Tag: android 12

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Some Google Pixels received an Android 12 update instead of Android 13

It wouldn’t be a major Google software release if there wasn’t something that went wrong.

Google started pushing the stable Android 13 update to Pixel devices on August 15th, and already some users have encountered an issue. For some Pixel devices, the latest update is actually to Android 12, not version 13. Several reports have emerged on Twitter and the r/GooglePixel subreddit about users receiving a 2GB Android 12 update on their Pixel phone.

Per Android Police, some brave users took a risk and installed the mystery Android 12 update and claimed it simply re-installed the Android 12 update and seemingly didn’t bump the OS build number.

Other users noted they initially received the Android 13 upgrade but weren’t able to update right away. When they went back to download the new software a few hours later, the Android 12 update had replaced it. Moreover, some users who installed the Android 12 update were able to download the Android 13 update after.

Screenshot credit: u/fooldomus

Android Police notes the issues seems to primarily impact the Pixel 6, Pixel 4a and Pixel 5a (which isn’t available in Canada). Overall, the problem doesn’t seem that widespread, but it still impacted a bunch of Pixel users.

If you’re in the same boat with an Android 12 update on your Pixel, you might be able to trigger the Android 13 update by rebooting the device. If that doesn’t work, you’ll just need to wait for Google to fix the problem on its end unless you’re brave enough to redownload Android 12.

Source: Twitter, Reddit, (2) Via: Android Police

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Mobile Syrup

How to use Android 12’s one-handed mode to open your notifications

When Android 12 rolled out, it brought a new ‘one-handed mode’ for Pixel phones. Similar to Apple’s ‘Reachability‘ feature, the one-handed mode adds a gesture that lets users bring the top half of the screen down to the bottom, making it easier to reach.

The feature is convenient on smartphones with big screens since it can be hard to reach items at the top of the screen with one hand — for example, on my Pixel 6, I can reach maybe the bottom-third of the display with my thumb.

While useful, I recently discovered that Google expanded the one-hand mode to include an option to open the notification panel with the same gesture. As far as I can tell, this feature isn’t new — judging by articles I’ve found covering the one-handed mode, it seems Google added it sometime between December 2021 and February 2022 — but it is new to me, and I felt it was worth sharing in case anyone else didn’t know about it.

As useful as the one-handed mode is, it didn’t feel like it solved my core problem. Whenever I needed something at the top of my phone screen, it was almost always a notification. But now that I can use the one-handed mode gesture to open the notification shade, it’s a game-changer.

With the gesture-enabled, you can quickly open the notifications panel by swiping down on the gesture line (or whatever Google actually calls it) at the bottom of the screen.

If you want to make the switch to this method, head to Settings > System >  Gestures > One-handed mode and tap ‘Show notifications.’ You’ll also need to enable the ‘Use one-handed mode’ toggle if it isn’t already. Finally, it’s worth noting that some or all of these settings may look different on non-Pixel Android phones since many manufacturers include their own takes on one-handed modes.

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Mobile Syrup

YouTube Music can now recommend songs when you connect to earbuds

YouTube Music has been constantly updating its features, with the most recent one being the new shuffle and offline mixtape control features added to the media recommendations on Android 12.

In a report from 9to5Google, YouTube Music will allow users to shuffle through music in the suggestions panel to their liking as well as select their downloaded offline playlist without it being a recommendation.

YouTube Music added recommendations and suggestions back in 2020. However, YouTube Music now leverages Android 12’s media recommendations feature to make suggestions more accessible through parts of the Android OS, such as the lock screen and notification shade.

The media recommendations feature can pop up when users connect earbuds or other audio devices over Bluetooth.

Image credit: 9to5Google

They will show up in the same location as the recommendations screen on your phone as long as your YouTube Music app is updated on Android 12.

9to5 notes that some Spotify users have seen recommendations appear.

Sources: 9to5Google Via: Android Police

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Mobile Syrup

Google’s ‘Material You’ design language could come to Chrome OS

Google’s new design language known as ‘Material You’ appears to be coming to Chrome OS.

‘Material You’ will likely make its way to Chome OS following its introduction alongside Android 12 back in 2021. The change, which was first spotted in a Chromium Gerrit by 9to5Google, notes a flag that says, “When enabled, runs ChromeOS in Material Next MVP mode.”

The codename “Material Next MVP” seems to be an internal Google reference to ‘Material You.’ Further, ‘MVP’ is the term used by developers for “minimum viable product.”

‘Material You’ will likely enable anyone using Chrome OS to customize the colour schemes used in app wallpapers.

In addition, colour is referenced in the discussion on the Chromium Gerrit, describing options regarding how hues can be changed. However, it looks like the wallpaper will not determine the colours and that instead, you’ll select them through a mixer.

As always, this isn’t confirmation Google will add ‘Material You’ to Chrome OS, though it looks that’s likely the case.

Image credit: Google

Sources: Chromium Gerrit Via: 9to5Google, Android Police

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Mobile Syrup

Android 12 QPR3 beta is breaking Pixel Launcher app search for some users

Google recently started rolling out the Android 12 QPR3 beta to Pixel 4 phones and newer ahead of its official June Feature Drop. And while the update is supposed to include new features, it also brought a bug that breaks the Pixel Launcher’s ability to search for installed apps.

According to 9to5Google, the issue causes applications not to appear when searched from the Pixel Launcher’s app drawer. Even when you type an app’s full name, it will fail to bring it up. Currently, the only apps that sport shortcuts that match your query can be found with search.

Oddly, the Settings and Pixel Tips app both work fine, and you can still search within them.

At the moment, there’s no permanent solution, but rebooting your smartphone seems to fix the issue temporarily.

Further, the problem doesn’t seem limited to those on the Android 12 QPR3 beta, as some on the stable version of Android 12 are experiencing the issues, reports 9to5.

Hopefully, this problem will be fixed before the official QPR3 stable release next month.

Via: 9to5Google

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Google releases Android 12 QPR3 Beta 3 for Pixel handsets

Google has released Android 12 QPR3 Beta for Pixel smartphones. This update is available for Google Pixel 4 and newer devices, and includes the May 2022 security patch that was recently rolled out.

This update comes with several new updates.

  • Fixed an issue on Pixel 6 Pro devices where a white line sometimes flashed on the screen after waking up a device that was not configured to always display time and other info on the lock screen.
  • Fixed various issues to improve call quality and connectivity.
  • Fixed a keystore issue that caused the NHS COVID-19 app to crash when launching

The beta also comes with two bugs; therefore, if you enroll in this beta, you will have to deal with the following issues:

  • In some cases, on Pixel 6 and 6 Pro devices, the system crashes when the user tries to take a picture using the camera.
  • In some cases, the Google Camera app icon in a device’s personal profile erroneously displays a work profile indicator.

It’s worth noting that once you download this update, you will not be able to install the Android 13 Beta 1 and will have to wait for Android 13 Beta 2.

For those who don’t know, the Android 12 QPR3 is Google’s Quarterly Platform Release beta, which allows users to try out Pixel features ahead of time. You can head to the official Android Beta website if you want to download the update.

Source: XDA Developers 

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LG Velvet Android 12 update to roll out in some regions in coming weeks

LG’s smartphone division may be gone, but it hasn’t forgotten — LG Velvet owners can expect the Android 12 update to start hitting devices soon.

As spotted by XDA Developers (via Reddit), a post on LG’s South Korean website indicates that LG will try to roll out Android 12 to the Velvet in the first quarter of 2021. Unfortunately, the update doesn’t provide much more information than that, although it does say the release timeline is only for South Korea.

In other words, that could mean Canadian Velvet owners will get the Android 12 update shortly after it becomes available in South Korea, or it could be a longer wait. Moreover, XDA notes that the South Korea focus suggests LG will prioritize the update for the Snapdragon 765 version of the Velvet.

It’s unclear at the moment what the timeline is for the Snapdragon 845 or Dimensity 1000C Velvet models, or if they will even get the Android 12 update.

Aside from the LG Velvet, the post says LG plans to deliver security updates for the LG Wing, Q51, Q52, Q61, and Q92 in the first quarter of 2022. Once again, that timeline is specific to the South Korean market.

LG officially announced its departure from the smartphone market in 2021. However, at the time the company confirmed it would continue providing updates for its existing devices. Specifically, the company said it would release up to three Android OS upgrades for premium phones released in 2019 or later. Budget handsets launched in 2020 or later will see two OS upgrades.

When it comes to the LG Velvet, it launched with Android 10 and received an Android 11 update last year. LG already confirmed the Velvet would get Android 13.

Source: LG Via: Reddit, XDA Developers

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These OnePlus phones have the latest Android security patch

Getting the proper updates in a timely manner on Android has always been a nightmare, but some manufacturers like Samsung have made strides to make the system better. OnePlus, unfortunately, hasn’t made the same headway.

So far, the company has updated the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro to OxygenOS 12 with the latest Android security updates.

Beyond that, in Canada, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G and the Nord N200 5G have both gotten the latest security patches, but are still running Android 11.

Any OnePlus phones older than that are still stuck on both Android 11 and various states of security updates. This even includes OnePlus’ other major flagships like the OnePlus 8 Pro and the OnePlus 7 Pro with the pop-up selfie cam.

Source: OnePlus, 9to5Google

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How Android 12 blocks group speaker volume control for Pixels, but not Android

Earlier this year, the International Trade Commission (ITC) handed down a ruling in the patent dispute between Sonos and Google. The ITC sided with Sonos, leading Google to make several changes to Nest and Home speakers.

One such change involved removing the ability for people to adjust the volume of a group of Google speakers using the physical volume buttons or rocker on their smartphone. An in-depth analysis of the code behind this change from Esper’s Senior Technical Editor Mishaal Rahman showcases how Google made the adjustment and, interestingly, how the impacts will be worse for Pixel users.

The post is well worth the read, but it is also quite technical. I’ll do my best to simplify below, but if you want to full details, check out the blog post here.

Changing the logic behind volume adjustments

To start, Google began changing how the volume rocker on your smartphone interacts with its smart home speakers when developing Android 12 — developers first discovered the change in September with the release of Android 12 Beta 5. Before the change, Android would check whether media playback was local (on-device) or remote (happening on an external device, such as a Cast-enabled speaker). Depending on the result of that check, Android would automatically adjust volume accordingly when users pressed the buttons on their phone.

Android 12 broke that check, effectively disabling the ability to adjust media volume for remote devices. Shortly after the Beta 5 release, a Google developer hinted that the change was related to an unspecified “legal issue.” Although it wasn’t clarified, that likely referred to the Sonos patent dispute.

According to Rahman, Android 12 release 26 (a.k.a. the January 2022 patch that started hitting Pixel devices this month) introduced new logic to handle local/remote volume control. Devices on this version of Android will check three conditions to decide whether to allow volume adjustments for remote settings:

  1. Whether the active media session uses local playback.
  2. If the flag ‘ config_volumeAdjustmentForRemoteGroupSessions’ is set to true.
  3. If the list of routing sessions for the app contains a single route (apart from the system routing session).

The way it’s set up, if the first or second condition is met, then Android doesn’t check condition three. If both of those conditions fail, then Android checks condition three. This is where things get really interesting.

Android can still change group speaker volume — Pixels can’t

Rahman found that the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) defines the second condition as true. (AOSP, for those not familiar, is the open-source foundation of the mobile OS — most Android smartphones use AOSP plus an assortment of other software like Google Play Services and changes from manufacturers to deliver the user experience you’re used to.) That means Android allows users to adjust the volume of remote media session on a group of speakers by default.

However, Pixel phones with the latest Android update still don’t let users adjust the volume of speaker groups using the physical volume keys. Rahman discovered that on Pixel phones, that second condition is set to false, effectively blocking volume control for remote sessions on groups of speakers. Plus, that means other Android phone makers could allow group speaker management if they want to:

“While the first patch appears to have been more of a “band aid,” the second patch seems tailored to allow Google to ship Pixel phones without the ability to control the volume of remote speaker group sessions. But it also leaves an easy way for OEMs to ship their own devices with the feature enabled.”

Finally, Rahman notes that the new volume behaviour is also present in the Android 12L beta. He outlines a way for users to override that setting, manually enabling group speaker volume control on Pixel phones, but it’s a technical process that requires superuser access.

Despite the complexity of the code, it seems like a simple way for Google to side-step legal ramifications by disabling group speaker volume control for Pixel phones while simultaneously keeping the feature available for Android manufacturers. That said, it sucks for Pixel users who, for now, won’t be able to change the volume on groups of speakers using their smartphone’s volume rocker.

Source: Esper Via: Android Police

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Google working on fix for Duo audio bug disrupting calls for Android 12 users

Android 12 brought several major changes to Google mobile OS, and several bugs too. Aside from the various problems plaguing Google’s new Pixel 6 and 6 Pro smartphones, other devices running Android 12 have experienced issues. For example, there’s an audio bug messing up Google Duo for several Android 12 users.

Both 9to5Google and XDA Developers have reported on the problem, which has picked up steam with posts on the Duo help forums. A Google community manager has confirmed that the company is aware of the issue and is working on a fix:

“We have discovered that users on Android 12 devices sometimes don’t hear audio when answering a Duo call from an incoming call notification. We are working on a fix, but in the meantime, a workaround is to try the call once more but have your Duo app open so you can answer the call from within the app instead of via the notification alert.”

The problem, if you haven’t experienced it yourself yet, happens when you answer an incoming Google Duo call. The bug prevents the caller from being able to hear the recipient’s voice, but that person can hear the caller. The bug goes away when the recipient ends the call and re-opens Google Duo.

Frustratingly, common fixes like clearing the app’s cache or re-installing it from the Play Store don’t help.

According to the post from the Google community manager, the bug may have something to do with answering Duo calls from the notification rather than from within the app. The current recommended workaround is for people to open the Duo app and answer the call in the app rather than using the notification.

9to5 also points out that not everyone running Android 12 has experienced the Duo bug. I can’t say that I have, but to be fair, it’s been a while since I last used Google Duo for anything.

Regardless, there are clearly issues with Duo on Android 12. If you’ve been plagued by the audio bug above, at least there’s a fix on the way soon (and hopefully the workaround can help out for the time being).

Source: Google, (2) Via: 9to5Google, XDA Developers