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)

scrcpy 2.1 has been released with the ability to do audio-only mirroring, capture the device microphone, set a time limit while recording, foldable device support, and fixes for Android 14!

(If you're not familiar, scrcpy [short for 'screen copy'] is a lightweight, fast, and powerful device mirroring tool.)

Okay, so this issue has caught the attention of even more law enforcement agencies around the world.

According to the BBC, police chiefs in the UK and the European Emergency Number Association have warned about the rise of false emergency calls originating from Android phones.

Google told the BBC that it expects OEMs to roll out updates to address the issue.

"To help these manufacturers prevent unintentional emergency calls on their devices, Android is providing them with additional guidance and resources," they said.

"We anticipate device manufacturers will roll out updates to their users that address this issue shortly. Users that continue to experience this issue should switch Emergency SOS off for the next couple of days."

See this post for an explanation of the Emergency SOS feature in Android and about the requirements that OEMs have to meet.

One oddity about the Wear OS 3 release for non-Google, non-Samsung smartwatches was the lack of Google Assistant. But now, the Fossil Gen 6 is getting Google Assistant support back with its latest update, according to Droid-Life!

We still don't know why Google Assistant support wasn't available for non-Google, non-Samsung Wear OS 3 smartwatches.

1) Was there an exclusivity deal?

2) Did the Assistant app just require significant reworking for Wear OS 3 that they prioritized optimizing for Exynos first?

My guess is on #2, but if you know the answer, my DMs are open!

Google announced something quite interesting at I/O that I think many missed: The ability to stream or transfer VoIP calls from your phone to your tablet! One screenshot they showed off suggests you'll be able to stream a Google Meet call from a Pixel phone to a Pixel Tablet.

This will be made possible through a new Jetpack library called Telecom, which is available to developers in alpha right now. More details here.

FINALLY! According to Kamila Wojciechowska, the Pixel 8 may support DisplayPort Alt. Mode, meaning Pixel will finally have proper display output support!

And what'll that be for? Probably desktop mode, meaning Google's finally taking on Samsung DeX!

In my first editorial for Android Central, I wrote about why the Pixel 8 getting desktop mode support is a big deal and also offer a look at Android's current (WIP) desktop mode revamp. Read it here.

For context, read "Google Pixel 8 leak points to deskop mode support" on Android Authority by Kamila Wojciechowska. Her article goes into more depth about what DisplayPort Alternate Mode is!