Spyke

Pixel owners, what are your first impressions of Android 14?

I've been using the Android 14 Beta for a while now so nothing really new to me for now, but what I liked since the beta is that the battery life got better.

The ability to give apps permissions on a per-file basis is also cool, although it made some apps unusable probably because they aren't supporting that right now (but maybe that changed or will change soon now that the stable release is out).

So what are the changes you noticed the most and which ones do you like or hate so far?

View original on lemmy.world
lemmy.ml

I'm super glad we have volume controls of notifications and phone separated again.

21
lemm.ee

GrapheneOS Android 14 will be dropping this month. I don't know what new features there will be but looking forward to it

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lustrumreply
sh.itjust.works

I've considered this swap. You got some experience with it, what do you miss?

4

Switched a month or two ago. Pretty good, no really complaints, setting up the Google services I need is easy to do. Battery life took a hit but still a full day, some hiccups like one bank app that just doesn't work. Overall I'm happy with it.

3
lemmy.ca

P6 and all I noticed was the lock screen customizations. Everything else feels exactly the same.

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Lord_Logjamreply
feddit.uk

I feel like they have tweaked the haptics, could just be my imagination. There are a few little visual things like the change to the numbers when inputting your PIN.

4

Ok I'm glad someone said it because the haptics, to me, feel even better than before. Pixel 7a checking in.. Transitions using gestures feel better as well.

4

No major changes, which in my opinion is a good thing. I like the new lock screen customisation options.

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Gortreply
lemmy.world

Is there any good reason why they flipped the camera switcher and photo library around? I've been constantly hitting the camera switcher by accident since the update to the camera app. Minor gripe, but I can't see the point of the switch.

3

I also haven't noticed much. I am surprised with how little the platform updates change from the users perspective. Everything major has been mostly app updates

3

Android Police did a nice write-up about the Android 14 changes: https://www.androidpolice.com/android-14/

Or if you prefer a nerdier version: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/14/summary

But yeah, as others pointed out in the comments, the visual changes are rare, it's mostly incremental QoL improvements, battery optimizations (mostly for Pixel phones as there were lots of those in the Beta changelogs), and a few security features (e.g. you can choose to let an app only see the image you're about to upload, but I found that it breaks uploading on the Tumblr app, so gotta wait for apps to fully support that).

4

So not much aye.

Looked for battery information. Couldn't find it. About as useful as I could see.

What pixel need to do is stop breaking functions. Display out and such. Stop breaking software

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FluegelLukasreply
lemmy.world

Haven't noticed anything apart from a few minor visual changes. And the new easter egg

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Mojojojo1993reply
lemmy.world

Where's the Easter egg ? I liked when it was dessert themed. I used to look forward to new updates. Watch the show. Now it's just not worth it. I'm less than interested.

2

Things I've noted:

  • My news app now crashes on launch, making it useless. Goes to show what happens when you ignore repeated warnings about making your app compatible with the new OS update.
  • At a glance can finally show both weather information and a notification at the same time. We finally have the technology!
  • The back gesture indicator looks a little bit different. I have no strong opinions on it, maybe slightly better looking.
  • The color scheme seems a little bit darker, maybe? Again, no strong opinions.
7

pretty boring, same as android 13 with some bug fixes and extra buttons in places

7

Pixel 7 PRO here and seems that battery take more time to be discharged than in android 13

Is it my sensation or someone else has the same sensation?

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lemmy.world

Without dealing with side loading, is there a trick to force a pixel 6 to update OTA on Google Fi?

I know in the past you could clear the storage for certain Google services on the device and it would magically find an update that it claimed wasn't available 10 seconds prior. But I've been out of the game for a bit. Do those tricks still work? My Google Fi pixel 6 doesn't show an update is available and I'm still on 13. I've only tried rebooting and trying again so far.

5

OnePlus had an app called oxygen updater that you could use OTA files with. sad that Google doesn't have something similar because it was really useful

2

It should hopefully not be long for you to get it - I got mine yesterday p6 pro on fi

2

I got mine a couple days ago and I'm on a Pixel 5.

Google rolls out updates in tiny batches and eventually increases the size of them.

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lemmy.world

Is there any additional customization for the notification shade or does it still black out the entire screen below it?

5

no extra customisation from what I can see. mostly the same as android 13

5

I've also been on the beta. Overall Android doesn't seem to have really change though, aside from maybe better battery life and minor aesthetic changes.

5
Album
lemmy.ca

Nothing of value changed other than the lock screen customizations. What is nice about that is that it changes the always on display look too.

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Albumreply
lemmy.ca

Webcam feature depends on someone implementing it in an app right? So yeah I'm looking forward to this usecase but it's not something anyone can use today unless some app already supports?

I didn't notice the new colours, what changed?

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seang96reply

Pretty sure the webcam feature is you plug your phone into a PC and it can recognize your phone as a generic webcam and use it for anything without an app.

5

I think it's included by default now so you don't need an external app. Material you now has more colour choices including monochrome. However in my honest opinion, I think Android should let you change the colours as you please, even if it means using developer mode

0

I like it, seems more refined with some nice QoL tweaks.

The haptics are broken though. Swiping between recent apps has gone and sometimes pressing back it doesn't vibrate.

4
Pavidus
lemmy.world

My pixel stand works again, so I'm over the moon with it.

3
RalphFurleyreply
lemmy.world

I have one from like 5 years ago. It works with my Pixel 5. I'm getting the 8 so I hope it works with that too

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Pavidusreply
lemmy.world

From everything I could gather, there was some sort of issue that broke the pixel stand in Android 13 for some users. It would still connect, but not charge. All other wireless chargers I had worked fine. I did the usual delete data and cache, pair and setup again, reboot, etc. Once Android 14 installed, it's been back to normal functionality for me.

1

Sounds right. I got my stand years ago and it sat in a box the last 3 years at least and I didn't pull it out again until about a month ago - a month before Android 14 - well after multiple patches to 13

2

In developer options you can enable "Predictive back animations" buried towards the bottom. It doesn't work anywhere except the settings app (yet) and some Google apps when back would take you to the launcher.

3

Nothing I hate. I'm on a Pixel 5, so super outdated but will be making a leap for the Pixel 8 Pro. I think it's quick and snappy though. No real complaints here.

3

Every time I get an update, I think of this quote and I haven't had an iPhone since the 4 lol

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7 pro battery life on standard battery saver mode is brilliant! it tanks if you have any pop out video players on though

2

I really like the Easter Egg game, it's fun trying to land on each of the bodies, tricky though.

2

Wish the clocks for home screen were better designed :( there's a lovely rounded one but for some reason it goes horrible and slim upon locking

2

I hope they keep this trend of releasing android updates with fixes / polish more than new functionalities. Especially the functionalities that put extra background services like when they released digital wellbeing.

In the battery menu It would have been nice if they added the standby time next to the screen on time. "Standby time since last full charge" something like that. Now you need to calculate it and it sucks.

2

Android 14 is what the quarterly feature drops should be.

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