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Apple Maps is good now, and that's a big problem for Google
Apple may have been off to a bad start, but it has surpassed Google in some areas
Apple is pushing hard to become less dependent on Google. According to a report from the Financial Times, the company still holds a grudge against Google for releasing Android, which former CEO Steve Jobs went as far as calling "a stolen product." With that in mind, Apple has started moving into areas that Google historically dominates. The best example here is Apple Maps, which is the company's direct answer to industry-leading Google Maps.
Google wants to fight misinformation with 'prebunking'
The company is expanding its anti-misinformation program in Europe
As the world's biggest search engine by far, Google has a lot of power over which information can be accessed by the majority of the population. The company already has a lot of measures in place to prevent misinformation and to offer balanced search results and coverage, but there will always be some slipping through, and there are many other platforms and social dynamics out there that can also be culprits. That's where Google's 'prebunking' campaign comes in, which it has just expanded in Europe after finding success in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.
Android 14 lays further groundwork to kill physical SIMs
As initially spotted in Android 13 QPR2, Google keeps preparing for the inevitable eSIM future
Apple once again was the first to push the industry in a new direction. The company removed the physical SIM card slot from its latest iPhones in the US, forcing customers and carriers to adopt eSIM faster than they might like. It looks like Google is also preparing for an eSIM-first reality, with hidden settings in the Android 14 Developer Preview 1 showing that the company might add an option to convert a physical SIM card to eSIM.
Android 14 DP1 moves Guest mode phone controls to a more obvious place
Is Google preparing more changes for people sharing their devices?
Android 14 Developer Preview 1 doesn’t have too many user-facing changes — those are more likely to come with the first or second beta. While avid tinkerers and leakers are discovering more and more hidden features within the Android 14 developer preview, there are a handful of changes that are already visible when you install the pre-release software on your phone. Among them is a small tweak to the multiple users settings.
Here’s our first look at Android 14’s snazzy new back gesture
Android 14 has a major revamp in store for gesture navigation
Android 14’s first developer preview is out, but there isn’t all that much that Google revealed about the new release yet. That’s precisely because it’s a developer preview that isn’t meant for the broader public just yet. However, a few new features are already hiding underneath the surface, and among them is a revamp of how back navigation works.
Google has just launched the first developer preview for Android 14, and while we’re still checking it out to find out what exactly is new in it, the company is already a step ahead. Google has shared the pre-release timeline for Android 14. If it sticks with the plan it laid out, we are looking at two developer previews and four beta releases before the stable release hits sometime after July.
The Android 14 Developer Preview is here, get it right now
Whip out your Pixel and get ready to flash
Google has just released the first developer preview of Android 14, and you can install it now on the Google Pixel 7 Pro and other supported Pixel phones. It offers a glimpse at what we can expect from the new Android release, but as the name implies, it’s primarily targeted at developers. That means that it almost certainly doesn’t contain all upcoming consumer-facing features yet and that it might be even less stable than a beta version, which is slated to arrive in April. With that in mind, here's what Google announced for the Android 14 Developer Preview 1 and what else we can expect.
The Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL just received one last update
The February security patch is most likely the last new release to come to Google’s 2019 flagship phones
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Google started rolling out the February security patch this week as per its usual monthly cadence, and it’s now available to everyone with a Pixel that Google still officially supports, including the Google Pixel 7 Pro. For this update, the company made one exception, though. The Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL are also provided with new software, a few months after their last guaranteed update in October 2022.
The February security patch is here for Google Pixel phones
The latest bug fixes and security improvements are ready
Samsung hasn’t only launched the Galaxy S23 series with a bombastic event this month, it was also first to push out the February security patch to one of its phones — the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, to be exact. As per its regular schedule (the first Monday every month), Google is now following suit. The company has launched the latest security patch for the Pixel phones, while also revealing which loopholes and bugs are fixed for all Android phones this month.
The Vivo X90 is here to take on the Samsung Galaxy S23 head on
The X90 Pro is poised to be one of the best camera phones you can’t get in the US
This week is decidedly Samsung week, with the South Korean company finally launching its hotly anticipated but very familiar feeling Samsung Galaxy S23 series. OnePlus sister company Vivo was daring enough to place its own flagship launch right at the end of that same week, though, sending its Vivo X90 and X90 Pro into the race for the best smartphone in 2023 — the only caveat is that it's not coming to the US.
Google will hold a Search and Maps AI event next week
The company hasn’t shared many details about it just yet
Google has shared that it will host an online event on February 8 at 8:30 am ET, called “Live from Paris.” In the 45-minute event, the company will talk about how it will use AI to reshape search and how people interact with information, as the company told Android Police. It will be livestreamed on YouTube.
Google Chrome 110: What’s new
Chrome’s incredible development pace continues, and is only getting faster with Chrome 110
Google only celebrated the big Chrome 100 milestone a few months ago, and now, the company is already at it with the next decimal release, Chrome 110, which it released on February 1. As one of the best browsers currently on the market, there isn’t much that is changing with its four-weekly release anymore, but if you’d like to stay up to date with the latest Chrome features and what you can expect developers to implement, read on.
What's new in Android 13 QPR2 Beta 3
The latest Android 13 QPR Beta has some goodies hidden underneath the surface
While we’re all eagerly awaiting the Android 14 developer preview, which should hopefully launch soon, Google is still busy with its extended Android 13 beta program to prepare the Android 13 Quarterly Platform Release 2 (QPR2), or the March Feature Drop. The latest release to come to us is the Android 13 QPR2 Beta 3, which is mostly concerned with fixing bugs, but it also has a few novelties hidden in the code. Here’s all we learned about Beta 3.
The Pixel Tablet’s Hub Mode settings are almost ready in Android 13 QPR2 Beta 3
The building blocks keep falling into place
From what we know so far, the Google Pixel Tablet will support a Hub Mode that automatically activates when you attach it to its included base. It will make the upcoming device behave more like a Google Nest Hub when it’s not in use. Since the tablet offers a full-blown Android experience underneath that Hub Mode surface, there are a lot more customization options for you. Android expert Mishaal Rahman already uncovered a few of the individual settings in the Android 13 December Feature Drop, but in QPR2 Beta 3, he spotted the addition of a top-level menu for the Hub Mode in the settings app.
Eufy admits its cameras were not always end-to-end encrypted
The Anker sub-brand was caught in a privacy scandal
For a long time, Anker's Eufy sub-brand was one of our go-to security camera recommendations. The company then became embroiled in a security and privacy scandal, with supposedly end-to-end encrypted footage accessible via unencrypted web streams. The company long refused to acknowledge the problem, going so far as to claim that what researchers and journalists had clearly achieved was impossible. After a month of stonewalling, the company has finally provided more satisfactory answers, though we’d still be cautious about taking its word for it.
ChromeOS and Microsoft 365 will finally work better together
Google will help you set up your Microsoft Office apps and integrate OneDrive with the Files app
As great as all of our favorite Chromebooks are, the reality is that many of us rely on Microsoft Office (or Microsoft 365, as it’s now called) for our word processing and spreadsheeting needs. Google Workspace may be a viable alternative, but if your school or company has you hooked up with Microsoft 365 and OneDrive, you’re out of luck. Fortunately, it looks like Microsoft and Google have finally teamed up to make Microsoft 365 a first-class experience on ChromeOS, with full OneDrive integration for the Files app in the cards, too.
The Google app is finally starting to look like it was made for Android 13
Google’s flagship application gets some Material You love
Google introduced the Material You evolution of its design language when it launched Android 12, and many of the company’s apps were quick to adopt the new, wallpaper color-based design. There is still work left to do two years later, though. The company’s flagship product, Search, is one of the last big apps to receive the makeover, but that’s finally happening with the current beta version 14.4, which is adding new design elements for all Android phones out there.
The Google Pixel Fold, if it will be called that, is an open secret at this point. Google is rumored to finally release it in May 2023, and as such, the company is hard at work getting its software in line for the folding form factor. Given that foldables are substantially different from regular phones, the question has long been whether Google would be able to port all Pixel phone tricks to the folding phone, and it looks like at least some of them will make the cut. According to an app teardown, Flip to Shhh will make its way to the Google Pixel Fold.
Microsoft Teams and Outlook were down hard, company examining issue
Widespread issues were reported by many people, and Microsoft has found the culprit
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We rely on the internet for almost everything we do these days, and for all of us remote workers out there, a stable connection and functional services are even more important. That's why you'll quickly notice when something is wrong with the core services you use, and for many people, that was the case for Microsoft 365 for a few hours this week. The company has confirmed that its email service Outlook and its Slack competitor Microsoft Teams were experiencing issues. If you couldn't access them for a while, things should go back to normal right now.
Android 14 to add more APK sideloading restrictions
You might not be able to install apps targeting outdated Android versions anymore
It feels like Android 13 hasn’t been out all that long, but Google is already preparing to launch Android 14 to power the next generation of excellent smartphones. We can expect a developer preview in a month or two, so the company already needs to prepare some code ahead of the public release. One of these code changes has just been spotted, and it looks like Android 14 will prevent you from installing and sideloading apps that target outdated versions of Android on your devices.