all new features in first test version

Android 14 was released yesterday, the first test version is a fact. What’s new in this version of Android, what improvements can we expect? In any case, there is enough news to report about the new software update.

New features in Android 14

Yesterday Android 14 Developer Preview 1 appeared as a test version, with which Pixel users can get started. Thanks to this new version, we already know which new versions have been added by Google. What can you use from now on? Let’s sort it out. We suspect that this article will be continued, but the first innovations and improvements in Android 14 are a fact. In any case, it is clear that Android 14 has also been given a code name. We have arrived at the ‘U’ and have chosen Android 14 UpsideDownCake. However, this name will not be widely used.

Battery life

Android 14 should be more efficient with the battery. Among other things, the internal functioning of Android has been tinkered with. Two APIs have been modified, both the task manager and the services in the foreground. These should work more efficiently during background activities and when downloading large files. Other things have also been optimized, so you should see this reflected in the endurance of your Android device.

In terms of battery saving, Google has also addressed a few things. When choosing battery saving, you can choose between ‘basic’ and ‘extreme battery saving’. The ability to enable this option based on phone usage has been disabled in Android 14. Whether this will return is unknown. You can indicate in the presets that the battery saving should already take effect when you still have 20 percent remaining battery juice. There are also new reminders available that send you a notification when your battery is low.

With the arrival of Android 12, the battery consumption overview was changed. For example, the screen time display disappeared (at least on the Pixel devices). Instead, only screen usage over 24 hours was shown. Android 14 just shows the screen-on-time again. When you’ve charged your phone to 100 percent, you can view the battery usage from the screen.

Photo via 9to5Google

Interface

Material You has been improved in Android 14. Users get a few minor tweaks. The basic colors that you can choose from Background & Style show more vibrancy in the basic colors, where they seem to be slightly different than in previous versions of Android 13. Developer Preview 1 also has an improvement for devices with large screens, such as foldables or tablets. The task bar that is shown at the bottom of the screen now contains text names below the icons. Handy if you don’t immediately recognize an icon.

Another improvement has to do with the gesture to go back one step. Sometimes it happens that an app is closed unintentionally. The new gesture should ensure that before you go all the way back, you first see a preview of the screen behind it. This allows you to see whether you are going back one step, or whether you are leaving the app completely.

Photo by 9to5Google

Security and privacy

Several improvements have been made in the field of security and privacy. Users get an improved management environment. Some adjustments have been made in the interface for this. For example, the drop-down window has been replaced by loose headers, so that it is more visible and legible.

Apps that request permission to set off an alarm must, from Android 14, explicitly request permission from the user. These are apps that are different from a clock or calendar. According to Google, this should ensure accurate alarm functionality, which also does not adversely affect the battery.

Applications

It was already in the air, but Android 14 won’t let you install old apps. Applications built for Android 5.1 Lollipop and below are blocked when installed on Android 14. Google gives the reason that malware often targets older API levels because they do not use modern security and privacy measures . When your device is updated from Android 13 to Android 14, you can use an outdated app. If you buy a new device with Android 14 or higher, installing an outdated app is not possible.

Photo via XDA

Android 14 Developer Preview 1 includes a feature that officially clones apps on your Android device. There are many reasons why you want to have some apps on your phone twice, for example to keep business and private separate. Android 14 offers the option to clone apps in the app screen. You also get immediate insight into apps that have been cloned. Manufacturers (and possibly developers) and Google may exclude certain apps from this option. In the case of Google, this applies to many of its own apps, for example.

Another change we see in Android 14 is the integration of Health Connect into the system. This application can combine different sports apps with which you can track your activities. So that all this data is collected together. The application was previously released for Android. You can read all about this in the article about Health Connect. The application offers support for Google Fit and Samsung Health, among others.

Dual SIM and connectivity

Other improvements can be found around the connectivity in Android 14. First of all, the Fast Pair function. It has been added to the connection preferences menu. This way you can quickly pair your smartphone with, for example, a headset, or another device that supports Fast Pair. Google has also made improvements in the area of ​​dual SIM. Previously, users always had to manually switch between choosing mobile data and calling. Android 14 automatically switches you to the best option for using the mobile internet or calling. As it were, the second SIM card can be set up as a kind of backup, if it provides better connections or services.

Accessibility

In terms of accessibility, Google has made several improvements. Users can set an even larger font in Android 14 for better readability. This was already possible with previous versions, but now you can choose even larger. Font sizes can be scaled up to 200 percent. Due to the application of non-linear scaling, it is possible that a large heading is not enlarged further to prevent the unreadable, but that texts below can be enlarged for readability. Android 14 also has a number of tweaks with regard to the language. There is better support for languages ​​such as French and German, using the Grammatical Inflection API. For developers, some improvements have also been made around language checks per app.

Availability

Android 14 Developer Preview 1 has now been released by the company. A total of two developer versions will be released. The next will be out in March. Android 14 will be released as a beta from April. We expect the final version of Android 14 after the summer.