Almost 20 years ago, Google pitched Android as the more open alternative to Apple's walled garden. Last year, Google announced it would begin erecting its own walls through developer verification. The company has issued an update on its plans, affirming that the verification system will begin rolling out in select countries later this year. We're also learning which app stores are participating in verification and the timeline for key features like the recently revealed "advanced flow" for bypassing verification.
Google has claimed that developer verification is a necessary change to smartphone software distribution, pointing to the increased prevalence of scams that trick Android users into installing malware apps. Google's solution requires verifying the identities of developers outside the Play Store just like it does for devs publishing on its platform. This has proven to be a contentious change for myriad reasons.
In the new blog post, Google's Matthew Forsythe confirms that the developer verification system is slated to come online on September 30 of this year. The initial deployment will be limited to countries with a high level of app scams: Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.
Almost 20 years ago, Google pitched Android as the more open alternative to Apple's walled garden. Last year, Google announced it would begin erecting its own walls through developer verification. The company has issued an update on its plans, affirming that the verification system will begin rolling out in select countries later this year. We're also learning which app stores are participating in verification and the timeline for key features like the recently revealed "advanced flow" for bypassing verification.
Google has claimed that developer verification is a necessary change to smartphone software distribution, pointing to the increased prevalence of scams that trick Android users into installing malware apps. Google's solution requires verifying the identities of developers outside the Play Store just like it does for devs publishing on its platform. This has proven to be a contentious change for myriad reasons.
In the new blog post, Google's Matthew Forsythe confirms that the developer verification system is slated to come online on September 30 of this year. The initial deployment will be limited to countries with a high level of app scams: Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.
Manca poco alla presentazione ufficiale di Vivo X Fold 6, annunciata in settimana per il 26 giugno. Ma l'azienda ha scelto di ingannare l'attesa condividendo alcune informazioni sul suo nuovo pieghevole in anticipo sul lancio. Le ultime anticipazioni si concentrano su autonomia, resistenza e connettività.
I rumor parlavano di una batteria importante, e ci hanno visto giusto: Han Boxiao, Product Manager di Vivo, ha confermato che avrà una capacità da ben 7.000 mAh, notevole in assoluto e soprattutto se si considera che stiamo parlando di un foldable.
Per raggiungere questo risultato, Vivo ha adottato tecnologie particolarmente avanzate. L'azienda parla infatti di una batteria basata su una nuova soluzione con anodo al silicio di quinta generazione, affiancata da una tecnologia a stato semi-solido di terza generazione. Questa soluzione ha consentito di aumentare la densità energetica (rispetto ai già rispettabilissimi 6.000 mAh di Vivo X Fold5) senza compromettere spessore e peso del dispositivo.
Google has begun rolling out Android 17, the June Pixel Feature Drop, and Wear OS 7 simultaneously across supported Pixel phones and watches. Highlights include floating app bubbles, improved foldable multitasking and gaming, tighter location and contact permissions, stronger lost-device protections, new Pixel AI tools, and up to 10% better Pixel Watch battery life. PhoneArena reports: Pixel owners are the clear winners, since everything here reaches Pixel first and a lot of it goes back to the Pixel 6. Fold owners get the most toys, with the Bubble Bar and foldable gaming mode built for the big screen. Watch wearers get the quietly important upgrade. Better battery and Live Updates make an everyday wearable easier to rely on, especially if you keep it on overnight. Google's latest Pixel Drop combines several AI-powered tools with a broader slate of Android 17 upgrades. Pixel owners gain Lyria 3 for generating music from text or images, Gemini Omni for creating custom video clips, enhanced call translation and screening, AirDrop-compatible Quick Share, expanded Magic Cue support, and conversational photo editing.
Android 17 builds on those additions with floating app Bubbles, selfie-camera Screen Reactions, and a split-screen gaming mode for foldables, while also strengthening privacy and security with more granular location and contact permissions, improved lost-device protection, tighter PIN-guessing limits, and enhanced threat detection.
Other additions include expanded parental controls, separate assistant volume and app memory settings, and an option to hide app names for greater privacy.
You can read more about everything new in Android 17 in Google's blog post.
Il display è da 13,2 pollici, per cui OnePlus Pad 3 Pro punta su dimensioni importanti ma anche su una risoluzione di 3.392 x 2.400 pixel. Abbiamo un display LCD e la frequenza d'aggiornamento, in base all'utilizzo, può cambiare da 30 fino a 144 Hz. La luminosità raggiunge in scioltezza i 1.000 nit, mentre la copertura cromatica DCI-P3 tocca quota 98%.
La batteria poi non è affatto da sottovalutare, ma nonostante questo OnePlus Pad 3 Pro mantiene il suo spessore fermo ai 5,94 millimetri e con un peso di 672 grammi. Proprio riguardo all'autonomia, la capacità del modulo è pari a 13.380 mAh e c'è oltretutto il supporto alla ricarica rapida da 67 W.
Finalmente Google ha sentito le lamentele, ripetute ormai da anni, che i soliti 11 colori per organizzare e differenziare appuntamenti, promemoria e attività in Calendar non erano sufficienti, e ha deciso di correre ai ripari: la società di Mountain View ha appena avviato la distribuzione di un aggiornamento su tutte le piattaforme in cui il servizio è disponibile (app mobile native, Web desktop e anche API per gli sviluppatori terzi), grazie al quale si potrà scegliere tra ben 200 colori personalizzati.
Più precisamente, le scelte predefinite passano da 11 a 24, e ci sarà un selettore RGB completo per chi ha una griglia di impegni ancora più fitta e variegata o semplicemente preferisce adottare delle palette personalizzate. Il ricorso a più colori permette di identificare rapidamente gli eventi e gli appuntamenti - un sistema immediato e rapido per categorizzarli, insomma.
Google Calendar è uno dei servizi più vecchi e diffusi del colosso di Mountain View, ancora prima che esistesse la G Suite o Workspace, ma bisogna dire che gli aggiornamenti, soprattutto a livello di interfaccia e funzionalità end-user, tendenzialmente sono piuttosto rari. Un po’ perché, beh, non c’è necessariamente moltissimo da modificare in un software del genere.
Um estudo destaca que, na era da inteligência artificial, nunca foi tão fácil criar uma aplicação. O problema está em conseguir destacar-se perante a saturação da oferta.
TIM prosegue il rinnovamento dei propri servizi digitali. A poche settimane dall’introduzione del nuovo programma fedeltà TIM Star, l’operatore ha difatti aggiornato l’app MyTIM, ridisegnandone alcuni elementi tra cui menu e icone. La piattaforma resta il centro di controllo per le utenze fisse e mobili, con accesso immediato a offerte, promozioni, rinnovi e soglie previste dal piano sottoscritto.
Il restyling interessa innanzitutto la schermata Home, dalla quale gli utenti possono consultare le informazioni principali associate alla propria linea. Credito residuo e traffico dati vengono ora messi in maggiore evidenza attraverso un riquadro dedicato, mentre per accedere ai dettagli dell’offerta occorre spostarsi nella sezione "La mia linea". Qui TIM ha rivisto anche l’aspetto degli indicatori relativi a minuti, SMS e Giga disponibili, sostituendo le precedenti colorazioni sfumate con un blu uniforme che richiama il colore dell’operatore.
Anche i riquadri in cui TIM raggruppa le azioni veloci, come controllo movimenti, eSIM e ticket, sono raffigurati con un’icona di colore blu e sfondo bianco che risulta più leggibile. Passando alla sezione successiva si può accedere a TIM Star, il programma a punti lanciato a fine maggio in sostituzione di TIM Party. In questo caso l’aspetto è pressoché invariato, dato che la grafica all’interno della sezione era stata già allineata al portale web ufficiale di TIM.
Basta descrivere la modifica, al resto pensa l'AI. La possibilità di modificare immagini con linguaggio naturale introdotta a partire dalla scorsa estate su Google Foto in queste ora comincia infatti ad essere finalmente disponibile anche in Italia. Il colosso di Mountain View ha infatti annunciato l'espansione di "Edit with Ask Photos" a cinque nuovi mercati europei, tra cui il nostro.
MODIFICARE CON LE PAROLE
Ma di cosa si tratta, più nel dettaglio? "Edit with Ask Photos", per gli amici "editing conversazionale", punta a rendere più intuitivo il processo di modifica delle immagini. Invece di intervenire manualmente sui vari strumenti dell'app, gli utenti possono semplicemente descrivere il risultato che vogliono ottenere.
Ad esempio è possibile chiedere a Google Foto di "rimuovere i riflessi", eliminare elementi indesiderati sullo sfondo oppure applicare un effetto specifico come una tonalità seppia. L'intelligenza artificiale a quel punto interpreta la richiesta e applica automaticamente le modifiche allo scatto. L'obiettivo è rendere operazioni che normalmente richiederebbero diversi passaggi (e confidenza quindi con gli strumenti di editing) non solo più snelle ma in generale più accessibili anche agli utenti meno esperti, sfruttando la sempre maggiore integrazione tra Google Foto e l'AI.
Abbiamo una prima conferma ufficiale dell’esistenza di Exynos 2700: Park Yong-In, presidente della divisione System LSI, l’ha menzionato espressamente durante un briefing dedicato all’andamento e alle prospettive della divisione semiconduttori. Park dice che lo sviluppo del chip sta procedendo senza particolari difficoltà, e ha confermato che l’obiettivo è impiegarlo negli smartphone premium di prossima generazione del gruppo. Non sono stati fatti nomi espliciti, ma è estremamente probabile che il riferimento sia soprattutto ai Galaxy S27.
La notizia è utile vista la sua ufficialità, ma per chi segue più da vicino le indiscrezioni risulterà tutt’altro che una sorpresa. Di Exynos 2700 si vocifera addirittura da prima che uscisse il 2600. Park non si è sbottonato troppo sui dettagli tecnici del chip, ma i leaker sostengono che sarà realizzato su nodo SF2P, classe 2 nm di seconda generazione, che dovrebbe garantire miglioramenti tangibili sia in termini di efficienza energetica / termica sia di prestazioni.
Samsung dovrebbe inoltre adottare una nuova architettura Side-by-Side e un sistema denominato Heat Path Block, progettato per ottimizzare la dissipazione del calore durante i carichi di lavoro più intensi. Si era anche ipotizzato l’abbandono della tecnologia di packaging avanzata FOWLP (Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging), per contenere i costi, ma l’idea era stata prontamente smentita da fonti attendibili. Per ora non sono ancora emersi dati concreti sull’incremento prestazionale che è lecito attendersi rispetto all’attuale Exynos 2600 o ai chip dei principali concorrenti, come MediaTek e Qualcomm.
Android XR è la piattaforma di Google destinata alla prossima generazione di smart glasses e visori. E l'ultimo video dimostrativo pubblicato da big G ci offre un esempio concreto di una delle applicazioni più adatte a questa tipologia di dispositivi: la navigazione.
Attraverso un nuovo progetto sperimentale chiamato "XR Geospatial Tour", Google immagina un'esperienza in cui mappe e navigatori tradizionali lasciano spazio a indicazioni contestuali visualizzate direttamente nel campo visivo dell'utente.
Honor ha presentato 600 Smart, lo smartphone con la batteria più grande disponibile al di fuori della Cina. Grazie a una superficie importante - il display è un LCD da 6,87 pollici - i progettisti dell’azienda cinese sono riusciti a inserire una batteria da 7.700 mAh, che unita a un hardware non particolarmente “sfidante” dovrebbe garantire giorni di autonomia con una ricarica. Sono 1.300 in più del 600 "base" che vi abbiamo raccontato nei giorni scorsi.
Il focus di Honor 600 Smart è evidentemente questo: l’affidabilità, intesa come capacità di supportare l’utente il più a lungo possibile. Volendo, comunque, c’è la ricarica rapida a 45 watt, ed è, fa sapere Honor, resistente a cadute fino a 2,5 metri e alle immersioni fino a 1,5 metri per mezz’ora. Secondo test di laboratorio, lo smartphone può riprodurre video in streaming per 28 ore consecutive e offre fino a 93 ore di autonomia, cioè quasi 4 giorni.
Il display, come detto, è un’unità molto grande ma senza caratteristiche “di grido”, fatta eccezione per un valore di luminosità massima abbastanza elevato per un LCD (1.020 nit): la risoluzione è bassa in relazione alla superficie, 1.592 x 720 pixel. Non bisogna aspettarsi dunque una definizione particolarmente alta.
Pour moins de 230 euros, Rakuten propose le Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 Pro dans une version particulièrement bien équipée. Avec ses 256 Go de stockage, ses 8 Go de RAM et sa compatibilité 5G, il offre une expérience fluide tout en laissant une large place aux photos, vidéos et applications.
La versione stabile di Android 17 è disponibile da qualche giorno e pare che la più ampia diffusione dell'OS stia portando all'emersione di un bug che probabilmente era sfuggito a Google. Secondo diverse testimonianze emerse su Reddit, infatti, pare che alcuni utenti stiano riscontrando problemi di connettività quando utilizzano alcune applicazioni sotto rete Wi-Fi, mentre nessun problema durante l'utilizzo delle stesse sotto rete cellulare.
Ad essere maggiormente colpite sono le app stesse di Google, mentre non sembrano esserci discriminanti per quanto riguarda i Pixel colpiti, visto che le segnalazioni vanno da Pixel 7 a Pixel 10 senza troppe distinzioni. Chi è colpito dal bug in questione si ritrova con alcune app specifiche che risultano non in grado di sfruttare la connettività internet quando ci si trova sotto rete Wi-Fi (ma le altre app la rilevano correttamente), richiedendo di passare ai dati mobili per poterle utilizzare.
Secondo diverse prove, tra cui un test svolto da Android Authority, pare che la radice del problema possa essere in qualche modo legata al protocollo IPv6, visto che attivando l'opzione all'interno dei router che l'avevano disabilitata sembra correggere il problema. C'è però da segnalare che il test di AA non è stato in grado di confermare al 100% che sia solo sufficiente attivare il toggle per risolvere il problema in ogni scenario, suggerendo quindi che questa potrebbe essere una delle cause, ma non l'unica.
Xiaomi ha appena lanciato in Italia due nuovi prodotti audio economici: le cuffie over-ear REDMI Headphones Neo e gli auricolari TWS REDMI Buds 8. Per entrambi il focus è su autonomia, comfort e accessibilità; le cuffie, in particolare, montano una batteria da 600 mAh, dato piuttosto elevato per questa categoria, che secondo Xiaomi garantisce fino a 72 ore di riproduzione musicale con una singola carica, nientemeno. Realistico aspettarsi di farsele durare anche più di una settimana nell’uso quotidiano.
Le cuffie hanno connettività wireless Bluetooth 5.4, in alternativa funzionano anche via cavo USB. A seconda della modalità operativa cambia la risposta in frequenza: 20-20.000 Hz con Bluetooth, 20-40.000 Hz via cavo. Vale la pena osservare che l’orecchio umano percepisce in genere fino ai 20,000 Hz in condizioni ottimali, e il limite superiore cala naturalmente nel tempo, per via dell’età e per l’esposizione a rumori particolarmente forti. Nonostante la batteria molto capiente, le cuffie rimangono piuttosto leggere: 263 grammi (peso pressoché uguale a quello delle nuovissime Sony WH-1000XM6, giusto per avere un metro di paragone). Xiaomi ha previsto una struttura progettata per distribuire uniformemente la pressione sulle orecchie.
Gli auricolari TWS offrono invece fino a 11 ore con una singola carica, mentre la custodia ne ha altre 33. Bastano 10 minuti nella custodia per recuperare 4 ore di autonomia. Xiaomi ha implementato un sistema di cancellazione attiva del rumore (ANC) che può arrivare ad abbattere fino a 50 dB. C’è anche un sistema di riduzione del rumore di fondo in chiamata basato su un array di tre microfoni ambientali.
From its inaugural release to today, Android has transformed visually, conceptually and functionally — time and time again. Google’s mobile operating system may have started out scrappy, but holy moly, has it ever evolved.
Here’s a fast-paced tour of Android version highlights from the platform’s birth to present. (Feel free to skip ahead if you just want to see what’s new in the most recent Android 17 update.)
Android versions 1.0 to 1.1: The early days
Android made its official public debut in 2008 with Android 1.0 — a release so ancient it didn’t even have a cute codename.
Things were pretty basic back then, but the software did include a suite of early Google apps like Gmail, Maps, Calendar, and YouTube, all of which were integrated into the operating system — a stark contrast to the more easily updatable standalone-app model employed today.
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The Android 1.0 home screen and its rudimentary web browser (not yet called Chrome).
T-Mobile
Android version 1.5: Cupcake
With early 2009’s Android 1.5 Cupcake release, the tradition of Android version names was born. Cupcake introduced numerous refinements to the Android interface, including the first on-screen keyboard — something that’d be necessary as phones moved away from the once-ubiquitous physical keyboard model.
Cupcake also brought about the framework for third-party app widgets, which would quickly turn into one of Android’s most distinguishing elements, and it provided the platform’s first-ever option for video recording.
Android 1.6, Donut, rolled into the world in the fall of 2009. Donut filled in some important holes in Android’s center, including the ability for the OS to operate on a variety of different screen sizes and resolutions — a factor that’d be critical in the years to come. It also added support for CDMA networks like Verizon, which would play a key role in Android’s imminent explosion.
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Android’s universal search box made its first appearance in Android 1.6.
Google
Android versions 2.0 to 2.1: Eclair
Keeping up the breakneck release pace of Android’s early years, Android 2.0, Eclair, emerged just six weeks after Donut; its “point-one” update, also called Eclair, came out a couple months later. Eclair was the first Android release to enter mainstream consciousness thanks to the original Motorola Droid phone and the massive Verizon-led marketing campaign surrounding it.
Verizon’s “iDon’t” ad for the Droid.
The release’s most transformative element was the addition of voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic info — something previously unheard of (and still essentially unmatched) in the smartphone world. Navigation aside, Eclair brought live wallpapers to Android as well as the platform’s first speech-to-text function. And it made waves for injecting the once-iOS-exclusive pinch-to-zoom capability into Android — a move often seen as the spark that ignited Apple’s long-lasting “thermonuclear war” against Google.
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The first versions of turn-by-turn navigation and speech-to-text, in Eclair.
Google
Android version 2.2: Froyo
Just four months after Android 2.1 arrived, Google served up Android 2.2, Froyo, which revolved largely around under-the-hood performance improvements.
Froyo did deliver some important front-facing features, though, including the addition of the now-standard dock at the bottom of the home screen as well as the first incarnation of Voice Actions, which allowed you to perform basic functions like getting directions and making notes by tapping an icon and then speaking a command.
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Google’s first real attempt at voice control, in Froyo.
Google
Notably, Froyo also brought support for Flash to Android’s web browser — an option that was significant both because of the widespread use of Flash at the time and because of Apple’s adamant stance against supporting it on its own mobile devices. Apple would eventually win, of course, and Flash would become far less common. But back when it was still everywhere, being able to access the full web without any black holes was a genuine advantage only Android could offer.
Android version 2.3: Gingerbread
Android’s first true visual identity started coming into focus with 2010’s Gingerbread release. Bright green had long been the color of Android’s robot mascot, and with Gingerbread, it became an integral part of the operating system’s appearance. Black and green seeped all over the UI as Android started its slow march toward distinctive design.
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It was easy being green back in the Gingerbread days.
JR Raphael / IDG
Android 3.0 to 3.2: Honeycomb
2011’s Honeycomb period was a weird time for Android. Android 3.0 came into the world as a tablet-only release to accompany the launch of the Motorola Xoom, and through the subsequent 3.1 and 3.2 updates, it remained a tablet-exclusive (and closed-source) entity.
Under the guidance of newly arrived design chief Matias Duarte, Honeycomb introduced a dramatically reimagined UI for Android. It had a space-like “holographic” design that traded the platform’s trademark green for blue and placed an emphasis on making the most of a tablet’s screen space.
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Honeycomb: When Android got a case of the holographic blues.
JR Raphael / IDG
While the concept of a tablet-specific interface didn’t last long, many of Honeycomb’s ideas laid the groundwork for the Android we know today. The software was the first to use on-screen buttons for Android’s main navigational commands; it marked the beginning of the end for the permanent overflow-menu button; and it introduced the concept of a card-like UI with its take on the Recent Apps list.
Android version 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich
With Honeycomb acting as the bridge from old to new, Ice Cream Sandwich — also released in 2011 — served as the platform’s official entry into the era of modern design. The release refined the visual concepts introduced with Honeycomb and reunited tablets and phones with a single, unified UI vision.
ICS dropped much of Honeycomb’s “holographic” appearance but kept its use of blue as a system-wide highlight. And it carried over core system elements like on-screen buttons and a card-like appearance for app-switching.
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The ICS home screen and app-switching interface.
JR Raphael / IDG
Android 4.0 also made swiping a more integral method of getting around the operating system, with the then-revolutionary-feeling ability to swipe away things like notifications and recent apps. And it started the slow process of bringing a standardized design framework — known as “Holo” — all throughout the OS and into Android’s app ecosystem.
Android versions 4.1 to 4.3: Jelly Bean
Spread across three impactful Android versions, 2012 and 2013’s Jelly Bean releases took ICS’s fresh foundation and made meaningful strides in fine-tuning and building upon it. The releases added plenty of poise and polish into the operating system and went a long way in making Android more inviting for the average user.
Visuals aside, Jelly Bean brought about our first taste of Google Now — the spectacular predictive-intelligence utility that’s sadly since devolved into a glorified news feed. It gave us expandable and interactive notifications, an expanded voice search system, and a more advanced system for displaying search results in general, with a focus on card-based results that attempted to answer questions directly.
Multiuser support also came into play, albeit on tablets only at this point, and an early version of Android’s Quick Settings panel made its first appearance. Jelly Bean ushered in a heavily hyped system for placing widgets on your lock screen, too — one that, like so many Android features over the years, quietly disappeared a couple years later.
Late-2013’s KitKat release marked the end of Android’s dark era, as the blacks of Gingerbread and the blues of Honeycomb finally made their way out of the operating system. Lighter backgrounds and more neutral highlights took their places, with a transparent status bar and white icons giving the OS a more contemporary appearance.
Android 4.4 also saw the first version of “OK, Google” support — but in KitKat, the hands-free activation prompt worked only when your screen was already on and you were either at your home screen or inside the Google app.
The release was Google’s first foray into claiming a full panel of the home screen for its services, too — at least, for users of its own Nexus phones and those who chose to download its first-ever standalone launcher.
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The lightened KitKat home screen and its dedicated Google Now panel.
JR Raphael / IDG
Android versions 5.0 and 5.1: Lollipop
Google essentially reinvented Android — again — with its Android 5.0 Lollipop release in the fall of 2014. Lollipop launched the still-present-today Material Design standard, which brought a whole new look that extended across all of Android, its apps and even other Google products.
The card-based concept that had been scattered throughout Android became a core UI pattern — one that would guide the appearance of everything from notifications, which now showed up on the lock screen for at-a-glance access, to the Recent Apps list, which took on an unabashedly card-based appearance.
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Lollipop and the onset of Material Design.
JR Raphael / IDG
Lollipop introduced a slew of new features into Android, including truly hands-free voice control via the “OK, Google” command, support for multiple users on phones and a priority mode for better notification management. It changed so much, unfortunately, that it also introduced a bunch of troubling bugs, many of which wouldn’t be fully ironed out until the following year’s 5.1 release.
Android version 6.0: Marshmallow
In the grand scheme of things, 2015’s Marshmallow was a fairly minor Android release — one that seemed more like a 0.1-level update than anything deserving of a full number bump. But it started the trend of Google releasing one major Android version per year and that version always receiving its own whole number.
Marshmallow’s most attention-grabbing element was a screen-search feature called Now On Tap — something that, as I said at the time, had tons of potential that wasn’t fully tapped. Google never quite perfected the system and ended up quietly retiring its brand and moving it out of the forefront the following year.
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Marshmallow and the almost-brilliance of Google Now on Tap.
JR Raphael / IDG
Android 6.0 did introduce some stuff with lasting impact, though, including more granular app permissions, support for fingerprint readers, and support for USB-C.
Android 7.0 Nougat and its new native split-screen mode.
JR Raphael / IDG
Perhaps most pivotal among Nougat’s enhancements, however, was the launch of the Google Assistant — which came alongside the announcement of Google’s first fully self-made phone, the Pixel, about two months after Nougat’s debut. The Assistant would go on to become a critical component of Android and most other Google products and is arguably the company’s foremost effort today.
Android version 8.0 and 8.1: Oreo
Android Oreo added a variety of niceties to the platform, including a native picture-in-picture mode, a notification snoozing option, and notification channels that offer fine control over how apps can alert you.
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Oreo adds several significant features to the operating system, including a new picture-in-picture mode.
JR Raphael / IDG
The 2017 release also included some noteworthy elements that furthered Google’s goal of aligning Android and Chrome OS and improving the experience of using Android apps on Chromebooks, and it was the first Android version to feature Project Treble — an ambitious effort to create a modular base for Android’s code with the hope of making it easier for device-makers to provide timely software updates.
Android version 9: Pie
The freshly baked scent of Android Pie, a.k.a. Android 9, wafted into the Android ecosystem in August of 2018. Pie’s most transformative change was its hybrid gesture/button navigation system, which traded Android’s traditional Back, Home, and Overview keys for a large, multifunctional Home button and a small Back button that appeared alongside it as needed.
Android 9 introduced a new gesture-driven system for getting around phones, with an elongated Home button and a small Back button that appears as needed.
Google released Android 10 — the first Android version to shed its letter and be known simply by a number, with no dessert-themed moniker attached — in September of 2019. Most noticeably, the software brought about a totally reimagined interface for Android gestures, this time doing away with the tappable Back button altogether and relying on a completely swipe-driven approach to system navigation.
Android 10 packed plenty of other quietly important improvements, including an updated permissions system with more granular control over location data along with a new system-wide dark theme, a new distraction-limiting Focus Mode, and a new on-demand live captioning system for any actively playing media.
Android 10’s new privacy permissions model adds some much-needed nuance into the realm of location data.
JR Raphael / IDG
Android version 11
Android 11, launched at the start of September 2020, was a pretty substantial Android update both under the hood and on the surface. The version’s most significant changes revolve around privacy: The update built upon the expanded permissions system introduced in Android 10 and added in the option to grant apps location, camera, and microphone permissions only on a limited, single-use basis.
Android 11 also made it more difficult for apps to request the ability to detect your location in the background, and it introduced a feature that automatically revokes permissions from any apps you haven’t opened lately. On the interface level, Android 11 included a refined approach to conversation-related notifications along with a new streamlined media player, a new Notification History section, a native screen-recording feature, and a system-level menu of connected-device controls.
Android 11’s new media player appears as part of the system Quick Settings panel, while the new connected-device control screen comes up whenever you press and hold your phone’s physical power button.
JR Raphael / IDG
Android version 12
Google officially launched the final version of Android 12 in October 2021, alongside the launch of its Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones.
In a twist from the previous several Android versions, the most significant progressions with Android 12 were mostly on the surface. Android 12 featured the biggest reimagining of Android’s interface since 2014’s Android 5.0 (Lollipop) version, with an updated design standard known as Material You — which revolves around the idea of you customizing the appearance of your device with dynamically generated themes based on your current wallpaper colors. Those themes automatically change anytime your wallpaper changes, and they extend throughout the entire operating system interface and even into the interfaces of apps that support the standard.
Android 12 ushered in a whole new look and feel for the operating system, with an emphasis on simple color customization.
Google
Surface-level elements aside, Android 12 brought a (long overdue) renewed focus to Android’s widget system along with a host of important foundational enhancements in the areas of performance, security, and privacy. The update provided more powerful and accessible controls over how different apps are using your data and how much information you allow apps to access, for instance, and it included a new isolated section of the operating system that allows AI features to operate entirely on a device, without any potential for network access or data exposure.
Android version 13
Android 13, launched in August 2022, was simultaneously one of the most ambitious updates in Android history and one of the most subtle version changes to date.
On tablets and foldable phones, Android 13 introduced a slew of significant interface updates and additions aimed at improving the large-screen Android experience — including an enhanced split-screen mode for multitasking and a ChromeOS-like taskbar for easy app access from anywhere.
The new Android-13-introduced taskbar, as seen on a Google Pixel Fold phone.
Google
On regular phones, Android 13 brought about far less noticeable changes — mostly just some enhancements to the system clipboard interface, a new native QR code scanning function within the Android Quick Settings area, and a smattering of under-the-hood improvements.
Android version 14
Following a full eight months of out-in-the-open refinement, Google’s 14th Android version landed at the start of October 2023, in the midst of the company’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro launch event.
But despite the subtle nature of its first impression, Android 14 delivered a fair amount of noteworthy new goodies. The software introduced a new system for dragging and dropping text between apps, for instance, as well as a number of new improvements to privacy and security — including a new settings-integrated dashboard for managing health and fitness data and a more info-rich and context-requiring system for seeing exactly why apps want access to your location. And it brought about a new set of native customization options for the Android lock screen.
Android 14 includes options for completely changing the appearance of the lock screen as well as for customizing which shortcuts show up on it.
JR Raphael / IDG
Android version 15
Though Android 15 followed the trend of significant advancements arriving as their own separate rollouts — outside of and even ahead ofits arrival, as an official operating system update — 2024’s new Android version was certainly no slouch.
The software introduced a number of noteworthy new features — including a redesigned system volume panel, an option to automatically re-enable a device’s Bluetooth radio a day after it’s been disabled, and a Pixel-specific Adaptive Vibration feature that intelligently adjusts a phone’s vibration intensity based on the environment. It also marked the debut of a system-level Private Space area that lets you keep sensitive apps out of sight and accessible only with authentication.
Once you set up Android 15’s new Private Space feature, certain apps appear in a special protected — and optionally hidden — area of your app drawer.
JR Raphael / IDG
Add in handy touches like a space-saving app archiving option and a predictive back visual that lets you sneak a peek at where you’re headed before you get there, and this small-seeming update shaped up to be a pretty hefty progression.
Android version 16
In a marked change from recent Android upgrade cycles, Google decided to go with two new Android versions per year as of 2025 — starting with Android 16 in the spring and then following that with a smaller release in the fall.
True to that promise, Android 16 catapulted into the world in early June, creating the framework for future-facing systems such as Live Updates — a new type of notification designed to support persistent, ongoing alerts, similar to what Apple does with iOS’s Live Activities — and introducing an Advanced Protection security supermode that provides a simple single-switch way to activate a whole slew of advisable Android security settings in one fell swoop.
The Android 16 Advanced Security control panel, as seen on a Google Pixel phone.
JR Raphael, Foundry
The update included a sprawling series of other new security strengtheners, too, making protection seem like the true centerpiece of Android 16 — even if other touches, such as a more advanced standard for hearing aid support, helped flesh out the software into a rounded and feature-rich release.
Managing app location access is extra easy and powerful in Android 17.
JR Raphael, Foundry
While those features and the inevitable slew of under-the-hood security, performance, and privacy improvements add up to form a compelling final picture, it’s hard not to notice that much of Google’s focus in this era is now on the AI layers surrounding Android as opposed to being on Android itself, as an operating system. The company’s I/O conference in May showcased many such measures, appropriately noting that Android was transitioning from being “an operating system” into being “an intelligence system” (whatever that means).
But even at its foundational level and without any AI-laden Halo effect included, Android 17 manages to hold its own — with Bubbles acting as an anchor and bringing some much-appreciated new productivity potential our way.
This article was originally published in November 2017 and most recently updated in June 2026.
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