Latest news with #Pixel
Phone Arena
4 hours ago
- Phone Arena
Why I like the Pixel's default QWERTY over the iPhone's keyboard
I always set up Gboard on my Pixel handsets the same way every time. I go to Settings > System > Keyboard > On-screen-keyboard > Gboard > Preferences and toggle on the following options: Number row-this leaves a dedicated 1-0 number row at the top of the keyboard, helping me access numbers faster. Emoji switch key-leaves a dedicated key to access emoji. Long press for symbols-this allows me to long-press on a letter key to type symbols and characters without having to switch to a second keyboard. Popup on keypress-typing on a key will result in a popup appearing with that letter character, number, or symbol to confirm that you pressed the key you wanted. Show app icon-allows an app icon for Gboard to show up in the launcher. Sound on keypress, Volume on keypress-I would have the first one toggled on and the second one set to 100%. I always like to hear that clicking sound when I type. I find it easy and fast to find characters, symbols, and numbers with this setup. With iOS, I don't like having to tap the numbers key on the bottom left to open a separate keyboard with number keys and some other keys for characters and symbols. There are also a few symbols that require a second tap to open yet another dedicated keyboard for the plus sign, the "pound" sign, and the equal sign. It seems that there are some who think the iPhone keyboard allows them to type with fewer errors than the Gboard QWERTY on Pixel. Take Reddit user RaistlinQ5 who wrote, "So I've always thought the Google keyboard isn't all that great. I always seem to hit the wrong key when typing. But if I use an iPhone keyboard, it seems like when using that keyboard, I don't have as many typing errors." How i like to set up Gboard on my Pixel phone. | Image credit-PhoneArena Others do not agree. One Redditor wrote, "Disagree. Coming from iOS, Google Keyboard on Pixel is far FAR superior." Another said, "I agree. I just moved to an iPhone and the keyboard is awful. Forever making errors and the keyboard always suggests the wrong words. It also loves to override any words I type that are not in its dictionary." And yet another comment was left in favor of the Pixel's virtual QWERTY. That comment said, "Strongly agree! The iOS keyboard was driving me insane!!! It honestly was one of my main reasons why I switched. Google's keyboard is light years better." At left, the settings to duplicate my QWERTY. At right, toggle switches for autoaspace after punctuation and auto-capitalization, | Image credit-PhoneArena If neither the iPhone or Pixel QWERTY is your cup of tea, the one third-party typing app that received some positive feedback by both iOS and Android users was Swiftkey. I've used the Android version of the app before and always returned to Gboard. Still, your experience could be different than mine. You can install Swiftkey for iOS by tapping on this link and the Android version of the keyboard can be installed by tapping here. The problem is that many Pixel users don't know what features their default virtual QWERTY has. Some on Reddit were complaining about features available on Swiftkey that they thought weren't found on the Pixel's Gboard QWERTY such as autospace after punctuation and auto-capitalization. However, those features are certainly found on the Pixel's Gboard keyboard. You have to enable them first. To toggle them on, open the QWERTY keyboard on your Pixel. You can do this by pretending to send a text. Once the keyboard appears on the screen, look for the gear icon and tap it. Once you've pressed the gear icon, tap on Text correction. You'll find toggles for both Autospace after punctuation, and Auto-capitalization. So before you decide that you need a new QWERTY for your Pixel, you should find out what it can do first before you complain what it can't do. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Phone Arena
15 hours ago
- Phone Arena
Google tests improvement for popular Pixel lock screen feature
If one single feature explains why Pixel fans love their phones, it is probably the Now Playing feature, which appears in the lock screen and the Always-On Display on Pixel devices. Now Playing will automatically name the tune playing near the phone, and it also includes the name of the artist. If you buy a new Pixel, you'll need to turn it on by going to Settings > Sound & vibration > Now Playing > Toggle on "Identify songs playing nearby ." Now Playing uses a song database stored on Pixel handsets. Google says that no audio or background conversations are sent to the company. In addition, the music-recognition feature employs privacy-preserving analytics to preserve the privacy of users. Having owned both Pixel handsets, other Android phones, and iPhones, I can tell you that Now Playing works better than the Shazam app. What I love about the Pixel line is that it feels as though Google is always looking to improve the UX (User experience). Constantly updating apps to make them easier to use is one example of this, and the Now Playing feature is another. How many times have you heard a song and couldn't remember the title or the name of the artist who performed it? Or perhaps you're hearing a song for the first time, love it, and want to know more about the tune so you can hear it again? I guess if I had to pick one word for what Google offers to users with the Pixel line, it would be convenience . The update for Now Playing will allow a Pixel user to see album art in a search bar. | Image credit-Android Authority Tapping on the name of the song listed by Now Playing takes you to your Now Playing history page, which lists the songs that the feature has recently heard in the background. But tapping on the song in Now Playing could soon show you something else. Android Authority recently checked out an Android System Intelligence update and found that tapping the song in Now Playing, instead of taking you to your Now Playing history, brings up a bar with the song title and artist name in the middle and the album art on the left. Current look of Now Playing on the left with Now Playing history on the right. | Image credit-PhoneArena You can visit your favorites list with a tap on the right side of the bar and easily add or delete a song from that list with a single tap. And you can still get to your Now Playing history with a double tap. This is something that Google is working on, although there is no estimate when it might appear on your Pixel device. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Mint
21 hours ago
- Mint
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro reportedly receiving Gemini AI support: Details
Gemini is slowly taking over as Google's main assistant and Google Assistant is fading away. We have seen the evidence of this in Google's recent push for Gemini on WearOS watches from Pixel, Samsung, OPPO, OnePlus and Xiaomi. And now, Gemini has also reportedly made its way to a pair of truly wireless earbuds; in this case, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Android Authority spotted a user on X who said that they received the option to choose Google Gemini as the main voice assistant on their earbuds. On a Samsung device running One UI 8, once they enabled this option, they could use Gemini on the earbuds by saying the "Hey Google" hotword. At the very same time, the publication says it isn't clear if the support is exclusively for One UI 8 devices, or if it would work on devices running One UI 7 as well. Google has been offering Gemini as the standard assistant on a variety of its own Pixel Buds, including the Pixel Buds Pro 2. The new Gemini AI integration now offers full access to Google Gemini. The good part is that Gemini is available on all Google Pixel Buds models. However, Google has specified several conditions to use Gemini on the Pixel Buds, including: having an Android device with Android 10 or later, having the latest version of the Gemini app installed, having the latest version of the Google app installed, and having the latest version of the Google Pixel Buds app installed. You then need to set Gemini as your default voice assistant. You can ask Gemini to do a variety of things on the Google Pixel Buds, and now the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, including saying, "Hey, Google," and then asking something, like summarising emails that you may have received today, creating a workout, adding events to your calendar, and more.
Android Authority
a day ago
- Android Authority
Cops say criminals use a Google Pixel with GrapheneOS — I say that's freedom
Calvin Wankhede / Android Authority Police in Spain have reportedly started profiling people based on their phones; specifically, and surprisingly, those carrying Google Pixel devices. Law enforcement officials in Catalonia say they associate Pixels with crime because drug traffickers are increasingly turning to these phones. But it's not Google's secure Titan M2 chip that has criminals favoring the Pixel — instead, it's GrapheneOS, a privacy-focused alternative to the default Pixel OS. As someone who has used a Pixel phone with GrapheneOS, I find this assumption a bit unsettling. I have plenty of reasons to use GrapheneOS, and avoiding law enforcement isn't on the list at all. In fact, I think many Pixel users would benefit from switching to GrapheneOS over the default Android operating system. And no, my reasons don't have anything to do with criminal activity. Why I use and recommend GrapheneOS A privacy-focused operating system may seem more trouble than it's worth. But when I replaced Google's Pixel OS with GrapheneOS, I found it to be a transformative experience. For one, the installation was painless, and I didn't lose any modern software features. Installing aftermarket operating systems used to equal a compromised smartphone experience, but I didn't find that to be true in the case of GrapheneOS. Case in point: even though GrapheneOS doesn't include any Google services, I was surprised to find that you can install the Play Store with relative ease and almost all apps work flawlessly — even most banking ones. This is impressive for any open-source fork of Android, but GrapheneOS goes above and beyond in that it also has some major privacy and security benefits. Primarily, it locks down various parts of Android to reduce the number of attack vectors and enforces stricter sandboxing to ensure that apps remain isolated from each other. GrapheneOS just works, with almost no feature or usability compromises. Take Google apps as an example. On almost all Android phones sold outside China, Google has far-reaching and system-level access to everything: your precise location, contacts, app usage, network activity, and a load of other data. You cannot do anything to stop it, whether you'd like to or not. However, you can with GrapheneOS because it treats Google apps like any other piece of unknown software. This means Google apps are forced to run in a sandbox where they have limited access to your data. GrapheneOS' sandboxing extends to invasive apps like Google Play Services and the Play Store. You can explicitly disable each and every permission for these apps manually — in fact, most permissions are disabled by default. Even better, you can create different user profiles to isolate apps that require lots of permissions. GrapheneOS can forward notifications to the primary user profile, unlike stock Android. GrapheneOS limits Google's reach into your phone more than any other flavor of Android. On the subject of app permissions, GrapheneOS builds on that, too. For example, you can stop apps from accessing the internet and reading your device's sensors — stock Android doesn't expose such granular control. And while Android permissions often take the all-or-nothing approach, GrapheneOS lets you select only the exact contacts, photos, or files that you want visible to an app. Finally, my favorite GrapheneOS feature is the ability to set a duress PIN. When entered, this secondary PIN will initiate a permanent deletion of all data on the phone, including installed eSIMs. If I'm ever forced to give up my phone's password, I can take solace in the fact that the attacker will not have access to my data. If you have nothing to hide… Sensors permission Auto reboot Disallowed permissions You might be wondering: if I don't have anything to hide, why should I bother using GrapheneOS? That's a fair question, but it misses the point. I don't use GrapheneOS because I have something to hide — I use it to exercise control over the device I own. I find it comforting that Google cannot collect data to nearly the same extent if I use GrapheneOS instead of Pixel OS. The benefits of using GrapheneOS extend far beyond just hiding from Google, though, and it's why the project has landed under the scanner of law enforcement. I believe that GrapheneOS catching attention from law enforcement just proves how much it raises the bar on privacy. GrapheneOS has built a number of app isolation-based safeguards to ensure that your phone cannot be infected remotely. The technical details are longer than I can list, but in essence, the developers stripped out parts of Android's code that could be exploited by bad actors. Some security improvements have even been suggested and incorporated into AOSP, meaning GrapheneOS' efforts have made all of our devices a tiny bit more secure. Does GrapheneOS take privacy and security too far? Megan Ellis / Android Authority GrapheneOS is one of many tools that now face suspicion and political pressure simply for making surveillance harder. Take the Signal app as another example. The encrypted messaging app has been repeatedly targeted by EU lawmakers in recent years. Specifically, a proposed 'Chat Control' legislation would compel secure messaging platforms to scan all communication — including those protected by end-to-end encryption — for illegal content such as Child Sexual Assault Material. Messaging apps in the EU would be required to scan private communications before they're encrypted, on the user's device, and report anything that looks suspicious. While encryption itself wouldn't be banned, Signal's developers have rightly pointed out that mandatory on-device scanning essentially equals a backdoor. A rogue government could misuse these privileges to spy on dissenting citizens or political opponents, while hackers might be able to steal financial information. Regulators have long asked privacy apps to compromise on their singular mission: privacy. There's a bitter irony here, too, as GrapheneOS recently pointed out in a tweet. The Spanish region of Catalonia was at the center of the massive Pegasus spyware scandal in 2019. Pegasus, a sophisticated surveillance tool sold exclusively to governments, was reportedly used to hack phones belonging to Members of the European Parliament and eavesdrop on their communications. Yet, police in this very region are now scrutinizing savvy Pixel and GrapheneOS users for hardening their devices against unlawful surveillance and other attack vectors. Open source developers cannot control what their software is used for, and that's true for GrapheneOS and Signal. Sure, some criminals will naturally want to take advantage of the privacy and security tools the rest of us use. One could say the same thing about matchboxes being used for arson and cash being used for money laundering, but no one's calling on regulators to outlaw either. In fact, law enforcement profiling is frowned upon by most of us. So, if I use GrapheneOS on my Pixel to keep my data away from Big Tech, potential hackers, or even eavesdropping governments, that alone should not put me in the same league as drug dealers. But if it does, so be it.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
Google introduces Android Canary for early developer testing
Google recently launched their Android Canary release channel to replace their traditional developer previews. Only those with Pixel smartphones and tablets are likely to get access to Google's upcoming features on Android smartphones. The company's Android Beta for Pixel programme has long allowed interested users to sign up and receive access to in-development builds of major new releases, like Android 16, months before they are released publicly. For those who like early previews, Google announced something even better – Android Canary. The initial Android Canary update offers a goes beyond tweaks to user interface, however, there are many yet to be known features which will be revealed much later. The Android Canary is intended for developers who wish to explore and test the earliest pre-released Android APIs and potential changes. In addition to Google's automated testing, builds from the Google Platform Android Canary channel will briefly be tested by internal users. While testing Android Canary, users can expect bugs and breaking changes or modifications that could disrupt the compatibility of the software. These bleeding edge builds may not be suitable for someone who uses this platform on their primary device, testing it on a spare Pixel device is recommended. The existing Beta channel will run simultaneously to the Android Canary to make sure that the apps are both compatible with and take advantage of upcoming platform features. When it comes to issues, they will now be directly addressed by the Canary channel, through over-the-air (OTA) updates, you can now obtain a continuous, rolling stream of the most recent platform builds on your compatible Pixel device to the Canary release channel. In the early stages of proposed behaviour changes and new features, developers can test them out and offer feedback. There are possibilities that these modifications will not always appear in a stable Android release. Through the Beta programme, users can still test a more polished set of features that might be released shortly. Canary builds can also be used with Computer Interface to see whether any of the in-development features cause unexpected problems with your app, which will maximise the time we have to address your concerns. Although the Developer Preview programme has been an essential component of Google's release cycle, there were inherent limitations in its structure. Developer Previews needed to be manually flashed to devices each time the cycle restarted because they were not connected to a release channel. Earlier, previews were only accessible in the early stages of the cycle since they were linked to the upcoming official Android release. The preview track would terminate once a platform version entered the Beta stage, leaving features that showed promise but were not yet prepared for Beta without an official avenue for feedback.
