Android 14: What You Need to Know About the Latest Version of Google’s OS


Android 14 is the latest version of Google's mobile operating system, and it brings a lot of new features and improvements to enhance your smartphone experience. Whether you're curious about the release date, the name, the battery life, or the privacy settings, here's a quick overview of what Android 14 has to offer.



RELEASE DATE AND NAME

Google released the second Android 14 beta on May 10, 2023, at Google I/O 2023. Pixel owners can install this preview on their handsets today, while other brands will have their own releases later. The stable Android 14 release is expected to be in Q3 or early Q4 of 2023.

Source: Google

Google stopped naming its Android versions after desserts since Android 10, but it still uses dessert names internally. Android 14 is dubbed Upside Down Cake.


BATTERY LIFE

Android 14 aims to improve battery life by tweaking two APIs (foreground services and job scheduler) for better efficiency for tasks like background activities and downloading large files. It also improves the platform's internal broadcast system and introduces a "schedule exact alarm" permission for apps that use precise alarm functionality.

Another welcome change is the return of the "screen time since last full charge" feature in the battery settings menu, which gives you a more accurate idea of how long your phone actually lasts.


PRIVACY AND SECURITY

Android 14 doesn't have many major features related to privacy and security compared to previous releases, but it does have one controversial change: it blocks older Android apps from being installed. This affects apps built for Android 5.1 Lollipop APIs and older, which Google says are often targeted by malware.

Other privacy and security features include:

  • The ability to allow apps to access only some photos and videos instead of all.
  • The option to turn off animations when you enter your PIN to prevent "shoulder surfers" from seeing it.
  • A pop-up notification when an app changes its permissions or privacy policies.
  • Advanced memory protection to protect against exploits (Armv9 silicon only).

ACCESSIBILITY AND LANGUAGE

Android 14 also brings some improvements for accessibility and language support, such as:

  • Larger font sizes up to 200% with non-linear scaling.
  • Notifications using camera flash and display flash for hard-of-hearing users.
  • Better support for gendered languages via the Grammatical Inflection API.
  • More granular per-app language controls for developers.
  • The ability to use Euro-style measurements, calendars, and other systems for Europeans living in the US.

CROSS DEVICE FEATURES

Google is continuing its cross-device push in Android 14 by offering developer-focused additions such as window size classes and sliding pane layout so apps can more effectively adapt to different screens. It also offers a preview of its cross-device SDK so developers can more easily build apps that run across different devices and form factors.


OTHER FEATURES

Some other features that are coming with Android 14 are:

  • Health Connect app: A hub to collect health data from various fitness and health apps.
  • Custom lock screens: The ability to customize various aspects of the lock screen.
  • Custom wallpapers: Three new ways to create custom wallpapers using artificial parallax effect, Emoji wallpaper creator, and generative AI system.
  • Lossless audio support: The ability to enjoy lossless audio when using wired headphones.
  • 10-bit HDR support: The ability to capture more information from the sensor when taking photos with more vibrant colors and greater contrast.
  • App Pair: The ability to launch two apps side-by-side in a split-screen view and save them as shortcuts on the home screen.
  • Satellite communication support: Native support for satellite connectivity for phones that have this feature.

CONCLUSION

Android 14 is a major update that brings many new features and improvements to the Android ecosystem. It enhances the privacy, security, performance, and accessibility of your device, and offers a better experience for larger screens. 

If you want to try Android 14 on your device, you can enroll in the beta program or flash a factory image. However, keep in mind that beta versions may have bugs and issues, so it’s not recommended to use them on your primary device. You can also wait for the final release, which is expected to arrive in late 2023.

We hope you enjoyed this article and learned something new about Android 14. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!


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