Android

Following a test in June, Microsoft will now let you send files to your linked Android phone from the Share menu in Windows 11. The update will roll out gradually to users starting today.

Android Authority spotted a change to the Android Beta Exit release notes that reveals Google won’t be rolling out the update next month.

Android updates typically come in October, but so do new Pixel devices — Google released its Pixel 9 lineup two months earlier than usual, so many people were expecting a September drop for Android 15.

Just scroll to the bottom of your email, tap on the text box to start drafting your reply, and then tap the send icon to send it off, according to a Google blog post.

The new quick reply experience is live now on personal Google accounts. It’s coming to iOS “later this year,” Google says.

If you just got a Pixel 9 and you want to do more than potentially break the long held social contract we all shared around photos than soon you’ll be able to put the excellent Arc browser on it!

Now to patiently wait for extension support in the mobile version of Arc. I’ve been using it on my Mac and iPhone for months and cannot wait to put it on my Pixel and Boox Palma too.

The program, which paid security researchers up to $20,000 to locate vulnerabilities in popular Android apps, is being shuttered after seven years due to “a decrease in the number of actionable vulnerabilities reported.”

Google last announced in 2019 that it had paid $265,000 in bounties via the program — a fraction of the $10 million it paid out across all vulnerability programs last year.

As reported by Bleeping Computer, Google is testing a new experimental flag that can hide sensitive content while “screen sharing, screen recording and similar actions” in regular tabs — redacting the user's entire screen if things like credit card details or passwords are detected.

There’s no mention of a release date, but it should be available for testing in Chrome Canary in the coming weeks.

After a recent update, Android Auto now displays a circle with Google Assistant’s trademark four-color bar along its edge when the voice assistant is waiting for a reply from users.

As 9to5Google notes, it bears at least a little resemblance to Siri’s glowing orb, which is set for a glow-up when Apple updates that UI for Apple Intelligence.

The new and improved desktop mode coming to Android 15 could run directly on a tablet — not just external monitors, as spotted by Android Authority. That makes it sound even more like Samsung’s DeX, which became available on tablets in 2018.

You may need to close and reopen the app to see it, but according to Android expert Mishaal Rahman, Gemini is showing up for non-Google Workspace users.

Gemini can do things like summarize emails, suggest next steps, or draft replies. Before now, you’ve needed a Google AI premium subscription or a Workspace account for access to the AI assistant.

BleepingComputer points out the notes for this month’s Android security patch, with fixes for flaws that could allow someone to take over your device. The 2024-08-05 patch level specifically addresses a kernel flaw tagged CVE-2024-36971 which “may be under limited, targeted exploitation” already, so be sure to update your devices ASAP.

A new “Everything else” option under “Add to Wallet” is now rolling out to the app that uses AI to process things like concert tickets or insurance cards to make custom digital passes. Before, you could save photos of cards with bar codes or QR codes to the Wallet app — this sounds better.

In 9to5Google’s example, it successfully recreated a Sam’s Club card, barcode and all.

The Android feature now includes a new “About this image” tab that can instantly pull up an image’s metadata, source, and whether a Google AI watermark is present to help determine its legitimacy.

It could be helpful against weird out-of-context political images on social media. The feature is rolling out now on the latest Pixel and Samsung phones, tablets, and foldables.

This teardown of the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a similar feel to Allison’s Z Fold 6 review — things inside are mostly the same as the previous generation. There are bigger batteries and other tweaks, but the similar layouts show how Samsung is iterating on the existing design, so hopefully, you think it’s already good enough.

According to IDC research, the rise of domestic smartphone brands has knocked Apple out of the top five spot. Apple, which now sits in sixth place, saw a 3.1 percent year-on-year decline even as the Chinese market grew by 8.9 percent. At least it’s doing better than Samsung which doesn’t even get a mention, despite dominating sales in the region a decade ago.