Android Q news is starting to arrive bit by bit, largely due to an early AOSP build that's been doing the rounds. Probably the most welcome enhancement — other than the much-anticipated system-wide dark mode — is an overhaul to the privacy and permissions settings.
Thanks to our friends at XDA Developers, we now know a little bit more about what to expect.
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We're likely a couple of months away from the first developer preview build of Android Q, but already we know a fair amount about what to expect from the next major version. Most excitingly, we could be finally getting a system-wide dark mode. We can now say with a greater degree of certainty that Android Q will carry the version number 10, plus we've learned a few more tidbits.
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In recent years, Google has taken steps to stop third-party applications in the background from finding your location. Once an app is closed, live location data may be heavily throttled or stopped entirely. While this may seem like a win for user privacy and battery life, there are plenty of apps that don't use background location data for harmful purposes (like Cerberus or various health tools). According to XDA Developers, Android Q might introduce a new permission that brings back full background location access.
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Android currently supports uninstalling updates to a certain app, but only for system applications. Also, it's usually only a temporary measure, as the Play Store will eventually check for updates once again and restore the latest version. Android Q might allow users to revert any app to an earlier version, if deconstructed code from a leaked Android Q build is to be believed.
Read MoreDid you know that any Android app can read the contents of your clipboard, even when running in the background? Windows Phone (RIP) didn't give clipboard access to background apps, and some Android ROMs like Copperhead OS block access, but the behavior is still allowed on regular Android. That might finally change, according to a permission change discovered by XDA Developers.
Read MoreBoth XDA Developers and 9to5Google have spotted another upcoming feature in Android Q: more secure native facial recognition. Think Apple's Face ID rather than Android's existing Trusted Face system. Other OEMs like Xiaomi and Huawei have already shoehorned in their own facial recognition solutions, but now Google is bringing the feature to the (literal) source.
Read MoreTake this with the proverbial grain of salt, given the pre-release nature of the software being examined, but the folks at XDA Developers have discovered what appear to be extra customization options hidden in the leaked Android Q build they've been tearing through. Although the settings aren't user-facing, a few new so-called "overlay" packages were found in the image which allow for changing between a handful of pre-installed fonts, icon shapes, and accent colors.
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Now that Android Pie is in the rearview mirror, it's time to start obsessing over Android Q. Luckily, a leak last week revealed some positive changes like a system-wide dark mode and refined permissions. It's not all rainbows and unicorns, though. Additions to the Android source code suggest that Google will also give carriers new tools to SIM lock phones.
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XDA has managed to get its hands on an early build of Android Q, confirming that Google's next version of our favorite operating system will include a dark mode, as expected. But plenty of more secrets were hiding inside the image XDA found, including a much-needed app permissions revamp, what may end up being a Samsung DeX-like desktop UI, and piles of smaller features.
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Android Beam was a feature introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) that allowed people to share photos, sites, apps, and more by tapping their phones together. It was a neat feature when it launched, and it still works great for sending links and small files, but Android Beam's future is now uncertain.
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