Despite the change, Android 10 brings a lot of tasty, frequently user-requested changes to Android. The OS is finally getting a dark mode, the share menu is getting revamped, and gesture navigation has seen huge improvements over the half-baked version introduced in Android 9. Developers have a host of new APIs to play with, including support for upcoming foldable smartphones, floating app “Bubbles,” and a new, more generalized biometrics API. And on top of all that, there’s a host of changes to work around, like considerations for the new gesture navigation system and new app restrictions focused on privacy and security. Even the notification panel is getting a fresh injection of artificial intelligence, and of course there are new emoji.
The under-the-hood work on Android modularity continues, as always, with Android 10. This year “Project Mainline” is the highlighted engineering effort. This initiative creates a new, more powerful file type for system-level code, and it sees several chunks of functionality move out of the difficult-to-update core OS and into the Play Store, where they will get monthly updates. There’s new dual boot functionality, too, which will allow curious users to quickly switch between retail and beta builds of Android.
As has become Ars tradition, we will be covering every single change in excruciating detail. So even if Google is ditching the snack theme, you may want to grab your own snack before diving in to the following 20,000+ words of Android 10 intel.
Always a worthy read. Get some coffee or tea, sit down and relax, and read.
Scooped storage is shit.
Looks nice but with most of the OEMs here in the states never releasing updates on their phones? I doubt I will see Android 10 before 2021 when I toss my current phone. We really need someone to force standards on smartphones as its a damn shame how much eWaste is created by having to toss phones to get a new OS but ATM that is just the way it is, my current phone came with 8.1 and I seriously doubt it will ever get Android 9 much less 10 despite it still being manufactured.
Oh and before someone chimes in with something like use LineageOS? By the time they get support thanks to non user replaceable batteries the battery is shot and its cheaper just to toss it and get another phone. That is what happened with my last 2 phones and I’m sure that by the time this phone is supported its battery life will be measured in minutes and it will have been tossed in the junk drawer never to be used again.
Say what you will about PCs but my 10 year old C2Q still happily purrs as a media server sharing my DVD collection throughout my house and my 7 year old netbook with a lightweight Linux distro still makes a good mini-laptop, my 3 year old smartphone? Rots in a drawer, its battery shot and its OS having never gotten a single patch. A damn shame how many smartphones just get tossed but hey what can ya do.
I know someone with an AT&T Samsung Galaxy S6 (using Straight Talk) who recently had a local repair shop replace the battery for $40. And then just the other day her phone received a new update. I’m not sure what all came with it but she mentioned there were a bunch of new emoji’s and everything looked different so I’m thinking it finally got Android 7 or something. Btw, the number of times her phone was hacked…..zero. What’s a damn shame is how many people feel pressured into buying new phones when they don’t need them, and the fear that using a phone without the latest 0 day patches all but guarantees they’ll become victims of data/identity theft. It’s not a coincidence that people selling phones have no problem warning people what `could` happen but always leave out how slim the chances actually are. It reminds me of lottery advertising that pushes the idea that you `could` be an instant millionaire while neglects there’s a 1 in 50 gazillion chance of it actually happening.
Your friend was never hacked huh? Confirmed… No need for security updates and we certainly don’t need new features or anything. Phone OEMs, no need to support your devices because we don’t want your stinking updates anyway. LOL
I agree security updates are more important on say Windows machines but why would you encourage the idea security updates are not important on Android (or in general)? Do regular people really free pressured to get a new phone because of security updates??? I think there is more pressure if they just don’t have the lastest model phone or their posted pictures don’t look as good as their family/friend on Facebook.
I also don’t get your lottery point… Who thinks the odds are good with the Lotto? Who runs advertisements for any product where they point out the negatives of it? BTW They post the odds on the game cards and scratch offs tickets (in NY anyway).
Stop being such a drama queen. At no point did I say or imply there’s no need for security updates, or that nobody cares about new features. I simply pointed out that the chances are typically extremely low that anyone will actually be a victim of most of the exploits presented to them as something to fear. It seems the most important facts get buried. Things like exploit A only having been observed in a lab and never or near-impossible in real life, or all the conditions being met for exploit B to be available are 1 in a trillion. To be clear, I think having the most recent security updates is preferable. But, not having them doesn’t automatically mean you’re at any more real world risk than you would be otherwise. If the latest patches close holes that are extremely unlikely to be taken advantage of, can you honestly say it justifies the cost of a new phone, while your 2 year old new phone is now to be considered outdated and at greater risk? Again, don’t confuse yourself into thinking that means security updates aren’t important. It means don’t just buy into all the FUD – consider the real world risk, or lack thereof.
And yes, regular people do feel pressured to have the latest and supposedly most `secure` phone. You can thank the countless news stories of hacks, security breaches, and stories questioning, “Is your data safe?”, not to mention all the major concerns over privacy and peoples rights.
I can’t remember the last time I heard someone say they want a new phone for a better camera, but it has been years now. Good quality cameras are common place now and thus no longer a thing to look for but rather something that’s just expected with any new phone. That’s why makers have moved on from more megapixels to other “features”/gimmicks.
Fear is a powerful motivator. There’s a reason its been used since the dawn of mankind to compel desired behavior in others. If you have any doubt just look at all the people terrified by the belief that we (the US) are actually being “invaded” by immigrants, and that endless caravans full of cheap labor, criminals and rapists are coming for our jobs, identities, and daughters.
Yeah whats the worst that could happen with lots of unpatched devices out their in the marketplace. Surely nothing of consequence, right, right?
https://www.iotsecurityfoundation.org/iot-botnets-might-be-the-cybersecurity-industrys-next-big-worry/