Android 14 - what's new for users?

Sandman

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Yesterday my phone wanted to update to Android, and because I have a kind and gentle soul I did agree to let it.

I know there are some things that we as developers need to know about 14, but as a user I'm scratching my head. The biggest change I've seen is that when you enter pin on the lockscreen ut used to be filled circles. Now it's animated Androidy shapes instead.

Everything looks the same to me. Granted, I do use Nova Launcher (chef’s kiss) since quite a few years, so I don't see changes to the "desktop". But I have yet to even see anything changed after the upgrade.

Seriously, am I missing something?
 

Sandman

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Ok, so my feeling was correct. In a way I suppose it might be a good thing. Perhaps they simply focused their efforts on improving stuff behind the curtain this time. It's not like I had lots and lots of issues with the UI.

Thanks to Erel’s link I also found this:

Android 14 | Customizable, Accessible & Protective | Android

Explore how Android 14 lets you customize your phone with AI-generated wallpapers, improved photo quality, security, & accessibility features.
www.android.com

I read it all, it's a pretty big yawn. But hidden way down there's this thing:

”You can soon use your Android phone as a beautiful webcam on a video call simply by connecting a USB cable between your Android phone and any Windows, MacOS or Chrome OS computers.”​
​
That's actually a feature worth knowing about, I think. The camera in the cellphone is so amazingly good nowadays that it's really a feature to be able to use it as a webcam.
 

OliverA

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Accessibility service is now a "restricted permission". If you have an app, a user must manually enable restricted access for your app BEFORE they can turn on accessibility services for your app. Even if side loaded. Also, after EVERY app update (not new install) the user has to allow access to restricted permissions and then re-enable accessibility. Have fun with that...
 

OliverA

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Actually, maybe it's because it's side loaded. The only apps I work on are side loaded apps. It's still a pain in the rear and may make Android 13 the highest level I can support/work on for this specific case
 

aeric

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This may be useful for Live streaming. I was trying to achieve this last week using Camo app. It messed with my microphone settings and I have uninstalled it.
 

Sagenut

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Longtime User
This looks really interesting...
Anyway I will need to wait for my Next Gen smartphone. ?
 

Andrew (Digitwell)

Well-Known Member
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Longtime User
I currently use an app called DroidCam on an old Android phone to turn it into a webcam. Its free to download with a small fee to unlock some additional features.
I don't think I would want to use a brand new phone as a webcam. What happens if you get call whilst on a call?
 
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