Android

(Rant)

At somepoint, HSBC decided KDE Connect installed via F-Droid is less secure.

Then it decide non-whitelisted keyborads are a security risk. Only Gboard and Samsung Keyboard is confirmed within the whitelist.

I understand the point that risk can be introduce at various points, yet this is simply too much. Yeah there are people phone infected by malware but from Play Store. Not a single time I heard one ever happened on F-Droid distributed apps, at least not from the official repo. Also, I will put more trust on an open source keyboard than any proprietary keyboard.

Furthermore, I'm shocked that an app can read my app list, and current keyboard (introduced in Android 14). This just make building a profile much easier as I belive everyone almost have an unique set of apps they like. I don't think any apps need such functionality. Why the f it needs to care what input devices I uses? This make me worry more about untold (aka burried deep in Privacy Policy) data collection.

Tecno launched the #ToneProud campaign to end skin tone bias in imaging technology. The company sent out a press release explaining the campaign's goal of raising awareness about skin tone diversity while introducing its 268 skin tone database to consumers.

The campaign lays on the backbones of the Universal Skin Tone technology, introduced by Tecno last year.

Tecno said in today's world, technology and AI shape perceptions and raised the question of whether smartphones truly capture “the full spectrum and beauty of human diversity, especially in often-overlooked emerging markets.”

According to a study in 2018 from MIT and Stanford University, there is skin-tone bias in some commercial artificial intelligence systems. One way to combat this is through scientific data collection and innovative measurement to provide a better understanding of those systems.

The campaign includes assigning specific color codes to different skin tones; everyone can add their input. Tecno got on board some major celebrities in its key markets, such as Indonesian-born singer-songwriter Anggun, Saudi Arabian filmmaker and actress Fatima Al-Banawi, Nigerian singer-songwriter Johnny Drille and Polish actress Ewa Kepys.

Popular people might be the face of the campaign, but the real color of the campaign is ordinary people. Everyone can find their skin tone on 268toneproud.com and with the smartphone's front-facing camera to find their skin tone in hex triplet number.

It is important to note that all images taken and submitted through the 268toneproud website will go into Tecno's database to further develop the AI skin tone software.

Following a leaked photo of the Nubia RedMagic 10 Ultra, the successor to the RedMagic 9S Pro has now just been tested at Geekbench. Thanks to the combination of the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite and a cooling fan, the smartphone reached an impressive score of 3,229 points on just one core and 10,300 points when using all cores.

This makes Nubia's latest gaming flagship around 42.2% faster than its own predecessor based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The performance of the Realme GT7 Pro, which is also equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite, is outperformed by 7.2% and 12.6%, respectively, and that from the very first Geekbench run. As initial tests of the Realme GT7 Pro have shown, the performance of the smartphone drops drastically under sustained load, so the fan can pay off for gaming enthusiasts in particular.

With this result, the RedMagic 10 Ultra not only surpasses the performance of the Apple A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro, but also the performance of the Apple M2, making the smartphone faster than the MacBook Air from 2022, at least in terms of CPU performance. As previous leaks have already shown, the RedMagic 10 Ultra also offers high-end features beyond the Snapdragon 8 Elite, including a 7-inch display and 7,000 mAh battery. The smartphone is expected to be officially unveiled in November.

You get a priority scheduling algorithm that intelligently allocates resources based on actual requirements, thus improving smoothness, a rapid dynamic effect engine for the same purpose, and new system dynamic effects featuring a new Origin animation which "incorporates principles from human factors research and integrates the natural laws of the physical world into the dynamic effect design".

There are many new wallpapers, both static and immersive ones, you can set local videos as live wallpapers now, you can have large folders on your home screens, there are new clock widgets, Ultra Game Mode comes with multiple quick setting options, screenshot capture is improved, the Smart sidebar now has access to Google Lens for quick translations of on-screen content, Notes has more text editing tools and the ability to export in Word format, and Settings comes with better categorization and hierarchies.

You can drag a split-screen to the middle of the screen to switch to a small window, and drag a small window to the edge of an app to switch to split-screen, while the startup gestures for split-screen and small window modes have been optimized. You can swipe up from the bottom to the upper left or right corner to quickly enter split screen or small window mode.

Now it's time for AI. Live Transcribe is present, as is Circle to Search, and the Albums app gets Cleanup suggestions and AI erase to get rid of unwanted things or people in your photos.

In-display fingerprint sensors have become commonplace in virtually all Android smartphones, for better or for worse, and five years later...

Two Android releases in 2025

Next year, we’ll have a major release in Q2 and a minor release in Q4, both of which will include new developer APIs. The Q2 major release will be the only release in 2025 to include behavior changes that can affect apps. We’re planning the major release for Q2 rather than Q3 to better align with the schedule of device launches across our ecosystem, so more devices can get the major release of Android sooner.

The Q4 minor release will pick up feature updates, optimizations, and bug fixes since the major release. It will also include new developer APIs, but will not include any app-impacting behavior changes.

Outside of the major and minor Android releases, our Q1 and Q3 releases will provide incremental updates to help ensure continuous quality. We’re actively working with our device partners to bring the Q2 release to as many devices as possible.

What this means for your apps

With the major release coming in Q2, you’ll need to do your annual compatibility testing a few months earlier than in previous years to make sure your apps are ready. Major releases are just like the SDK releases we have today, and can include behavior changes along with new developer APIs – and to help you get started, we’ll soon begin the developer preview and beta program for the Q2 major release.

The minor release in Q4 will include new APIs, but, like the incremental quarterly releases we have today, will have no planned behavior changes, minimizing the need for compatibility testing. To differentiate major releases (which may contain planned behavior changes) from minor releases, minor releases will not increment the API level. Instead, they'll increment a new minor API level value, which will be accessed through a constant that captures both major and minor API levels. A new manifest attribute will allow you to specify a minor API level as the minimum required SDK release for your app. We’ll have an initial version of support for minor API levels in the upcoming Q2 developer preview, so please try building against the SDK and let us know how this works for you.

When planning your targeting for 2026, there’s no change to the target API level requirements and the associated dates for apps in Google Play; our plans are for one annual requirement each year, and that will be tied to the major API level only.

Google may be working on bringing Quick Share to iOS and macOS, enabling file sharing between Android phones, iPhones, and MacBooks.

According to a new report, Samsung's Android 15 beta is potentially just a couple of weeks away, arriving in mid-November.

Android 16 is launching months earlier than usual. Google says it's coming in Q2 of 2025, when usually major releases happen in Q3 or Q4.