What’s new in Android P Beta 3 for Google Pixel/Pixel XL & Google Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL

Google just released the Android P Beta 3/Developer Preview 4 for the Google Pixel, Google Pixel XL, Google Pixel 2, and Google Pixel 2 XL. Likewise, Essential released the latest beta for the Essential Phone. We're still waiting on devices like the OnePlus 6, Sony Xperia XZ2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, and the Nokia 7 Plus to receive it, though. There's not much new in the latest update besides the July security patches. But, Google still decided to add some slight changes to the user interface and the behavior of the system.

The changes listed below are cumulative with the changes we pointed out in the earlier releases. If you're interested, check out our earlier coverage of what's new in each Developer Preview.

Everything new in Android P Developer Preview 1

Everything new in Android P Developer Preview 2

Everything new in Android P Developer Preview 3

As always, I'll start with a bullet point list which includes all the changes that we have found so far. The following changes apply to the latest P preview for the Google Pixel and Google Pixel 2 series as well as the Essential Phone. Devices like the OnePlus 6 may include significant changes to the UI so we can't guarantee these changes will be present once the other devices receive the latest update.

Android P Beta 3/Developer Preview 4 Change Summary

• New 'back' button in the navigation bar
• New rotation lock button
• Tweaks to Quick Settings panel
• Manual dark theme
• 'App Actions' now work on the first generation Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL
• Recent apps are now bigger when sliding through them
• Status bar icons are now smaller
• Call volume is now separate in the settings
• New icon for keyboard switcher
• New icon for Battery Saver when activated
• New icons in the Settings
• Always On Display now hides notifications too
• New "Bluetooth A2DP hardware offload" option in Developer Options
• New animation when opening recents
• New animation when switching to the last app

New 'back' button

Google has been changing some things in the navigation bar since the first Developer Preview of Android P. First they added rotation lock in DP1. Then, in Developer Preview 2, also known as the first beta release, they introduced gesture navigation. Android P DP3 (Beta 2) brought haptic feedback and some slight adjustments to the gesture navigation. The latest beta version comes with a new 'back' button icon.

Maybe Google is trying to shift the focus from the back button as they'll eventually switch to full gesture navigation. It's just a matter of time, but we're not sure if it'll be ready for the full release of Android P.

New rotation lock button

Google also added an updated 'rotation lock' button in the place of 'recents' button in the navigation bar. Navigation bar now looks symmetrical, at least when you're rotating the phone. Rotation lock button was introduced in the first developer preview of Android P. It got a new look in the DP3, and now it got updated again. I think Google finally found the right place and icon for it.

Tweaks to Quick Settings panel

New icons are present in the Quick Settings panel. Almost all of them are just outlines now, instead of fully filled in.

Manual dark theme

You can now toggle dark theme manually in the Display settings under Device theme category. We knew the feature was coming as it was mentioned in the  Google Issue Tracker. As I've previously mentioned, it's still not close to the full dark theme, but still a welcome change. You'll need root access if you want a full, system-wide dark theme.

App Actions for Google Pixel & Google Pixel XL

This feature was introduced in the first beta version of the Android P, but it was only working for Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel 2 XL. From this update, it works on the first generation of Google Pixel devices too. 'App Actions' suggest to you the parts of the app which you use the most. As you see, my most used 'actions' are XDA-Developers chat on Slack and our News board on Trello. You can see full details about App Actions here.

Bigger recent apps when sliding

You can now see that recent apps are bigger when you're swiping the gesture navigation pill/home button. You can also see that now you have more space for sliding between these apps as the pill uses almost the whole width of the device.

Smaller status bar icons

Icons in the status bar are now slightly smaller. I can't see the thinking behind it, but Google is probably making space for the notches. Don't quote me on that one though.

Call volume is now separate in the settings

You can now manually adjust the call volume by tapping the settings icon under the volume slider.

New icon for keyboard switcher

Navigation bar now features a new icon for switching keyboard when you're typing.

New icon for Battery Saver when activated

As it turns out, Battery Saver also follows the new outline look of the icons in the latest beta of Android P. You can see the new icon after activating the following feature.

New icons in the Settings

You can also see the updated icons in the Settings, too.

Always On Display now hides notifications in Do Not Disturb mode too

A user reported back on the 21st of June that Always On Display wasn't hiding new notifications if Do Not Disturb mode was enabled. It was marked as fixed just the day after. As it turns out, Android P Developer Preview 4 fixes this issue.

New "Bluetooth A2DP hardware offload" option

You can find a new option to disable "Bluetooth A2DP hardware offload" in the Developer Options. It's disabled by default on Google Pixel devices.

New animation when opening recents

You can now see a new animation when opening recents. The recent app kinda bounces in. Here's a video demonstrating the animation:

New animation when switching to the last app

You can also see a new animation while using swipe right feature in the navigation bar to switch to the last app.

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We'll be sure to update the article if we stumble upon anything new. You can already install Android P Beta 3 on these devices:

• Google Pixel
• Google Pixel XL
• Google Pixel 2
• Google Pixel 2 XL
• Essential Phone

The update will be available in the following weeks for other devices that are part of the Android Beta program. Head to this link for instructions about how to flash the newest update.

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Google Camera 5.3 prepares to add correction for wide-angle distortion on faces

Wide-angle lenses have been a great addition to smartphone cameras. They allow you to essentially take a step back and get more in the frame. However, wide-angle lenses are not without their drawbacks. Distortion is a common side-effect when using these lenses. The outside edges of the photo can appear warped and it can even affect faces. Google is working on a fix to make this problem less noticeable with Google Camera.

The following strings are from the latest Google Camera 5.3 taken from Android P Beta 3 (Developer Preview 4) on the Google Pixel 2 XL. They mention fixing faces when they are distorted by the angle of view.

  <string name="pref_acat_summary">Adjust faces to look more natural when angle of view distorts them.</string>  <string name="pref_acat_title">Correct wide-angle distortion on face</string>  

The Pixel phones don't have a secondary wide-angle camera like you can find on the LG G7, but the Google Camera has a nifty faux"wide-angle" mode in the Panorama section. It's very handy when you need to fit more in the frame. Taking these types of photos can create a lot of weird distortion when stitching photos together. If you're taking a big group photo with a lot of people you want to make sure faces look good.

Wide-angle mode on Pixel 2 Android P DP3

To try the wide-angle feature out for yourself, open the Google Camera app and swipe open the menu. Select Panorama and choose one of the styles up top (horizontal, vertical, wide-angle, or fisheye). The camera app will guide you through the steps to take the photo. When you're done, the photo will be stitched together and hopefully, this new trick can fix faces.

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 sources now available on CAF

Qualcomm's latest high-end system-on-chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, was announced late last year at the Snapdragon Tech Summit in Hawaii. With an Adreno 630 GPU, 4 efficiency cores and 4 performance cores, it's a performance beast and is the best to offer for Android phones to date. Nearly all of this year's major flagships such as the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, the Samsung Galaxy S9, the LG G7 ThinQ, and the OnePlus 6 have launched with it, and that's great for users. Qualcomm traditionally releases a lot of platform specific code on the Code Aurora Forums (CAF) which helps developers get started on building custom AOSP-based ROMs. However, the company delayed releasing the sources for the Snapdragon 845. When we contacted Qualcomm about this, we were told that they would be released in 6 weeks. That 6-week window has passed, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 platform sources are now available on CAF.

For a quick note, the existence of CAF is one of the reasons why Android smartphones with Qualcomm chips are so popular with the development community on XDA. While the GPLv2 license requires that vendors release their kernel sources, that isn't always enough for creating custom ROMs based on AOSP. Releasing chipset-specific code is not required for SoC vendors, but Qualcomm often provides the public part of their chipset specific code for HALs, framework branches, and more which is a great benefit for developers. Developers can build for the platform without having to know how the new chipset features work. Without access to that code, it becomes a lot more difficult to build an AOSP-based custom ROM for a device.

That's exactly the problem as it took months for the Snapdragon 845 sources to be released. That's a lot longer than it usually takes, which led some developers to worry that Qualcomm was becoming like other SoC vendors like MediaTek and HiSilicon. Fortunately, the company has now released the code and developers can start building for their devices.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 sources on the Code Aurora Forums

But why did we have to wait so long? Well, previous code drops often spoiled upcoming chipset releases. That's a fair excuse given that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 was leaked well ahead of time thanks to CAF sources. Now that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 632, 439, and 429 platforms are out-of-the-way and the Snapdragon 845 sources are properly scrubbed of any mentions of unreleased chipsets, the company is comfortable releasing it publicly.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 render shows slim bezels and no home button

Android tablets are not the trendy devices they used to be. There was a time when every Android OEM was releasing a tablet, but those days are long gone. Samsung is one of the few OEMs still pumping out decent Android tablets. The latest tablet to leak is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4, and it looks like Samsung has made some big changes.

The Galaxy Tab S4 has popped up a couple of times in recent weeks, but this is our first look at the device. Based on the leaked render from Android Headlines, we can see that Samsung has removed the physical home button. The bezels have also been slimmed down and the 10.5-inch display seems to be 16:9 instead of 4:3. On the back, we can see "Tuned by AKG" branding, which should mean great audio quality with the 4 stereo speakers. One thing that seems to be missing is the fingerprint scanner.

Previously, we saw the Galaxy Tab S4 pass through the FCC with LTE bands and get support for the Samsung DeX dock. Rumored specs for the device include the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, 13 and 8MP cameras, 7,300 mAh battery, and Android 8.1 Oreo. We're not sure when the tablet will be announced, but it seems like it should be soon. Are you still interested in tablets?

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Source: Android Headlines

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Essential Phone receiving Android P Beta 3 with July security patches

Today has been a big day for Android updates. The latest Android P Developer Preview was just released earlier today along with the July Security Bulletin. The Essential Phone is already joining the party. Just like with the last Android P beta release, Essential is sending out the update on the same day. Android 8.1 Oreo with July security patches and Android P Beta 3 are now rolling out.

Essential has posted the official changelog on Twitter for the Android 8.1 update:

It's the second day of July and we've got your monthly security patches ready to go! Oh yeah, we also included some stability improvements for Android Auto. Check your Essential Phone now to download the update. pic.twitter.com/6QS3Ay3O2r

— Essential (@essential) July 2, 2018

They also tweeted that the new Android P Beta build with July security patches is rolling out. The update includes all of the usual goodies and a few extra tweaks, such as the Recent Apps screen. Check out the screenshots below.

If you're interested in joining the Android P beta, you can find all the information on Essential's landing page. If you are already on the beta you will receive this latest version as an OTA update. We love seeing non-Pixel/Nexus devices getting to enjoy the latest and greatest from Google. Despite rumors of the company struggling, Essential has been doing a bang-up job of keeping their phone on the bleeding edge.

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Android Security Updates for July are now available with OTA and Factory Images

The first week of a new month means a fresh batch of Android security updates. Hot on the tails of Android P Beta 3 (Developer Preview 4), Google has posted the Android Security Bulletins for the month of July. These bulletins mark the release of the latest security updates for Pixel, Nexus, and other Android devices.

As is tradition, the most severe patches relate to the "media framework and possibly permitting a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code through a "crafted file." As per usual, Google says they had no reports of customers being affected by this vulnerability. The OTA files and factory images are available for the Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 2, Pixel XL, Pixel, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, and Pixel C at the links below.

This Android security update resolves 43 issues in total. The bulletin for Pixel/Nexus devices has 26 fixes and only one functional update this month:

Category	Improvements	Devices
Connectivity	Improve consistency of Wi-Fi connections with certain routers	Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL

All of the download links for the compatible devices can be found at the links below along with the full Android Security Bulletins.

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Android Security BulletinPixel/Nexus Security Bulletin
OTA FilesFactory Images

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Android P Beta 3 is here for Google Pixel/Pixel XL & Google Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL

Google's developer preview program continues as the company releases yet another beta build, Android P Beta 3 (Developer Preview 4). Today, the third beta version is available for download for the Google Pixel, Google Pixel XL, Google Pixel 2, and Google Pixel 2 XL.

The first preview version was released in March, which brought an almost complete redesign of the user interface. A month later the first beta version (Developer Preview 2) dropped, featuring gesture navigation and a new adaptive brightness and battery management enhanced by machine learning. It was then followed by the second beta version (Developer Preview 3), which brought features like an improved brightness slider, 'Clear all' button in recents menu, tweaks to gesture navigation and many more.

Android P Beta 3 Release Notes Summary

  API level 28  Date: July 2018  Build: PPP4.180612.004 (See supported Android P Beta devices)  Emulator support: x86 & ARM (32/64-bit)  Security patch level: June 2018  Google Play services: 12.4.46  

Keep in mind that this update is the "release candidate for testing", so it includes the final APIs and near-final system images for development and testing. Google always recommends updating to the latest preview version for testing purposes. Besides the Google Pixel, Google Pixel XL, Google Pixel 2, and Google Pixel 2 XL, this update may become available for the following devices depending on how soon the OEM rolls them out:

• Essential Phone
• Nokia 6.1
• Nokia 7
• Nokia 7 Plus
• Nokia 8 Sirocco
• OnePlus 6
• Oppo R15 Pro
• Sony Xperia XZ2
• Vivo X21UD
• Vivo X21
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S

Download Android P Beta 3 (Developer Preview 4) on the Google Pixel & Pixel 2

As always, OTA and Factory Images of the update are already available for Pixel devices. You can also sign up for the Android Beta program to receive the over-the-air update. Be sure to follow XDA for the coming days as we'll definitely break down every single new thing that this update features like we did for Android P Beta 2, the Android P Beta 1, and Android P Developer Preview 1.

Phone	OTA	Factory Image
Google Pixel	ota-ppp4.180612.004	ppp4.180612.004-factory
Google Pixel XL	ota-ppp4.180612.004	ppp4.180612.004-factory
Google Pixel 2	ota-ppp4.180612.004	ppp4.180612.004-factory
Google Pixel 2 XL	ota-ppp4.180612.004	ppp4.180612.004-factory

How to Install Android P Beta 3 on the Google Pixel & Pixel 2

OTA Image Instructions

1. Download the OTA image for your device
2. Move it to the internal storage of your device
3. Make sure you've set up ADB if you haven't already
4. Reboot to recovery with the following command: adb reboot recovery
5. Select the option "Apply update from ADB"
6. Sideload the OTA with the following command: adb sideload <OTA_image.zip>

Factory Image Instructions

1. Download the factory image for your device
2. Extract the factory image zip on your PC
3. Run the flash-all.bat if you're on Windows or flash-all.sh if you're on Mac/Linux. This will wipe all data on your device! If you want to flash the update without losing any data, please follow these instructions instead.

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