Google Play seems to be rolling out an "automatically archive apps" toggle for more people. This feature, when enabled, will free up space when your storage runs low by automatically archiving apps you rarely use.

Previously, to opt into app archiving, you had to attempt to install an app when your phone was out of storage. Now, you can go to Play Store settings > General to opt in.

For more info on app archiving and auto-archiving on Google Play, refer to this post.

H/T Anh on my Discord

So, as I suspected, Fast Pair code was deleted from AOSP because it wasn't being used by anyone.

And because it wasn't being used, it was just taking up space unnecessarily. Although HalfSheetUX was only a few megabytes in size, Mainline modules are served to many millions of people, a decent portion of whom are on metered connections.

Note: This has no implications for the Fast Pair feature you're already familiar with. Fast Pair started out as a feature bundled in Play Services and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. This news just means there's no longer an open source version of Fast Pair.

The Android 14 beta hints that "virtual" DSDA might be coming to select Pixel phones, which could let you make a phone call on one SIM while simultaneously using mobile data from another!

Full details exclusive to Patreon/X subscribers.

Sources: To improve security, Google's making it (slightly) harder to contribute code to Android

To improve AOSP's supply chain security, all external code contributions will soon need approval from at least two Google reviewers.

Full details available here (no paywall).

While we're waiting for the stable release of Android 14 and Android 14 QPR1 Beta 1, Google has just released a new Android 13 (QPR3)-based build for Pixel phones that has the September 2023 security patches!

Build ID: TQ3A.230901.001

Announcement on the Pixel community forum | Pixel Update Bulletin - September 2023

CVE-2023-4211 is a high severity vulnerability that impacts the Mali GPU driver and "may be under limited, targeted exploitation"

Xiaomi's upcoming Watch 2 Pro will be their first smartwatch with Wear OS to have access to Google Play! It's launching next week, Sept. 26, in Berlin alongside the Xiaomi 13T series.

Rumors suggest it'll have the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 SoC. The OS will have MIUI branding, but I'm not sure if it'll launch with Android 11-based Wear OS 3 or Android 13-based Wear OS 4.

The Xiaomi Mi Watch was technically Xiaomi's first smartwatch to run Wear OS, but it was only available in China and also didn't have access to Google Play.

Thanks to dvrkplayer for pointing this out!

Want to test your app on a real Pixel 8, Pixel Fold, or Pixel Tablet without buying one?

Google says its Android Device Streaming program will open up to more testers when it enters Alpha next month.

Here's a video showing that you can connect to a real Pixel Fold located in a Google Data Center, straight from Android Studio.

Google Photos is preparing to switch over to Android 14's system Share sheet. Glad to see more of Google's own apps switch over to the system share sheet in Android 14!

Next step: Delete the ChooserActivity from the framework and turn the standalone IntentResolver app into a new Project Mainline module in Android 15.

Android 14 QPR1 Beta 1 is imminent.

Build ID will be U1B1.230908, and there even seems to be builds for the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5.

EDIT: The Android Beta Program website was just updated with this message:

What's new?

Android 14 QPR1 beta is now available and offers Quarterly Platform Releases (QPRs) for the current stable platform that include feature drops, bug fixes, and performance improvements ahead of the public release schedule.

Plus, the Android Flash Tool has been showing users that a build is available, but nobody has been able to download them yet.

H/T Ashutosh on Telegram

EDIT 2:

Factory images | OTAs | Release notes

All download links still 404

Google says they're planning to add OEM devices to Android Device Streaming!

In a recent Q&A, Googlers on the Firebase team said that they plan to provide access to devices from many more OEMs. No specific OEMs/devices were named, though.

Android Device Streaming will soon enter its Alpha phase and will let you test apps on physical Pixel 8, Pixel Fold, and Pixel Tablet devices located remotely in a Google data center, all through Android Studio.

(Above image from here.)

The first alpha release of the Jetpack Bluetooth library is here.

"This is the initial release of AndroidX Bluetooth APIs that provides a Kotlin API surface covering Bluetooth LE scanning and advertising, and GATT client and server use cases. It provides a minimal API surface, clear thread model with async and sync operations, and ensures all methods be executed and provides the results."

H/T Harsh Shandilya on Mastodon

The first Android 14 QPR1 beta is LIVE! Android 14 QPR1 Beta 1 is now available for the Pixel 5a and later. As always, if you want to know what’s new in this update, the best source will be my socials. Keep an eye out for my upcoming posts!

Android 14 QPR1 should be released in December 2023 as part of that month’s Pixel Feature Drop. There’ll be a bunch of new features, bug fixes, and improvements in Android 14 QPR1, a lot of which will make their way to devices from other OEMs in Android 15.

The build ID for Android 14 QPR1 Beta 1 is U1B1.230908.003, and it has the September 2023 Security Patch Level.

Sidenote: It’s unfortunate that Google is dropping support for the Pixel 4a (5g) and Pixel 5, even though both run on the same silicon as the 5a. I know the 4a 5G and 5 were only guaranteed Android version updates till November 2023 and October 2023 respectively, but it still sucks.

On the flip side, the Pixel 5a should at least get updates to Android 14 QPR2 and Android 14 QPR3 down the road, so 5a owners have that to look forward to.

My deep dive thread on Android 14 QPR1 Beta 1 is live on Twitter! Check it out to see what's new.

FINALLY! Android is adding a way to change the aspect ratio of apps, meaning you can force Instagram to go full screen! Rejoice, Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold users!

Full details plus examples available over on Android Authority.

Say goodbye to your laptop’s crappy webcam, because you can now use a Pixel as your PC’s webcam! If you want to know more about how Android 14’s new webcam feature works, check out this article I wrote for Esper which goes DEEP into the topic!

Android now shows battery information in settings! You can now go to Settings > About phone > Battery information to see the manufacture date and cycle count of your device’s battery. Not every device will report this info, though.

Sadly, this page doesn’t show the battery stat that I think most of you are interested in: the state of health, ie. the remaining estimated full charge capacity relative to the rated capacity in %.