New OS versions feel like threats.
New Android 6 features tailored to steal more of your data behind your back. And now $500 more expensive!
Poor Seang Chau. They wrote this blog post in a total of three paragraphs, but Google was still like “WOULD YOU LIKE AN AI SUMMARY?” at the top.
Literally took me about 45 seconds to read all of the features, but Google is over here burning down another rainforest to process an AI summary of a three paragraph blog post with three pictures.
Nothing really useful. What I would like to see is better battery life and truly Open Source Android which can be easily degoogled and customized and works on many different devices. An entire ecosystem of Android mods, like me have for Linux. Yeah, that would be nice.
GrapheneOS. No need to even degoogle.
Just a shame to have to buy google hardware (as well built as it is)
The best way would probably be buying used.
I’m talking about an ecosystem and you listed one mod. I use graphene OS, it’s great overall but I would like to have a choice. Maybe I don’t want to use a Pixel phone? Maybe I want different set of features?
I also use LineageOS, which also comes sans Google as a flavour, but it’s far less secure and much rougher about the edges than GrapheneOS. I choose hardware by alternative OS support. If you want a new tablet the only option is Pixel.
I heard they are adding a desktop mode to android 16, curious if it would be possible to use phone and have a similar experience to an actual PC by connecting monitor and mouse/keyboard, well just using a browser, at the very least.
EDIT: found it
Future updates will also bring even more productivity enhancements to Android, allowing you to connect tablets and phones to an external display for an expanded desktop experience
I connected android phone to external monitor using USB-C like a year ago. I’m not sure what’s new here.
The desktop experience. Unless you’ve been using Samsung deX, which this is built upon.
Was it a Samsung phone? They’ve had Dex for some time but it was a Samsung specific feature as far as I know.
Small updates are fine but I find it a bit deceptive to increase the version number from 15 to 16 just for this
Yeah, good luck with that, ain’t gonna happen. Best we can hope for is open source teams being able to modify android into that.
Desktop mode finally? Anything meaningful?
Features:
- Some small back-incompatibilities to irritate devs.
- Moving menues around to irritate users.
- More logs to spy on users.
- More lags and freezes to stimulate upgrades.
- Some evil shit for the sake of evil.
- New wallpapers.
- Some AI shit nobody asked for.
- … More shit…
- Even more shit…
New wallpapers? Sign me up! /s
Woah that’s more than 6.
Rotate your phone 180 degrees.
If there was ever a reason to get grapheneOS…
Now to wait 10 months for samsung to update.
You people are getting updates?
I really hate that I cannot just do everything with the pocket computer I own that is running a supposedly free operating system.
Mhh, the System Update page for 16 on my Pixel is dedicated to AI bullshit, nothing actually useful… Nice
They really need to take more time with major updates, what good is releasing a new version every year when it’s just new AI slop?
Its all soo boring now. The two major changes I got literally yesterday was to lock out pages in te app drawer and only have a scroll and to separate quick actions and notifications…both of which were new features years ago
Yeah, so far i noticed two “new” features in Android 16; the Contacts app now lists local weather info and birthdays which is nice I guess and Themed Icons are finally not listed as being in beta anymore…
The rest is AI stuff and features that are of no use to me (which doesn’t mean everything’s bad but it doesn’t feel like a major upgrade; more like a Pixel Feature Drop).
These are all app features, not OS features.
The emoji thing is built into the keyboard, but it doesn’t do like on-device generation or anything. They just have a list of pre-made(maybe AI generated) combos. I’m guessing they are AI generating them, then having humans approve it, before including it in the keyboard emoji list. It’s kinda neat, in that it expands the options, but really not much. Overall the OS really feels the same. I haven’t looked forward to an Android update in many years.
Also, as someone who doesn’t use Google’s launcher or keyboard, yeah, I get almost none of these features.
Everything in Android is an app tbh, even the launcher is a completely normal app.
The launcher is, but not everything new in Android 16 could be just an app. The new desktop mode, for example likely requires much deeper integration with the OS.
I mean yeah, you’re right about the desktop mode, but 90% of new user facing features are going to be in one app or another generally.
Technically the desktop mode itself might also be an app, though a window manager or desktop environment isn’t something we conventionally think of as an app.
No idea when I’ll get to touch a new enough Android to play with it. My old Oneplus is on shaky custom rom support and my daily driver is an iPhone (which will likely get much longer software support and is newer to begin with)
I suppose the distinctions between the OS and “just an app” are blurred on any OS. One might argue anything that isn’t the kernel is just userland software on conventional Linux.
On Android, anything a third party could deliver without system or root privileges is “just an app”. That includes keyboards, launchers, messaging apps, image editors, and smarthome device managers, but not direct management of network connections, notifications, or direct interaction with other apps (i.e. outside of intents or over the network).
If you’ve used an Android device with root access, you’ve seen things that fail this test. Anything that needs root to work can’t be delivered to most Android users unless it’s part of the OS or a system app.
I feel like Android and Linux (being that it’s what Android itself is based on) do the whole “everything is an app” much better than, say, Windows. On Windows, generally speaking, your entire desktop experience is built-in and so tightly coupled that it’s hard to switch it out. On Linux, you don’t NEED a GUI at all, but if you want one, you’ll have a display server, a window manager, etc. On Android, at least without the desktop mode, the base GUI is the launcher, which is just an app.
System apps that require root access are still apps. Of course the kernel isn’t really an app and I don’t think Google Play Services fits most people’s definitions of an app. System libraries aren’t apps. So those are the parts that you could consider true “OS updates” as opposed to “app updates”, but since the “apps” part of the system (if you include system apps) is so much more visible to the user, an OS update will seem like it’s mostly a bunch of app updates.
This is Lemmy so…
BEANS!
they took out the eggplant and the peach emoji
Yeah now we’ve gotta use the pickle.
These? 🍑🍆
Yea, they’re still in our keyboard but not part of the emojis you can mix together with others
Sorry? Mix emojis?
What this whole comment thread is about, the emojis kitchen, being able to mix emojis together
Been real for a while, been using the barfing moon a lot.
Would you like to kill Son Goku?
That is the duty of bacon. I do like birds though.
At least it doesn’t have super distracting glass effects everywhere.
And here i am with my phone still stuck on 14… I know it was a short time between 15 and 16, but still, catch up a little bit! Honestly, my only complaint about Android. I am not a fan of the pixel series either.
Edit: Never mind! I decided to check for an update and found it was ready as of early May, but for some reason, my phone didn’t check. Installing now. Now to wait another 8 months for 16.
IMO the only problem with using older version are security updates, or better, lack of them.
Security updates have been separate for a while now, no? So within reason an older version of android shouldn’t be detrimental.
They are, but they stop coming eventually as well.
I so don’t regret saying fuck Google this year and getting an iPhone.
But youre getting liquid ▶️ass. As if that’s a better option.
Liquid ass that just works.
My guy. Nothing has ever just works™ now with ios. Their quality has been dropping hard. Riddled with bugs. Notifications is still shit, cant even seperate ringtone, alert and alarm sound, moving icon on homescreen is still infuriating mess, useless app library. That is just on top of my head. I dont remember what else since i dropped ios. Now this, you can bet some liquid gonna come out of people ass.
Dont get me wrong. A16 is equally shit. Blurry mess everywhere. Thank fuck i went with graphene.
No revanced on iOS either. That alone disqualifies iPhones.
graphene gang rise up
I have both. One for work. Use both everyday. I genuinely don’t get this argument. iPhones don’t work better. In any single way (this new update exclude, idk about that yet)
I have both. One for work. Use both everyday.
Same here, personal Pixel + work-issued iPhone. I use Linux btw and Android for the most part, but my wife has used almost exclusively Apple devices since college; in addition to her iPhone 16PM, she also has a Macbook (A1706 lol) and an 27" Retina iMac (last Intel model).
Safe to say I’m very familiar with Apple’s ecosystem and user interfaces.
Which brings me to my point: every time I come into these threads, I can always tell who’s only ever used one and not the other. They aren’t the same, they both have bugs, and both suck up your data in stock form.
IPhones are way buggier than they used to be.
I have considered it, I used to be an.amdroid fanboy but I detest the privacy invasion concerns and AI.
That said iphones look shit not and are too locked down. Considering linux
I’ve been an Android fanboy since 2009. Flashed roms and all that shit. I’ve always stated that Android is a better OS than iOS. Still do to an extent.
But I can’t personally look past Sundar Pichai being directly at Trump’s inauguration in the front row or how fast Google immediately caved with erasure of DEI practices.
I’ve had issues with Google since Pichai took over, but this year was just too much for me here. Yeah Tim Cook is an ass. And Apple like everyone else threw Trump bribe money to not be targeted.
Yeah Apple runs Chinese sweat shops and their products are overpriced as fuck. But with the way things are at this time, Apple is the lesser of the two evils and I can’t go against my morals and support Google anymore.
Times like these make me wish Samsung went all in on Tizen and made it actually good.
fanboy
See, that was your first problem. This isn’t team sports.
But I can’t personally look past Sundar Pichai being directly at Trump’s inauguration in the front row
Did you not see Tim Cook in the same section?
If you really want to increase your privacy, you’re gonna need to use a Pixel device loaded with a custom ROM such as Graphene OS or Calyx OS. Or none at all.
I have hated Samsung for so long too though, they are just mini google. I want Android spun off
The one thing you’ll get to look forward to is any features Android is getting right now you’ll get in 5 years.
For the low low price of supporting a sell out company that is willingly collaborating with the Trump regime, I’ll get Android 16.
Loves me some Samsung, but am too disgusted with Google.
Use whatever you like, but don’t pretend Apple is a better company than Google.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Apple_Inc.
Besides, Cook also threw money at Trump.
All tech companies threw money at Taco Don, or at least pandered to him/his admin.
Capitalisms loyalty is to capitalism, not a political party. You talk as if Apple isn’t doing the same thing.
Anyone with money is in bed with Donald.
Depending on what Samsung you get, you can flash it with another OS :)
Same thing in blue.
