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What is the Android Open Source Project?
The foundation that helped shape Android into what we know it as today
Android is the most popular open source operating system (OS) globally and shows no signs of slowing down. Its presence across various products, from Android-based tablets and smartphones to smart home devices, is undeniable. These devices impact our lives and require a universal tool to make them a reality. Creating a universal Android ecosystem of mobile devices is no small feat. This is where the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) shines. This guide discusses the specifics of AOSP and how it benefits the Android developer community.
How to install GrapheneOS
A step-by-step guide to get you started with the best privacy/security ROM on Android
Android smartphones today are more feature-filled than in the past, and that list expands with each new release. This is one reason why rooting and modding are no longer popular. Most see them as unnecessary. Many of the features sought after back then have been added to the stock version of Android. But there's still a market for custom ROMs. Installing GrapheneOS with one of the best Google Pixel phones allows you to optimize it using unique privacy and security features. Doing so elevates your Android experience beyond its stock capabilities.
GrapheneOS: Everything you need to know about the privacy-focused Android fork
An overview of this private and secure mobile operating system
Smartphones have become a big part of our daily lives for almost everything we do. This has created a new concern about how much of our private data may be exposed to outside threats or large corporations. Whether scrolling through social media, browsing the internet, or chatting with family and friends, these actions could give a glimpse into your personal life and on-device data. Pair one of the best Google Pixel smartphones with GrapheneOS to minimize these potential threats for maximum security.
Google is killing an Android security feature you probably weren’t using anyway
Android Protected Confirmation was never widely adopted by OEMs
Android devices are full of security features designed to keep you safe from bad actors. However, not everyone takes advantage of these tools, and some of them fly under the radar altogether. Android Protected Confirmation (APC) is one of these features, which was originally introduced with Android 9. It was aimed at ensuring you were only consenting to transactions with trusted apps, and Google had high hopes for it — APC could even one day be further developed for person-to-person money transactions, for instance. Now, it seems Google’s future plans for APC have fallen by the wayside.
Qualcomm's aptX and aptX HD encoders are finally free to use on Android
These encoders are now open source for device makers to use
Bluetooth audio quality has improved significantly over the last decade or so, somewhat offsetting the mobile industry's frustrating decision to get rid of the headphone jack. High-clarity codecs like Qualcomm’s aptX HD have led the charge on this front, but in order to use the feature, your phone must be able to encode audio in the format in addition to your wireless headphones or earbuds being able to decode it. Thankfully, a recent move by Qualcomm could make aptX codecs more widely accessible.
Android 13 hits AOSP — get ready for the custom ROMs to drop
Fresh code for our fresh Android 13 release
Today is Android 13 day, and in addition to Pixels picking up their first stable release, Google is also pushing out Android 13 today to AOSP (the Android Open Source Project, or Android's source code). That means all the code that constitutes Android 13 is now available for other people and companies to play with, and we'll likely see ROMs announce their plans to release Android 13-based versions very soon.
Material You's dynamic theming might not be exclusive to Pixels for long
Google is poised to add it to AOSP after the initial release of Android 12
One of the headline features of Android 12, at least on Pixel phones, is the new Material You design language and its core component, the "Monet" theming system. It takes a quite unconventional approach to Android theming, automatically assembling a color palette based on a user's wallpaper and applying it all over the UI. That's fine for Google's own phones, but what about those from other manufacturers? Although this theming system won't hit AOSP in time for Android 12, it now looks like Google is planning to make dynamic theming open-source for a future Android release.
First details emerge of Android's upcoming app hibernation feature
It's unclear whether it will be ready in time for Android 12
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- According to the latest relevant AOSP code change, as tweeted by Mishaal Rahman, Android's upcoming app hibernation feature will work differently depending on whether it's enabled for a single user or for all users. If just a single user on a multi-user device, app cache for that specific user will be cleared.
It feels like Android 11 has only been out for five minutes, but news about the next major release is about to come thick and fast. If last year's schedule is anything to go by, we could be getting the first Android 12 developer preview as early as next month. We've heard a couple of small tidbits about it so far — Android Runtime is set to become a Project Mainline module and it'll be easier to use alternative app stores — but this latest news sounds especially intriguing.
While Google changes different aspects of Android with each new version, there's one thing all releases have in common: as soon as they go stable, they're uploaded to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) for everyone to look at and work with. That's no different for Android 11, as the company has just finished uploading the new OS version's source code.
Android 11 starts rolling out today with improvements to notifications, privacy, 5G, and more
Landing on Pixel phones first
The first Developer Preview for Android 11 landed in February of this year, and Google has continued to iterate and add new features across several more Developer Previews and Betas. As revealed earlier this summer at the start of Google's "11 weeks of Android" promotion, the stable version of Android 11 has arrived, ready for public consumption and rolling out to Google Pixel devices.
LineageOS 17.1 is official with theme engine, Lineage Recovery, and Pixel feature drop code
The most popular custom ROM is now up to date
We already know which first few phones are receiving support for the brand-new Android 10-based LineageOS 17.1, but now, the open-source project has released a full changelog and shared why it has decided to make it an x.1 release. The new software is packed with additions such as a partial screenshot functionality, the spiritual successor to the CyanogenMod Theme Engine, Lineage Recovery, and many smaller changes.
It has been a mere four months since Google unveiled the Pixel 4, and it's already time to be on the lookout for Pixel 5 leaks. Over in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), a Googler has added a seemingly innocuous comment that confirms what we already expected: Google is working on a Pixel 5.
A new, even lower-power mode may be coming to Android phones in the future. XDA Developers' Mishaal Rahman spotted a commit made to the AOSP (Android's source code), which adds a new "ultra-low power state" to future versions of Android, and circumstantial details indicate it might be destined for an upcoming Pixel phone.
Google just released a new browser tool for developers that enjoy mucking about with AOSP (Android Open Source Project) test builds. It's called the Android Flash Tool, and it works almost entirely inside your browser, allowing you to quickly and easily pull down AOSP images and flash them to your phone. With it, developers can check app compatibility with AOSP changes, and folks mucking about in the Android source code can see their tweaks on a real device. Although it's pretty snazzy, it doesn't look like it will be any use to the root-and-ROM crowd (yet).
Sony has managed to gain a lot of fans among developers thanks to its Open Devices program. It's an initiative that brings Android Open Source Project (AOSP) builds to some of the company's devices and allows developers to adapt and change the code. It also makes it easier to unlock the bootloader and install custom ROMs. Sony has announced that the latest phone to become part of the Open Devices program is the Xperia 5.
While many people are enjoying — or lamenting — the upgrade to Android 10, there are some out there that are just as interested in the final source code. With each major release of Android, a huge code drop is made to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) with everything a developer needs to build the latest version of the OS. As of this morning, the code is now fully available and ready for consumption.
Google's efforts to bring RCS to the world haven't been as inspiring as many of us had hoped, largely due to slow adoption by carriers and some self-serving behavior on the part of certain OEMs (cough). However, some of this can also be attributed to limits in Android itself. To use RCS today, you have no choice in app selection — you're stuck using apps provided by your phone's OEM, be it Google, Samsung, LG, or another partner. Earlier this year, it looked like Google had added code to Android Q that would enable third party apps to support RCS, but that was disputed shortly after. While we won't see apps rolling out for Android's next major release, a new code drop to AOSP appears to put an official API in place.
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- The ZenFone 4 Selfie is following in the footsteps of the 4 Max with a Pie beta of its own, and it's also based on AOSP. Both the ZB553KL and ZD553KL models are supported and the same warnings explained above apply: the beta will wipe out your device and you won't get OTA updates.
The ASUS ZenFone 4 Max only received an update to Android Oreo back in October, but the company is hard at work with keeping the phone updated. You can now download an AOSP beta without ZenUI for the device with the model name ZC554KL.
ADB is the main command line tool for interacting with Android devices. It can be used to sideload APKs, copy data, and more. Starting with Android 4.0 ICS, a feature to backup and restore applications (and their data) was added, but that functionality will be removed in a future Android release.
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- Based on a later commit spotted by 9to5Google, Android Q will not end up landing with RCS support for third-party apps.
RCS has taken years to gain widespread network support, and we're still suffering through carrier interoperability issues. The current landscape is nothing if not entirely overcomplicated to navigate, especially for consumers. But the subject may become a bit simpler once Android Q rolls around, as pile of new RCS-specific APIs has popped up in AOSP, presumably bound for the next Android release. These APIs may finally provide third-party apps with the ability to work with RCS on supported carriers.