Tag: Android

The third Developer Preview of Android O has been released by Google and for those who have registered devices in the Android Beta Program, you should start seeing the update hit your devices.  DP3 arrived earlier than expected as Google had slated this for late June.  The early June release signals that the company is overall pretty pleased with where it stands in its development and also gives developers more time to prepare their apps.

A key element of the DP3 release is the finalized APIs for developers.  That means they can get started on updating or adding functionality to their apps based on these APIs, knowing they are not going to change between now and the final release.  That means you can expect over the next few months to see apps start noting updates in the Play Store with support for Android O prior to the release.

Google has once again updated their support matrix for the Nexus and Pixel lineup of devices.  Previously the company had outlined dates of when major updates and minor security updates would cease for the devices.  There is nothing new here in that regard.  What is new is the dates for the end of online and phone support for the devices.  The good news, or at least the non-confusing news, is that online & phone support ends when security updates end on the devices.

Take the Nexus 6 for example.  There are no guaranteed Android updates to the device since October 2016.  No, Android O is not coming to the Nexus 6.  Sorry, I loved it too.  In October 2017, guaranteed security updates end and that is also when online and phone support ends for the device.  Other devices follow this same timing.

Just a few days after Chrome 59 was released for desktops, the latest update to Google’s browser is now starting to roll out for Android.  The update is version Chrome 59 (59.0.3071.92) for those keeping score at home and it has been released to the Play Store.  It should hit your devices over the course of the next several days via an OTA update.

While the release notes were limited, there are two improvements that are in this update.  First, overall loading of pages should be improved with this update.  Unfortunately, the Chromium team within Google didn’t quantify just how much faster the page loading happens.  It’s something that you will have to visually check and estimate yourself.

A hard-to-track and not always an issue bug is impacting many that have the Google Pixel Launcher running on their Pixel phone.  The issue is around searching when you tap the search pill at the top of the launcher.  Some have reported that when they tap it, their search history does not display and suggestions does not load.

The issue does not seem to be universal.  Some users have had no problem (I fall into that category) while others have found that a restart of their phone resolves the issue, others haven’t been able to get it resolved with a reboot.  Equally, it is not clear if the issue is related to the recent update to the Pixel Launcher which rolled out earlier this week.

As expected with it being the first Monday of the month, Google has released the Android Security Update patches for June today.  Like the past few updates, this month’s patch consists of two patches, one dated June 1st and the other June 5th.  The first patch deals with broader issues with Android in general while the second patch is more driver or component specific.

Perhaps the best news in this month’s update is the fix of a long standing Bluetooth vulnerability within Android.  There are three specific fixes that are in this update which squelch the ability of malicious apps to elevate permissions.  This issue has actually be in Android since the KitKat days.  Yeah, a long time coming.

After a few months in beta testing, the Android Nougat 7.1.1 update for the Nextbit Robin is now available.  The 540MB update is rolling out to all Robins starting today and brings with it the April Android Security Update along with it.  The OTA update to 7.1.1 should automatically be checked for by your Robin but if you want to manually check, go to Settings>About Phone>Check for Update.

As most readers will know by now, Nextbit was acquired by Razer at the end of 2016 and the Robin, the San Francisco startup’s only phone, was discontinued at that point.  The company committed to keeping the device up-to-date through February 2018 but realistically, this will be the last major update for the phone.  It will likely only be security patches from this point forward.