Android is Google’s open-source mobile operating system; think of it like a public park compared to Apple’s walled garden. It dates back to 2007, and though its dessert-inspired version names were retired in 2019 for a straightforward numbering system, there will always be a special place in our hearts for an OS called “Oreo” and “Ice Cream Sandwich.
HMD has announced the Skyline, a $499 Android phone with an emphasis on repairability and creator-friendly features like a 50-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus. It’s also one of the first phones to support the MagSafe-like Qi2 charging standard — or will be when it ships in August. Bet we’ll see a few more new Qi2 phones around that time, too.
You can grab the app from Google Play right now. It’s free and “accessible with all plans, including Pro and Team,” the company says in a blog post.
Anthropic released an iOS app in May.
[Anthropic]
Google has been testing adding Ultra HDR image capture to a limited camera API for Android 14 that’s aimed at the basic camera needs of social media apps, according to Android Authority.
Once the changes are available to developers, you’d no longer need to capture Ultra HDR images in a separate app to upload to Instagram.
[Android Authority]
A teardown from Android Authority showed a new My Week feature that could let you share weekly photos with friends and family members. Those who receive the weekly memory may then be able to view a slideshow of the shared photos and leave a comment.
7
Verge Score
The bigger, better cover screen is a delight to use — but familiar problems persist.
Google seems to have identified the “issue” locking up Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and 6A phones that were factory reset recently.
Now, there are two recommended ways shared by Google in the Pixel Phone Help forum to avoid the problem:
Leaving your device powered on and idle for 15 minutes after it has rebooted following a system update
Factory reset your device before taking the latest (June) system update.
Google’s July Pixel update is here with a “fix for back gesture navigation not working in certain conditions.” Sounds annoying! It doesn’t seem to be a widespread problem — I found a thread on the XDA forums complaining about broken navigation, and that’s about it. But if this bug was bothering you, rest assured that the fix has arrived.
[support.google.com]
Google Keep is one of a long list of note-taking apps we like, and if you’re using it on a “large screen Android device,” it has a new feature for you.
Expanding on the ability to open two instances of the app at once, now the platform will let you sign into separate accounts at the same time — no hacks required.
The announcement, made in a social media post by Nick Twork, Lucid Motors’ new head of communications, comes over a year after the company added CarPlay support to its vehicles.
Speaking to Android Authority, Qulacomm’s head of handsets, Chris Patrick, says that the company will make announcements later this year about how it plans to help “keep Android phones closer to up to date.”
While definitely improved in recent years, updates are still slow to come for some OEMs — and plenty of budget phones only see one or two OS updates. Say more, Qualcomm.
“The I/O Crossword” isn’t anywhere near as zany as Wordle’s original name, but it is awfully cute. Google says it created the crossword with the help of Gemini Advanced and a bunch of its own developer tools. You don’t have to be a developer to join in and help solved the puzzle, but it would probably help — I’m stumped.
[crossword.withgoogle.com]
RCS appears to be working for people with the iOS 18 beta installed — no tinkering necessary. RCS support is part of the second iOS 18 developer beta, but despite toggling the feature on it wasn’t working for people yesterday. 9to5Mac notes that this has changed today, indicating that carriers in the US have flipped the switch to enable RCS. It’s happening! It’s really happening!
A new setting in Android 15 called “adaptive timeout” suggests that phones will be able to turn off the screen faster if they detect you’re not around. Right now, the system is more worried about keeping it turned on when you are nearby.
But not because of the hardware: because of Google’s Find My Device network. All the reviews I’ve read so far say that it’s just not finding the devices. Here’s Android Central:
The next day, I marked all Bluetooth trackers as lost. Surely, at least one of the five trackers would be found over the next few days? Shockingly, three whole days passed before I heard anything back.
And get this: it wasn’t even the network that helped me find my “lost” trackers.
