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Top 14 new features of Android 14

Last updated on: November 27, 2023, first published on: November 13, 2023 Leave a Comment

Android 14 is the latest version (2023) of the Android operating system, and it comes with a number of new features and improvements. Some of these new features of Android 14 are focused on improving the user experience, while others are designed to give users more control over their devices.

In this Android 14 guide, we’re going to take a look at the top 14 new features of Android 14 that all users will find most useful. The new features of Android 14 covered in this post include the new photo picker, lock screen customizations, notification flashes, battery life improvement, separate ring and notification volume control, app pair, charging pill (animation), Appolo 14 easter egg, drag and drop text and images to different apps, auto-confirm unlock, phone’s manufacturing year, battery charge cycles count, magic compose, and emoji, generative AI, and cinematic wallpapers. Some detailed how-to guides will be released soon.

Please note the new features of Android 14 discussed in this post apply to the stock Android (e.g., Pixel phones or Motorola phones). Some Android vendors may customize Android 14 with their own implementations and features, and therefore, some of these features may not be available on their Android 14 devices or work differently, for example, in Samsung’s Android 14 update (One UI 6), the new features are substantially different from the features discussed here.

1. New Photo Picker: Restricting Photo and Video Access

The new Photo Picker in Android 14 gives users more control over which photos and videos they share with apps. Users can now select individual photos and videos, or they can select entire albums or folders.

This is a welcome improvement over the previous Photo Picker, which only allowed users to reject or approve access to all photos and videos. In other words, prior to Android 14, you could only either allow or not allow an app to access all photos and videos (all or nothing). If allowed, the app then can access all photos and videos. If not allowed, the app cannot access any photos or videos.

The new Photo Picker in Android 14 allows you to grant access to individual photos, videos, albums, or folders. A similar feature was introduced in iOS14 for iPhone 3 years ago. Now, Google has finally caught up with this new feature of Android 14.

2. Lock Screen Customizations: the most popular new feature of Android 14

Android 14 users can now customize their lock screens with new widgets, wallpapers, and themes.… Read the rest

How to use Android 10 dark mode (dark theme)?

You can use the system-wide dark theme on Android 10 to save battery and protect your eyes

Last updated on: December 17, 2020, first published on: December 3, 2019 Leave a Comment

Android 10 dark mode can be regarded as one of the best Android 10 new features.

The dark mode is not an unfamiliar feature for Android phones. It was introduced previously in Android Pie (Android 9).

This Android 10 guide explains the new features of the dark mode, shows you how to enable and use the dark theme in three different ways, and answers some questions you may have on this feature.

In addition, now in Android 11, scheduling has been added to Android Dark theme. With this new feature, devices can automatically switch between dark and light mode according to its settings, reducing the hassle for users to manually switch between the 2 modes. Check out this page to learn more about what’s new in Android 11 Dark theme.

What is new in Android 10 dark mode?

Similar to the dark theme in Android Pie (Android 9), dark mode in Android 10 brings about the following benefits:

Improves visibility for users with low vision or are sensitive to bright lights.
Less eyestrain when using phones in low light environments.
Longer battery life as there is decreased power usage.

However, in Android Pie (Android 9), the dark mode was not applied system-wide.

For example, in Android Pie (Android 9), the Settings menu remains white even if dark mode is enabled.

Now in Android 10, it can be applied to both the Android system UI as well as supported applications. This means that once dark mode is enabled, the entire Android system UI, as well as supported applications, will automatically switch to the dark theme according to the application’s settings.

How to enable and use Android 10 dark mode?

There are 3 ways to enable dark mode in Android 10:

Method 1: through Settings

The first method to enable dark mode in Android 10 phones is through the Settings menu.

Step 1: Open Settings

To access Settings, as shown below, tap on the Settings icon in the Apps screen (App drawer), or Home screen, or through the quick settings panel.

Step 2: Access Display settings

In Settings, scroll and tap on Display, as shown below.

Step 3: Enable the dark mode

In the Display Settings page, you can find the option for the dark theme.

Tapping on it will turn on dark mode for the phone as well as all supported applications.

If the phone is already in the dark mode, tapping it will turn off dark mode.… Read the rest

Top 20 new features of Android Pie (Android 9)

Last updated on: December 17, 2020, first published on: January 6, 2019 1 Comment

You will enjoy many new features of Android Pie (Android 9) once your phone is updated to Android Pie, or you get a new phone shipped with Android Pie.

Although Android manufacturers may customize or cripple some of the new features of Android Pie (9) in their devices, you will still enjoy a similar Android Pie experiences.

This Android Pie guide explains the top 20 new features of Android Pie (Android 9) most users will enjoy.

What is Android Pie (Android 9)?

Android Pie, aka Android P or Android 9, is the 9th major update of Android OS. It was officially released to the public on August 6, 2018.

As the successor of Android Oreo, many new features of Android Pie are expected in both of the user interface (UI) and the underhood.

Since the release of Android Icecream Sandwich (Android 4.0) in 2011, Google has released one major update of Android each year: Android Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) in 2012, Android KitKat (Android 4.4) in 2013, Android Lollipop (Android 5) in 2014, Android Marshmallow (Android 6) in 2015, Android Nougat (Android 7) in 2016 and Android Oreo (Android 8) in 2017.

On the release date, only Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL received the Android Pie (Android 9) update. Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are the first phones shipped with Android Pie.

Most Android vendors started to roll out Android Pie update for their flagship phones from October 2018.

Why do you care about the new features of Android Pie (Android 9)

For most end-users, user interface (UI) is one of the most important features.

Android Pie will not disappoint you. There are tons of UI improvements. Of course, unless you are using a Google Pixel phone or an Android One phone, the manufacturers may tweak these new UI features a bit.

This page highlights the top 20 new features of Android Pie that most Android users will be happy to enjoy.

For app developers, there are also many new features of Android Pie. For example, Android Pie now supports the Wi-Fi Round-Trip-Time (RTT). So you can take advantage of indoor positioning in your apps.

Anyway, updating your phone to Android Pie will rejuvenate your Oreo phone, which may look boring and work slower day-by-day.

#1 of the top 20 new features of Android Pie: new navigational gestures

Navigation buttons (Home, Back and Recents/Overview) have been a standard feature in Android for a long time.… Read the rest