[Update: Rolling Out] Android Auto 4.7 adds media notifications toggle and prepares for launcher customization and media resuming

Update 1 (12/6/19 @ 8:13 PM ET): According to users on Reddit, app drawer customization is now available in the Android Auto app. More details below. The original article follows.

Android Auto has improved leaps and bounds over the last couple of years, adding a ton of useful new features for commuters globally. The app introduced support for wireless connections with Pixel and Nexus devices back at CES last year, including a few Samsung Galaxy flagships to the lineup just last week. Now, with the latest update, the app brings a new media notification toggle into the mix, while also hinting at a couple of upcoming features.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the app now has a Show media notifications toggle within the Android Auto notifications tab. This new toggle will allow you to enable media notifications for any apps that don’t natively support Android Auto. Furthermore, the update also points towards an upcoming home screen customization feature with which you’ll be able to choose which apps show up in the Android Auto launcher. As of now, there are just two apps listed within the new setting, which suggests that it’s currently under development and might roll out in a future update.

It isn’t quite clear how exactly we will be able to customize the interface, but an APK teardown by 9to5Google reveals that it will only allow you to hide icons on the home screen. The feature seems quite rudimentary at best, especially considering the fact that you can do much more with Substratum themes.

The update also reveals a new Automatically resume media toggle that, once turned on, will automatically resume media playback as soon as you start driving. On top of all that, the aforementioned APK teardown also suggests that Google is adding a new in-app tutorial for the updated Android Auto experience to help new users. The Android Auto v4.7 update is rolling out to users via the Play Store, but in case you haven’t received it yet, you can easily sideload it from APKMirror.

Update 1: Android Auto App Drawer Customization Rolling Out

According to Redditor /u/pkoya1 and others on the /r/AndroidAuto subreddit, the ability to customize which apps appear in the app drawer/Android Auto launcher is now rolling out. You can download the latest release of the Android app from the Google Play Store or APKMirror, but there’s no guarantee the feature will appear in Settings for you. It’s likely being made available for some users via a server-side flag. Keep an eye out in Android Auto’s settings in the next few days.

Android Auto - Google Maps, Media & Messaging (Free, Google Play) →

The post [Update: Rolling Out] Android Auto 4.7 adds media notifications toggle and prepares for launcher customization and media resuming appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2ItYVh2
via IFTTT

[Update: In Beta] Facebook tests a screen sharing feature in its Messenger app

Update 1 (12/6/19 @ 7:58 PM ET): Messenger’s new screen sharing feature is available for some users in the Android beta app.

Facebook Messenger has been the standalone app for chatting on Facebook’s primary social media platform, so much so that even the primary Facebook for Android app does not even let you converse with people privately without redirecting you to install Messenger. Messenger has its own merits and demerits, but Facebook is constantly exploring new ways to get users hooked onto its chatting app and use it as their primary form of communication. The newest feature that Facebook is working on for Messenger is enabling screen sharing functionality.

According to prolific reverse engineer Ms. Jane Manchun Wong, Facebook has recently begun work on bringing over Screen Sharing feature for its Messenger app users. The feature would be accessible as a button in the Audio/Video call screen. When the user turns on screen share, the camera is turned off and users in the chat will be able to see content that is being actively displayed on the user’s screen. On Android, Screen Share will work only if the user has granted Messenger permission to capture content displayed on the screen.

So far, this feature only appears to be sharing the content displayed, without offering any way to the other party to control the interaction. For now, this feature will have limited use, perhaps in quickly sharing content among friends to take their opinions, or in allowing grandkids troubleshoot issues on their grandparent’s device with relative ease, eliminating the need to install a dedicated app for the same. Facebook is known to diversify its apps to fulfill several roles, so the company integrating screen sharing functionality to an instant messaging app elicits no surprise since it is not so far out of the ordinary. This feature is currently in development, so there are chances that it may never make it to a stable release.

Source: Jane Manchun Wong

Update 1: Available in Messenger Beta

According to Dmytro Tkachuk on Twitter, the screen sharing feature in Facebook’s Messenger app is showing up in the beta app for Android. If you start a video call with someone or a group, you may see a pop-up that asks you if you want to “share your screen together.” If you continue, you’ll grant Messenger access to record your screen via the MediaProjection API.

Let us know in the comments if you are seeing this feature in the Android app!

The post [Update: In Beta] Facebook tests a screen sharing feature in its Messenger app appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2Zn1fAS
via IFTTT

[Update: New renders, unveil date] Samsung Galaxy A51 renders show off 48MP quad rear cameras and punch-hole display

Update (12/6/19 @ 3:20 PM ET): New renders and an alleged unveiling date for the Samsung Galaxy A51 have been shared.

It’s just been over a month since Samsung launched the Galaxy A50s in India. The premium mid-ranger from the company packed in an Exynos 9611 chip, coupled with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It also featured a triple camera setup on the back, with a 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 5MP depth sensor. While it hasn’t been all that long since its release, Samsung seems to be prepping up for the release of its successor, the Galaxy A51. Leaked renders of the device have now surfaced online, revealing some key design changes and features.

Infamous leakster @OnLeaks recently shared a couple of high-quality renders and a 360-degree video of the upcoming Galaxy A51.  The renders suggest that the Galaxy A51 will feature a 6.5-inch punch-hole display, like the one found on the company’s flagship devices, with minimal bezels on all sides.

On the back, the device will feature a new rectangular camera module which will include four cameras in an L-shaped array, along with an LED flash. Unlike the front of the device, the back panel will feature curved edges with the Samsung branding in the center. The renders don’t include a fingerprint scanner on the back which leads us to believe that the A51 will feature an in-display fingerprint scanner, just like its predecessor.

Both the power button and volume rocker can be found on the right edge of the device, while the SIM card tray is on the left. On the bottom edge, the Galaxy A51 will feature a USB Type-C port for charging and data syncing, along with a single loudspeaker grill and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Previous leaks suggest that the Galaxy A51 will feature a substantial 4,000mAh battery and will run One UI 2.0 out of the box. Furthermore, the quad-camera setup will likely include a 48MP primary sensor, a 12MP wide-angle sensor, a 12MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom and a 5MP depth sensor. Up on the front, the device will feature a single 32MP selfie shooter.

A Geekbench listing of the device suggests that it will be powered by the Exynos 9611 chip, along with at least 4GB of RAM. However, we aren’t sure if the Geekbench listing is a reliable source. As of now, there’s no further information from the company regarding the device or its release timeline. But we expect to learn more as its launch draws closer.

Source: Twitter, Pricebaba

---

Update: New renders, unveil date

Images of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A51 have started popping up recently. As our own Max Weinbach discovered earlier this week, the company may have leaked it themselves in an email. Today, we’ve got some more leaked renders and a date for the unveiling of the device. The new leaked renders line up with what we’ve previously seen of the A51. It has a centered punch hole on the front and four cameras on the rear in an L-shape. We can now also see some of the color options that will be available: “Prism Crush White,” Black, Pink, and Blue.

SamMobile is reporting that there will be a 6GB of RAM model in addition to 4GB. Storage options will be 64/128GB. The 4th camera is now said to be a 5MP macro lens, not telephoto. In terms of the unveiling date, Samsung Vietnam previously revealed a Galaxy A event is scheduled for December 12th. SamMobile is now saying they can confirm the Galaxy A51 will be at that event, but they are told other Galaxy A devices will not be present.

Source: SamMobile

The post [Update: New renders, unveil date] Samsung Galaxy A51 renders show off 48MP quad rear cameras and punch-hole display appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2CzgqJp
via IFTTT

Microsoft’s Project xCloud and Zoom Video are coming to Windows 10 on ARM

Windows 10 on ARM has been a pretty exciting project to follow, but it does come with some drawbacks. One of the biggest issues right now is gaming. Many Windows games haven’t been compiled for ARM, not to mention Windows on ARM devices probably lack the horsepower to play intensive games anyway. Microsoft’s Project xCloud will be coming to Windows 10 on ARM to hopefully help this situation.

Last month, Microsoft added a bunch of games to the xCloud Preview and they announced it will be coming to Windows 10 in 2020. The company confirmed during Day 3 of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Tech Summit that Project xCloud will support ARM64. This is not to be confused with plain xCloud, which uses Microsoft’s servers to stream games, a la Google Stadia. Project xCloud uses your console to stream games to phones, tablets, etc. Having Project xCloud on Windows 10 on ARM devices will open them up to many more games.

Next up, Zoom Video will also be coming to Windows 10 on ARM. Zoom is video conferencing software popular with enterprise customers. It offers video conferencing for up to 500 participants, client-side encryption, and support for Skype for Business and Slack. Windows 10 on ARM devices will be able to use Zoom anywhere and take advantage of 5G bandwidth on certain devices as well.

What do you think of Windows 10 on ARM devices? Do features like Project xCloud and Zoom Video make you more willing to give these devices a chance?

The post Microsoft’s Project xCloud and Zoom Video are coming to Windows 10 on ARM appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2PltSqo
via IFTTT

Google Assistant support for 3rd-party Notes and Lists apps is finally rolling out

Way back at Google I/O 2018, the company talked about adding 3rd-party app support for lists and notes in Google Assistant. People were very excited about this as Assistant’s built-in lists and notes features are pretty limited, not to mention people already have established favorite apps. A little over a year ago, it appeared the feature may be rolling out, but that never actually happened. Now, it looks like Google may finally be flipping the switch for real.

Google published a blog post titled “5 ways to beat holiday stress with the Google Assistant” and #1 is “Stay organized with notes and lists.” Starting today, you can create and manage your notes and lists in Google Keep, Any.do, AnyList, or Bring! across Assistant-enabled phones, smart speakers, and smart displays. You can set it up by opening the Assistant settings and finding “Notes and Lists” in the “Services” tab.

Here are a few example commands from Google:

• “Create a holiday gift list.”
• “Add Chromebook to my holiday gift list.”
• “Add cranberries to my grocery list.”
• “Take a note.”
• “Show me my notes.”

This feature has been highly requested among Google Assistant users, especially those with smart speakers/displays, and it’s taken a long time to actually roll out. It’s much easier to say “add milk to my list” than a long, convoluted phrase like “ask OurGroceries to add milk to my list.” Hopefully, it doesn’t take forever to appear on devices this time. The original announcement was for 10 notes and lists apps, so Google still has some work to do. Were you waiting for this feature?

Google Assistant - Get things done, hands-free (Free, Google Play) →

Source: Google

The post Google Assistant support for 3rd-party Notes and Lists apps is finally rolling out appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2DUGH5v
via IFTTT

Microsoft wants Android app devs to adopt its Fluent Design style

Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile are dead, but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft’s mobile efforts. The company has transitioned from a hardware company selling smartphones to a company that wants users to use its apps in Android and iOS, the duopoly that dominates the mobile operating system industry. To that end, Microsoft has an entire portfolio of first-party apps ranging from Microsoft Office (newly integrated into a single app), Outlook, OneDrive, OneNote, Translator, Edge, To-Do List, Launcher, and more. All of these apps were designed using MDL 2, the design language that Microsoft used in designing Windows 10, which itself succeeded the Metro/Modern design language of Windows 8 and Windows Phone. In 2017, however, Microsoft announced that a new design system called “Fluent Design” would be its design language going forward, and it would be a revamp of MDL 2. Since then, newer versions of Windows 10 have started incorporating principles of Fluent Design. Now, Microsoft has designed a mobile-born version of Fluent, and it wants app developers to adopt the design language.

Fluent Design

Microsoft has already redesigned Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with mobile Fluent design, and the company says users can expect new versions of Teams, Yammer, and Planner soon. Microsoft’s design team has been exploring scenarios for dual-screen experiences (such as Surface Duo) and it states that it has created mobile UI toolkits for external developers.

Fluid is a technology that breaks broad experiences into dynamic, real-time components ideal for mobile scenarios. Microsoft’s mobile philosophy is to increase the mobile productivity of users, using terminology such as microproductivity and micro-tasks (such as writing a single paragraph of an Office document instead of the entire document). According to Microsoft, there is a lot more that can be done with mobile productivity, and the company observes that users rarely accomplish as much on a phone as they do on a PC, with the exceptions of mobile-first and mobile-only markets such as India and China.

Microsoft has observed mobile behavior where users spend up to four hours a day on the phone, but their sessions average just 20-30 seconds. This led the company to ask itself which is the most valuable action that someone can perform on their phone in less than 30 seconds, and how can Microsoft’s services “enrich” these actions?

Microsoft, to that end, has released several new features that are mobile-first, such as Outlook’s Play My Emails feature, which lets users listen to their inbox like a podcast. The same functionality has made its way to the Word and Office apps in the form of Read Aloud. Microsoft now offers features in Office, OneDrive, and other apps that let the user quickly scan documents and tables with their phone’s camera, and all of this is said to come with context-specific and personalized information.

Fluent Design for Android and iOS

Microsoft now thinks of itself as a company where the operating system doesn’t matter, and it’s building experiences for a post-OS world. To that end, design languages become even more important to differentiate Microsoft’s development from others. Fluent design for Android and iOS is “a mobile-born interpretation of our Fluent principles that ensures experiences will feel both distinctly Microsoft and at home on mobile devices”, Microsoft states.

Microsoft leverages native platform conventions to tap into built-in accessibility technologies. Moreover, the company promotes the fact that any update it makes to the system populates to all apps that use Fluent mobile. The company recently updated its color palettes to match the latest accessibility standards and introduce dark mode, and these changes were automatically updated in each of its app UI components. These new design artifacts include redesigned experience icons, which will be seen in current and future designs.

Microsoft says that when designing Fluent for mobile, it focused on consistently designing seven signature elements for a great end-to-end experience: the app icon, splash screen, cells, cards, typography, people, and file lists. Branded splash screens are now a feature that leads to the user’s content, framed by a brand-colored header and simple bottom bar that features the new Fluent mobile icons.

Shareable mobile UI toolkits

Microsoft values coherence as an important design tenet that is “particularly vital” in mobile environments, because of shorter attention spans and sharper time constraints. The company is also concentrating on side-by-side productivity scenarios on iPad and the Surface Duo.

A team of 40+ designers created mobile UI toolkits that enable all designers at Microsoft to build experiences using the same shared components, while collectively evolving the design system over time. The big news here is that the company has announced these toolkits are now available for external designers and developers as well. Why? Microsoft wants to ensure its mobile experiences stay aligned and scale with customer and platform needs. The company wants app developers to build their apps using the mobile UI toolkits.

Microsoft states that it’s “getting started” when it comes to mobile productivity. The company has invested in Fluent Design since two years now, and it has arrived in mobile. The question is: Will Android app developers be interested enough in Fluent mobile to take up Microsoft’s offer and use the mobile UI toolkits for designing their apps? If Microsoft’s strategy succeeds, it would almost certainly be a big win: third-party apps will look and feel the same as Microsoft apps, which may entice users to turn towards Microsoft services as an alternative. At the same time, this sets up as obvious competition for Google’s Material Theme, which may lead to fragmentation in app design and confusion for users.

Android app developers now have a choice. Should they design their app using Google’s Material Theme, or Fluent mobile?

---

Source: Microsoft | Via: The Verge

The post Microsoft wants Android app devs to adopt its Fluent Design style appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2Plf3UD
via IFTTT

Google wants couriers to show tracking information in Google Search

Online shopping has become exponentially more popular over the last decade. Couriers are responsible for delivering the items, and the need to know where the package is and when it is due to be delivered gave rise to package tracking systems. Package tracking is something that users have come to take for granted these days. Couriers offer the feature on their websites, offering detailed information on shipping status, delivery status, and more. The problem for Google was that users frequently used to come to Google Search to find information on package tracking, but they would then leave Google Search to access the courier’s website to use the package tracking feature.

Now, Google wants couriers to show tracking information in Google Search itself. This will represent an advantage for Google, as it will function similarly to Google’s Knowledge Graph, which has proved effective in reducing users’ need to leave Google Search to access a website for the purpose of learning information.

To make tracking information easier to find, Google has created a new package tracking feature that enables shipping companies to show users the status of their packages right on Search. It’s called the “Package Tracking Early Adopter Program,” and Google has right away made it available in all countries. However, shipping companies will have to sign up to participate in this feature, and they can give feedback on how to improve it.

Couriers interested in taking part will need to provide a RESTful JSON or XML API that returns the package tracking information. Google says that it can work with couriers to reuse an existing API or set up a new one. The eligibility requirements can be read here, and Google is inviting couriers to fill out the interest form.

---

Source: Google

The post Google wants couriers to show tracking information in Google Search appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2Lrs6mw
via IFTTT