What's new on Android Q I / O: news you may have missed this week



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Android Q was one of the top priorities in the keynote address of Google I / O 2019, but much more information came from the rest of the conference. In case you missed something, here are some excerpts from Android Q that we found throughout the week.

The best gifts for Android users

Android Beam is officially dead

It really should not be a surprise. After his disappearance in the first Android Q beta, Google confirmed to TechRadar it removes Android Beam from the operating system starting with Q. The code changes in AOSP were already hinting at this change. It is therefore quite surprising that he does not come back in the final version of Q.

Android Beam, the NFC sharing method that involves transferring photos, videos, and other files across multiple phones, was not found in the current beta version of Android Q. At Google IO, we discovered that it would not come back either, according to the representatives we talked to who are working on the Android updates.

Yup, Android Q is 10.0

OK, this should be obvious, but just in case there is any doubt, yes, Android Q is 10.0. Google skips version numbers every year, and this version is no different. It also aligns with the 10 years of Android itself, it's cool.

Native support for AV1 Video Codec

A little smaller news of Android Q that came out of the week I / O was confirmation that Google supports AV1 video codec. As Android font points out, this new codec is the successor of VP8 / VP9 and it was developed by Alliance for Open Media, a group of companies of which Google is one of the leading members.

AV1 supports better compression of up to 50% over x.264. This means that streaming video on services using this codec may take less data on your device. AV1 will need some time to generalize, but it's good to see Android Q jump on board.

Future versions of Android will support electronic identifiers (but maybe not Q)

Following some news earlier this year, Google confirmed that it was working on bringing the electronic identity support to Android, it may not be live in Q. VentureBeat He explains that Google "wants to make sure that its implementation is consistent with cryptographic practices and standardization procedures." This makes implementation a bit more difficult to implement than expected.

Rene Mayrhofer, head of the platform Platform Android Security, explains that "the ISO standard for mobile driver's license (mDL) has not yet been sufficiently locked. [for us] drop the API already on the platform Q 'even though it was the most advanced standard. Apparently, the Android team may not be waiting for this standard to be ready.

Instead, very, very soon, we will launch another Jetpack compatibility library that application developers will be able to use immediately to write such applications for different DMVs or other cards – in the future, perhaps to be even travel documents, although this type of standardization for international travel Further …

This app has not been merged with Android Q yet, so it does not know when it will be launched.

Pinning screens with Google's new gestures breaks everything

Here is a beta version of doing beta things. In Android Q beta 3, the new Google gestures have implemented break, ben, everything. If you enable screen registration and lock in an application, there is no way to disable the application and perform other tasks. Android font first spotted the surveillance. Hopefully Google will correct this problem by the final version, although it remains to be seen with the lack of buttons.

Reminders for the use of the location

This was mentioned in the input-output speech, but it should be repeated. In Android Q, the operating system will notify you with a notification when an application uses your location data. Although it can easily get boring if something like Google Maps displays this notification, it could also help you with apps you may not really know about. Android font noted a user who already had the feature appears on Android Q Beta 3.

The "bubbles" of Android Q replace the overlay API.

Back in Android Q Beta 2, Google has revealed "Bubbles", a new extension of notifications with useful features. What we did not know until now is that Google replaces the Android overlay API from Q with Bubbles. XDA developers indicates that the "SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW" API under Android will be deprecated under Android Q.

This API has long been used by developers to create overlays on the screen, such as the Facebook Messenger "chat heads" or the old favorite browser, Link Bubble. With Link Bubble, this feature is replaced by something that works a bit more natively for the system, but may eventually cause headaches for some apps because Bubbles only interacts with notifications.

Google has not yet defined a specific window for when this API will be removed. This could be in the final version of Android Q, but it could also end up in a future release.

"Dynamic System Updates" will allow you to boot a system image temporarily.

The Android team has presented something in development at Google I / O this week. Although there is no final name, it is called "Dynamic System Updates" according to Android font. Basically, this feature will allow users, and more importantly developers, to temporarily start a completely different version of Android on their device without erasing what was there before.

When used, this feature creates a temporary system partition on the device and uses another generic system image. Once the process is completed in Android Q, the user simply presses a notification to restart in the new version. Google points out that this is not meant for end users, but for developers who need to test their apps on something that is not that an emulator. It works even on devices with locked bootloaders.

developer Chris Lacy is shown the feature on a Pixel 3 XL that was started in an AOSP version of Android Q.

Storage encryption will be required on all Android devices Q

We have not finished with Android Q news yet. Noted by Google's developer blog and VentureBeatstorage encryption will be a difficult requirement on Android Q devices, without exception. This protects the data of the users even at rest, a fairly important security upgrade. Encryption is part of Android since Marshmallow, but there were exemptions. Google explains:

Storage Encryption is one of the most fundamental (and most effective) security technologies, but current encryption standards require devices to have cryptographic acceleration hardware. Because of this requirement, many devices can not use storage encryption. The launch of Adiantum changes that in Android version Q. We announced Adiantum in February. Adiantum is designed to work effectively without specialized hardware and can be used in many areas, from smart watches to medical devices connected to the Internet.

Our commitment to the importance of encryption continues with the Android Q version. All compatible Android devices newly launched with Android Q are required to encrypt user data, without exception. This includes phones, tablets, TVs and car devices. This will ensure that the next generation of devices will be more secure than its predecessors and allow the next billion people who log in for the first time to connect securely.

Background apps can not start activities

In order to improve the game of privacy and security in Android Q, Google also limits the background applications so that they can not launch new activities. As Android font points out that Android Q does this in order to prevent applications from unexpectedly coming to the fore, but it will also interrupt the functions of favorite applications such as Tasker. This starts in version 3 and the only workaround requires user interaction, such as selecting a notification. Users can also disable the feature in the developer options.

All we found in Android Q Beta 3:

To complete this round of Android Q news, let's review everything that we have found so far in Android Q Beta 3. Beyond the additions of the dark mode and the new ones gestures, this new version is quite old.

More on Android Q:


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