I updated my Pixel 10 Pro with the latest Pixel software (BP4A.260105.004.E1) and noticed that notifications for things like Signal, news alerts, discord, etc. even though the notifications are there when I pull down the notification bar. I initially thought it was the new notification "groups" but turned that off. I don't have "Do Not Disturb" set since my phone is perpetually turned on silent. The odd thing is that they selectively show up throughout the day. Some conversations show while others don't. This seems like a setting something I need to change so that I see the icons. Does else have this problem?

TLDR: New silicon-carbon smartphone batteries offer huge capacities in thinner phones (0:25). While many companies like Xiaomi are using them, major players like Apple, Samsung, and Google are holding back (0:55). The main reason appears to be concerns about battery swelling and longevity due to silicon expanding significantly during charging (3:09). These companies are waiting for more real-world data and improved reliability before adopting the technology on a large scale (6:44), especially given their massive production volumes (6:31) and the potentially severe consequences of battery failure (5:21). The US market's focus on software and ecosystem lock-in also means less pressure on hardware innovation (7:11).

The phone gets 0 major Android upgrades though Moto isn't the only OEM to indulge in these shenanigans. I had personally a phone from little known *Techno* (popular in South East Asia). Decent hardware for the price but it never went above the Android 12 it shipped with.

Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 devices seem to be now following a quarterly update schedule instead of monthly patches.

The attempt to restrict installing and development of applications, Android's development now happening closed doors and now we're getting updates only quarterly. The way the stock Android experienced is quite bloated (when I got this one I was annoyed how power button just put me to Google Assistant than give me the power/restart options) and just my big dislike of Big Tech like Google just has made me run custom ROMs full time and I am worried in long term Android will become non-free eventually.

I recently bought a pixel tablet that I installed lineageOS with Gapps and I'm looking for a launcher that has home screen like Lawnchair so I can add weather widgets, but have the app list/drawer be similar to Niagara launcher. I looked through fdroid, but couldn't find one I liked and launchers on the play store tend to pester you to purchase their subscription or a bunch of ads. On my phone I personally use OLauncherCF, but it just doesn't work well on a large screen in my opinion. So does anyone know of any good ones?

https://9to5google.com/2026/01/27/android-desktop-leak/

Hello! Share good casual libre android games if you know any

I imagine certain features like Google Maps' different busyness indicators might be missing because otherwise that would require telemetry?

We are writing to inform you about changes to your Google Pay experience. As we continue to provide safe and seamless payments to users around the world, we are also simplifying the app experience in the U.S. For years, Google Wallet has been the primary place to securely store payment cards used for tap and pay in stores, alongside your other digital items like transit cards, driver’s license or state IDs, and more. While in-store and online payments via Google Pay are unchanged, the U.S. version of the standalone Google Pay app will no longer be available for use starting June 4, 2024. Anywhere you normally use Google Pay — from checking out online to tapping and paying in stores — remains the same. If you use your Android phone to shop in stores where Google Pay is accepted, you can continue to tap to pay in stores with the Google Wallet app. Learn more about Google Wallet. Here are the key changes and important dates: • As of today you will no longer be able to view or activate deals in the app. If you previously activated a deal, and are still waiting for cash back, regular reward timelines apply. We know finding the best deal is important when shopping, which is why we launched a new deals destination on Search. • Changes to peer-to-peer payments: As of June 4, 2024, you will no longer be able to send money to, request, or receive money from others through the U.S. version of the Google Pay app. • Manage your Google Pay balance from the Google Pay app until June 4, 2024: You can use the U.S. version of the Google Pay app until June 4, 2024 to view and transfer your Google Pay balance to your bank account. You can continue to view and transfer your funds to your bank account after June 4, 2024 from the Google Pay website. Learn more about transferring money out of Google Pay. Source: email update [Edit: post title and source]

What part of an android device is responsible for carrier locking? I understand that custom ROMs can sometimes be used to bypass a carrier lock, but how might I go about making such a ROM from stock? This is complicated somewhat by the fact that the actual device I have, an Orbic Speed RC400L, isn't technically an android device; it runs busybox/linux, but its bootloader, adbd, and cellular systems seem to be android-like. I'm happy to experiment if someone can provide resources for the general android case.

I've posted on here a long time ago about [RTranslator](https://github.com/niedev/RTranslator), which is a phenomenal, real-time translation app for conversations. It's a beautifully designed app that allows for on-device transcription and translation. RTranslator has a few different modes that make it great for bilingual conversations. It can do simple text translations very well, like a handful of other apps. I actually use [this one](https://github.com/DavidVentura/offline-translator) for that purpose because it has system context menus and OCR for image translation. Where RTranslator really shines is in translating live conversations. When it first came out a couple years ago, it felt like sci-fi. You can set it up to walkie-talkie mode, and the phone will automatically detect multiple speakers, identify the language they're speaking, and translate to the other language. If you have TTS enabled on your phone, you can even hear the other half of the conversation (more on that in a moment). The really amazing feature is if you have translator installed on two separate devices, then you can communicate with each other over Bluetooth. Even with your phone in your pocket, you can easily have a complete conversation with another person. Did I mention that it does all of this without *any* internet? When you first set up the app, you'll have to access the internet to download language models, but after that, it never goes online. The file size and processing power might be heavy on older or cheaper phones, but runs smoothly and easily on modern phones (I have a Pixel 7, which is hardly bleeding edge). I like things that happen on-device for privacy purposes, but it's also immediately practical for something like this. If you need on the spot translation, there's a good chance you're traveling and may not have access to reliable (or free) internet. Most Android devices have built-in text-to-speech (TTS). So after you've installed RTranslator and selected your languages to download, then you're good to go. If you're using an alternative OS (like graphene, which I use), then you'll have to select one yourself. Note: I think that Google's TTS also works on device without an internet connection, but I'm not 100% sure. That's where [SherpaTTS](https://github.com/woheller69/ttsEngine) comes in. Like the translator, Sherpa will need some space on your device and uses some processing power (although, the footprint is much smaller). It takes a little bit of time to set up, but most of that time is choosing your selected voice. There are literally hundreds of models to choose from.  You can set it up as your system default TTS, and then select it through the menu or during setup in RTranslator. Now you have modern, offline, live translation almost instantaneously. Both apps are easy to set up and walk you through the process pretty quickly. *All software here mentioned is open source. Some of the models used by this software might be derived from proprietary sources, but the models themselves are considered open source. Nobody asked me to do this, but I like sharing great open source software. Projects like these don't have an advertising budget, and rely on word of mouth.* [RTranslator On GitHub](https://github.com/niedev/RTranslator) [SherpaTTS on F-Droid](https://f-droid.org/de/packages/org.woheller69.ttsengine/) [SherpaTTS on OpenApk](https://www.openapk.net/ttsengine/org.woheller69.ttsengine/) [SherpaTTS on GitHub](https://github.com/woheller69/ttsEngine)

upcoming OnePlus device, rumored to have a massive 7800mAh battery (per Wccftech). and it would absolutely smoke the 5,000 and 4,685mAH batteries in the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Instead, Apple and Samsung seem to be prioritizing thinness at all costs, **for reasons that aren't entirely clear beyond aesthetics and bragging rights**. It's been years since I've heard anyone complain about how thick a phone is, if not a decade or more. Complaints have trended in the opposite direction, I'd say -- without a case, some phones can be so thin and slippery that they're hard to grip securely. Even my wife's OnePlus 9 5G has that issue. A few foldables, like Google's Pixel 9 Pro Fold , are so thin when open that they feel like they might bend or snap.

So for a number of unfortunate reasons i found myself without a phone and I needed urgently a new one, so I went to a local shop and bought this Redmi A3. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a custom rom for it, do you guys know something that can help me? is there a way I can debloat and degoogle? Thank you 🙏

Google Pixel 8 (128GB): $699 / €799 / £699 Google Pixel 8 Pro (128GB): $999 / €1,099 / £999

The author 's reference to incremental improvements remind of entry level Samsung Phones (A Series). They often don't change much (though the newer ones get as high as six years of software support, IIRC). This phone lacks wireless charging which the previous version had, an odd choice (though I had personally they had increased the wired charging speeds).

Does anyone know of an app that will search all installed icon packs for a term?

I wonder if there is something subpar about whoever Google is getting the batteries from for the A series phones.

I love FOSS apps that are made for for everyone to use and help improve lives. But I also love apps that someone clearly made to address a very specific problem that they were solving. I love to imagine the person struggling and thinking, "someone *must* have already made an app for this. I can't be the *only* one who needs help manually counting the transportation percentage at a series of crossings!" Then finally doing the [Thanos](https://d2thvodm3xyo6j.cloudfront.net/media/2017/01/9f57282815be53dc-600x338.gif) thing and just knocking out an entire app to share with the world.

> Google Prompt is a pretty good 2-factor authentication (2FA) option for most users, with Google now adding fingerprint or PIN...

It's time for the annual "look how much weight I gained over the holidays 😞", and New Year's resolution to lose weight. Does anyone use a food and exercise tracker app on their Android device? How is your experience with it?

I work at home mainly and would like to be able to play podcasts from my TV (Fire TV). I tried one or two apps from the regular app store and they were crap. I also tried AntennaPod side-loaded but some functions just don't work right. I'm trying to avoid using YouTube as well, plus fuck their dumb ads. Before anyone says, "Use your phone," I try to keep my phone far away while I work to avoid it distracting me. I could use it to play episodes still but then I don't have a remote to pause or skip or adjust volume. Any suggestions?

If anyone could point me to some information or guide about this I'd really appreciate that. I think the official com.android.gsm and friends need to be uninstalled first. I've tried that with adb, console reports "success", Google Play Services is no longer listed in Settings > Apps. But... if I try to install MicroG via Fdroid or Droid-ify it goes through the install process, there's no error, but MicroG Core is not shown as "installed". If I try to install the apk with adb it says the currently installed version is newer than the one I'm trying to install? microg.org seems to just assume you know how to install. I read something about signature spoofing but I thought that was only for older devices. Any insights / suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Edit: I think this is the answer: https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-degoogle-any-device-and-install-microg.4058743/

Hello everyone, I’ve been working on a simple 3D maze game for Android. The main idea is a daily maze: everyone plays the same maze each day and competes on a global leaderboard. It’s designed to be quick and casual. Wordle-style sessions you can finish in a few minutes. Features: - Daily Maze: same maze for everyone, resets daily, global leaderboard - Random Mode: no competition, solution button available - Duels: real-time 1v1 races on a randomly generated maze I’d really appreciate feedback, especially on what features or modes would be interesting to add. The app isn’t public yet because Google requires a testing phase, but testing is open. You just need to join a Google Group and then use the Play Store link below. Google group: (It may show "you don't have access to this content" but if you login you can request access. It's unfortunately a necessary step for the App links below to work.) https://groups.google.com/g/maze-trials-3d-closed-testing App links: Web: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.mazegame3d.app Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mazegame3d.app (The App links above will only be available after joining the group. I'm very sorry, those are google requirements.) Thanks!

So ive had a phone for a bit now but i struggle at finding game sand apps to put on it especially free ones. its kinda mid range dphone it cant run genshin impact at all but it runs stuff like battle cats really well i also struggle at finding good or useful apps to download so if you know any please suggest some or something.

Is there anyone else that isn't on Samsung or using the Samsung APK of Google Messages that actually HAS customizable bubbles? I'm on a Pixel 7 Pro and have been waiting for customizable bubbles. I've tried the debug values but I only have "bugle" flags and "device country". I've also tried installing the beta version, uninstalling the beta, and downloading the latest APK and manually installing it. I personally don't like the massive header added by the Samsung APK so I've stayed with the pixel variant.

What is it with Android, that it constantly wants me to use Live Wallpapers? I switched to a plain android device from Xiaomi and I really like the calm experience. No ads, no duplicate services etc. But one thing still bothers me: Live Wallpapers. Why is Android so keen on activating live wallpapers? I didn't want them on my old device and always thought it was a Xiaomi thing. But now I still get a screen every once in a while and after each system update. Why? What's in it for Android that it is so obsessed with fucking live wallpapers that I constantly have to reaffirm that I really REALLY don't want them?

Sorry for the all caps, but its the video title.

Cross-posted from ["Release 2026.01.24 is out"](https://sopuli.xyz/post/40180848) by @[email protected] in [email protected] --- Release 2026.01.24 is now out on all distribution channels! Beyond fresh OpenStreetMap data, it includes adding road outlines for better readability, renaming of the "Bookmarks & Tracks" to the clearer "Favorites" and many more updates: https://codeberg.org/comaps/comaps/releases/tag/v2026.01.24-5