth of the matter is, is that Reddit is just a secondary community. For those upset, we encourage you to listen and understand why we're protesting. Secondly, to the sites that contribute a plethora of content to the subreddit, we thank you.

We stand with communities like r/blind who need third party apps for accessibility and developers whose hard work has provided essential tools that the official app lacks for moderation. If the mod team is forcibly replaced, then Reddit admins will have shown their true colors.

We encourage the readers to visit other content creators on the internet, and we hope to see you when Reddit is back."

Update: I'm told that since the moderators of /r/Android coordinated with the moderators of /r/GooglePixel and /r/AndroidApps on the blackout, the latter two subreddits will also extend their blackouts until 20:00 EDT on June 20, 2023.

Google officially ends support for the AOSP Dialer and Messaging apps and will remove them from the source manifest.

I spotted this change last week but didn't think it was a big deal (because it isn't), but since it's now being picked up on by news sites, let me explain why.

Last week, Google added a README file to the Dialer & Messaging apps' source code that says the following:

"This app is not actively supported and the source is only available as a reference. This project will be removed from the source manifest sometime in the future."

This means that:

a) Google is no longer actively supporting these apps, so in a future release, they could stop working if any breaking changes are made.

b) Once they're removed from the source manifest, AOSP builds by default won't include a Dialer or Messaging app.

While that sounds like a big deal, it won't impact AOSP-based projects ("custom ROMs") much at all. The AOSP Dialer & Messaging apps were barely being updated already, so most AOSP-based projects forked them long ago and developed their own improvements on top.

Not only that, but improvements submitted upstream to these projects were rejected on multiple occasions, according to some members of the LineageOS project, who maintain their own Dialer & Messaging apps upon which many "custom ROMs" use instead.

So Google's README just states something the custom ROM community has been expecting to happen for a while. Not that it makes the news any less disappointing, though, because it means that AOSP will soon be an operating system without a default dialer or messaging app.

It's been clear that Google's focus is on its first-party Phone & Messages apps distributed as part of GMS. OEMs are expected to either include Google's apps or build their own, and anyone forking AOSP has been expected to do the same - before informally now formally.

The Pixel Tablet reviews are out, and according to multiple outlets, the new Google Weather experience is available on it. However, it's not provided by a new app, rather the same Google App that already provides the existing experience, as I suspected.

Google has started to publish Pixel Watch Security Bulletins, starting with June 2023.

Furthermore, I've heard that Google now also publishes a Wear OS Security Bulletin - but this isn't public yet & is only available to Android Partners. The first one covers the 2023-07-01 SPL.

I'll let you know if/when the Wear OS Security Bulletin goes public!

Google's Nearby Share may soon support automatically resuming a file transfer if there's been a temporary disconnection.

This is hinted at by a recent commit to the "Nearby" library, which powers Nearby Share under-the-hood, titled "Allow auto-resume the payload transfer when disconnection."

Chrome for Android is preparing to let you take screenshots of incognito tabs. A new Chrome flag called "Improved Incognito Screenshots" has been added that "enable[s] Incognito screenshots on Android except while the user is on [the] recents screen."

This flag only works on Android 13+, because it makes use of the setRecentsScreenshotEnabled API. This API lets apps tell the system to block screenshots from being taken for use in the recents overview while still allowing the user and the default Assistant app to take screenshots.

In contrast, the previous "Incognito Screenshot" flag added in late 2020 - that also lets you take screenshots of incognito tabs - lets the contents of incognito tabs appear in the recents overview. Not ideal if you want to hide your gift shopping 🙃

Attached is a screen recording showing the new feature in action. This screen recording was shared by a Googler on the Chromium Bug Tracker (H/T to TechDows for spotting this feature!)

One really exciting aspect of the new Matter standard for smart home devices is that you won't necessarily be restricted to a 1P app from the IoT vendor or even the Google Home/SmartThings etc. apps.

e.g. here's Tasker by João Dias controlling a Matter-enabled smart bulb.

Clip comes from this video. Tasker 6.2.5 Beta introduced experimental support for Matter. It only supports basic toggling of Matter-enabled lights, but João Dias says in the future it'll be filled with all possible device types.

As a bonus, João also paired Tasker with ChatGPT to introduce more natural ways to control his lights and/or phone. The result is pretty cool, though personally I still feel it's in the realm of a gimmick given the activation method + wait period. The developer told me he's testing a way to use ChatGPT through the Google Assistant, though.

Over the weekend, the mods of /r/Android, /r/GooglePixel, & /r/AndroidApps received the same message the admins sent to other subs, seeking mods willing to reopen the community with the implication being that refusing to do so indefinitely could lead to removal and replacement.

"u/ModCodeofConduct

Hi everyone,

We are aware that you have chosen to close your community at this time. We are reaching out to find out if any moderators currently on the mod team would be willing to take steps to reopen the community. Subreddits exist for the benefit of the community of users who come to them for support and belonging and in the end, moderators are stewards of these spaces and in a position of trust. Your users rely on your community for information, support, entertainment, and finding connection with others who have similar interests. The ability to find and make these connections is incredibly important to many people and ensuring that active communities are able to remain stable and active (and open) is very important.

Our goal here is to work with the existing mod team to find a path forward and make sure your subreddit is usable for the community which makes its home here. If you are not able or willing to reopen and maintain the community please let us know."

Currently, /r/GooglePixel has opened back up, while /r/Android and /r/AndroidApps remain closed. The latter two plan to return June 21st, 2023, 00:00 UTC.

This is a bit personal, but screw it: the All About Android podcast that I've been fortunate to be a co-host of is ending after a 12 year run. Tonight's episode (at 5:00 PM PT) will be the final one.

RIP 😢

A bug in the Android Privacy Dashboard resulted in some WhatsApp users seeing erroneous microphone usage alerts, but Google says updating to the latest version of the WhatsApp app fixes this issue.

It's worth noting that Google doesn't say the bug itself has been fixed, just that WhatsApp no longer triggers this bug.

The Android Privacy Dashboard is contained within the Permission Mainline module. I didn't see any relevant patches in the source code for the May 2023 GPSU, but I'll keep an eye out for the relevant patch.

The /r/Android subreddit is back up, but submissions are currently restricted. The mods are seeking feedback from community members about how to proceed from here, so if you want to share your thoughts, you can do so in this thread.

Thanks to a tip from developer Pratyush, I've found evidence that suggests Google could be making stylus and keyboard accessories for the Pixel Tablet, two accessories it's missing at launch! You can read about the evidence here.

I would've picked up the Pixel Tablet day 1 if it had launched with these accessories, but I'm guessing the surrounding features that Google is working on to make these accessories more useful (notetaking integration in Keep, desktop mode) aren't fully ready yet!

Coincidentally, Android Police just published an article showcasing how a 3P USI stylus can magnetically attach to the back of the Pixel Tablet.

Oh, and this is also my first article for Android Authority 😁 You'll see my name pop up in a few more places soon, including Android Central and Android Police, though with slightly different content for each!

Here's a demo of the redesigned Google Weather UI on phones.

The redesign is currently exclusive to the Pixel Tablet, and I've managed to enable it on the latest version of the Google Search app by spoofing the device's code name to 'tangorpro' (Pixel Tablet).

The UI is now presented as a single feed consisting of current weather, hourly forecast, 10-day forecast and detailed current weather at the very bottom. Clicking on one of the days will open a separate page with detailed weather information and the ability to switch between them in a carousel at the top.

Google News | En

As spotted by Al Sutton over on Mastodon, Google has been using the Pixel Tablet as an Android Automotive OS test device. However, it's not yet possible to build AAOS for the Pixel Tablet as the sources haven't been pushed to AOSP yet.

Since the Pixel Tablet doesn't have mobile data or GNSS, though, I don't think it'd make for an ideal AAOS test device like the Galaxy Tab S5e/Tab S6 Lite that's unofficially in use by several companies now.

On the other hand, the Pixel Tablet will receive official support unlike these older tablets and is always bootloader unlockable (unlike many U.S. variants of these Galaxy tablets)