Google has just officially opened the floodgates of Android 14. The first Developer Preview is available on Pixel smartphones and suggests some interesting new features. Among these, the OS will embed an option to clone your applications and will be able in dual SIM to automatically change network to choose the most efficient.
The first Android Developer Preview is officially available. Like last year with Android 13, Google chose the month of February to unveil the very first version of its future mobile operating system. While Google’s developer team still has a lot of work to do before it can finalize this version of Android, this first version gives us a taste of what awaits us in Android 14.
After March, Google intends to move its preview of Android 14 into the beta phase. A public beta should also follow very quickly. This new version of Android should enter its stability phase from June. Developers will then have all summer to finalize their latest changes to Google’s mobile OS, the deployment of which should begin in late August.
On his blogGoogle explains that Android 14 builds on all the work already done with Android 12L and Android 13, including making the OS capable of running on different screen sizes, or even foldable screens.
In the meantime, if this preview is aimed more particularly at developers so that they can start working on updating their applications, it suggests some rather interesting new features to come. Here is a quick overview of what to remember.
New customization and accessibility options
With Android 14, Google wants to continue to ensure that users can adjust their experience according to their needs. Thus, the next version of Google’s mobile OS will allow you to increase the font size more significantly than currently. You will be able to display a maximum font size by zooming to 200% compared to 130% until now. To ensure that text displayed in large size on the screen does not cause readability issues compared to smaller text, Android 14 will automatically apply a scaling curve.
Old apps automatically blocked
As we mentioned to you a few weeks ago, Android 14 will put a big halt to the installation of applications that have not been updated for a long time.
Based on the principle that malicious applications generally target older API levels more often to circumvent the OS’s security systems, Google has just confirmed that it will tighten the screw. Android 14 will therefore no longer allow the installation of applications that do not respect certain API levels.
An option to automatically choose the best performing network
With Android 14, you will probably no longer need to manually change the network when using your smartphone in Dual-SIM. In the device’s SIM card settings, a new option can be activated to tell your smartphone to automatically use the network of the second SIM card if it offers better connection performance. This would apply as much to Internet access as it does to calls.
Android 14 will be able to clone your apps
Some Android smartphone manufacturers offer some new features with their overlay. This is the case, for example, with Samsung, which has for several years now been able to clone applications installed on a device. This can have several uses, for example, to use an application with two different accounts.
A very practical solution, especially if you need to manage several WhatsApp lines or several Facebook accounts from the same device. Unfortunately, this kind of option is not available on all devices and therefore depends on the goodwill of the manufacturer.
But things should change. According to 9to5Google, Google has planned to integrate this option natively in Android 14. In any case, this is what the presence of certain menus in the application settings suggests. However, as is already the case for manufacturers who offer such an option, Google will prevent certain applications from being duplicated. The Mountain View company would thus have planned to block the cloning of a certain number of its applications. Among these, we find Android Auto, Chrome, Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, YouTube, YouTube Music, or even Google Maps.
A step towards the end of bloatware?
Accustomed to dissect Android, Mishaal Rahman, developer and journalist at XDA Developers, also looked into this Android 14 Developer Preview and unearthed a number of hidden features that Google has not yet enabled. Among these, he discovered that the new version of Google’s mobile OS could include a cleaning module aimed at removing bloatware, these advertising or sponsored applications, preinstalled on many Android terminals.
Android 14 would thus have the ability to monitor applications that install silently in the background to list them and allow you to uninstall them more easily.
Predictive return, for you where you are going to set foot
Android 14 will also let you preview the page or app you’ll land on when you use the touch gesture to go back. To prevent you from leaving an application without wanting to, for example, Google is working on a new predictive return touch gesture for Android 14. Concretely, when you are about to go back during your navigation, Android 14 will display a preview of the page or of the application you are about to display on the screen.
A Preview reserved for developers, but already installable on Pixels
This first Preview of Android 14 can already be installed on certain models of Pixel smartphones. However, as this is reserved for application developers, it is currently still at a very early stage of development. It can therefore be subject to some bugs and other instabilities. Thus, we can only advise against installing it, at least not on your main smartphone.
Nevertheless, if the desire to discover before everyone else what Android 14 has in store is stronger than anything, you can flash the OS with a android 14 install image using Android Flash Tool from Google Chrome. However, you will need to have a device compatible with Android 14 (Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a (5G), Pixel 5, Pixel 5a (5G), Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro). You will also be able to grab a 64-bit installer image that you can use with Android Studio.
9to5Google
