The first Android 17 beta is now available on Pixel devices

Don't expect big changes yet.

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[BananaWarrior]

One should hope for no big changes at all.

 

[joelsa]

Will ars be following up on the rationale for the unexplained delay?

edit: case insensitivity

 

[ManosTheHandsOfFate]

I've been using Android since I got a T-Mobile G1 in 2008. I feel a bit nostalgic for the days when I cared about updates.

 

[flunk]

I don't know how anyone can use an Android now that it's only a matter of time before Google is using all your phone data and conversations and video to train their shitty LLMs. Not saying that Apple is going to be much better -- I'm not deluding myself -- but Google is utterly shameless.

There are alternative images

 

[lurch1989]

I've been using Android since I got a T-Mobile G1 in 2008. I feel a bit nostalgic for the days when I cared about updates.

There used to be a time when I used to enjoy flashing a new ROM every few weeks. Back then updates were massive, having a lot of new features/improvements.

 

[Martin Blank]

I don't know how anyone can use an Android now that it's only a matter of time before Google is using all your phone data and conversations and video to train their shitty LLMs. Not saying that Apple is going to be much better -- I'm not deluding myself -- but Google is utterly shameless.

Google using phone conversations for AI training would violate call recording laws in several states and probably federal wiretap laws as well. At least a dozen states require all parties on a call to be aware of recording, and every state requires at least one party to be aware of recording. If Google started recording, they would be subject to criminal prosecution and the biggest ever class-action suit (or, following the recent Supreme Court decision, dozens of class-action suits, each vying to be the largest ever).

 

[.wojtek]

does anyone even care about new versiona nowadays?

 

[lkernan]

I bought a couple of devices for work that came with Android 13 and just got the upgrade to 14!

 

[starglider]

does anyone even care about new versiona nowadays?

The forthcoming desktop mode does actually seem pretty neat. I've played around with the early beta versions (currently gated behind dev options), and it's a neat idea. Still TBD if it'll really end up being something with practical use, but there's something there that's interesting.

It also could be a great option for people who really need extreme security (journalists, human rights activists, American's who don't support political party currently in power¹). GrapheneOS on a Pixel set up with Desktop Mode is a pretty great way to talk to confidential sources and work with confidential data and a lot easier for a typical person to get their arms around than something like Qubes. Ultimately, you'd still need to move everything over to a "real" computer, but you could do most of the work with the raw sensitive data and sources on a super-locked-down device and redact it before moving it out.

In general, though, I agree. I almost dread updates nowadays, which seem filled with more antifeatures than features in most cases or just break workflows for seemingly no real gain.

¹I jest, kinda.

 

[ReadandShare]

One should hope for no big changes at all.

Indeed. Like with most all OS and apps, the first few version upgrades are usually exciting - ever richer features and ever better security. After that, they degrade into trivial changes and outright enshitification.

 

[.wojtek]

also could be a great option for people who really need extreme security (journalists, human rights activists, American's who don't support political party currently in power¹). GrapheneOS on a Pixel set up with Desktop Mode is a pretty great way to talk to confidential sources and work with confidential data and a lot easier for a typical person to get their arms around than something like Qubes.

hmm.. I don't see the appeal of a desktop mode tbh. and going with the current direction I winder why I should further invest into Android "ecosystem" if google on the one hand is turning the screw to make it as much a walled garden as possible (no side loading) and on the other, slowly but surely, making it a closed source OS.

Which affects said Graphene and they'll probably find themselves in a tough spot sooner or later (even right now without access to the sources as they evolve is proving to be annoying)...

 

[Kendokaa]

I can't say about Pixels but I've been enjoying the latest OS updates on Samsung phones. The dynamic island knockoff (at the bottom) is super useful. I'm always annoyed by certain changes every major update but I'm pretty happy with how my phone is right now overall. Of course all I want now is security updates with no obvious changes lol. If OS updates added useful features (like the dynamic island knockoff), I'd be excited when new updates came out.

For so many years, all that usually changes is more empty space and dropped features analytics told them they could get rid of. Samsung's not as bad as stock Android for empty space but still

 

[Causification]

I've been using Android since I got a T-Mobile G1 in 2008. I feel a bit nostalgic for the days when I cared about updates.

I feel nostalgic for the days when an update meant my phone got better. Now it's just a question of which feature I'm losing in the name of security or "progress".

 

[Pescallunes]

hmm.. I don't see the appeal of a desktop mode tbh

For some people, their phone is their only computer. For them, having the option to connect it to a monitor and a keyboard is a game changer.

 

[peetor]

all that usually changes is more empty space

I'd be a lot more excited for an update if they reined in their UI designers and gave me back information density.

 

[Boskone]

For some people, their phone is their only computer. For them, having the option to connect it to a monitor and a keyboard is a game changer.

Or travel. A phone with a simple USB monitor and travel keyboard and pointing device (or keyboard+pointing device) would be useful for most people's computing.

In my case, I rarely bust out my personal laptop while in transit, so I could pack the bits in my luggage or carry-on and just keep the phone.

Laptops'll still exist for people who want to game or absolutely have to be able to run fluid dynamics simulations on the road, or whatever.

 

[alexr]

Or travel. A phone with a simple USB monitor and travel keyboard and pointing device (or keyboard+pointing device) would be useful for most people's computing.

In my case, I rarely bust out my personal laptop while in transit, so I could pack the bits in my luggage or carry-on and just keep the phone.

Laptops'll still exist for people who want to game or absolutely have to be able to run fluid dynamics simulations on the road, or whatever.

I already use a folding Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad thing and a Pixel 10 Pro Fold for travel. The Android Terminal app gives me a handy Debian environment I can use to fix things if anything breaks while I'm away, and the unfolded screen is just enough room for fairly productive code editing. It'll be even nicer to be able to plug it into any old screen and have a proper windowed environment.

 

[.wojtek]

For some people, their phone is their only computer. For them, having the option to connect it to a monitor and a keyboard is a game changer.

from my observation - those people usually don't care about "desktop experience" (nor probably own monitor /mouse/keyboard)...

 

[death_to_novell]

from my observation - those people usually don't care about "desktop experience" (nor probably own monitor /mouse/keyboard)...

Those people still have to do things that are a huge pain on a phone, like doing their homework or filing their taxes.

There are vast swaths of society that do not have the luxury of buying a desktop or laptop in addition to a phone, and the phone is much more critical day to day.

It's of course not a perfect solution - people still need to acquire a display/keyboard/mouse, but it cuts the barriers significantly.

 

[.wojtek]

Those people still have to do things that are a huge pain on a phone, like doing their homework or filing their taxes.

There are vast swaths of society that do not have the luxury of buying a desktop or laptop in addition to a phone, and the phone is much more critical day to day.

It's of course not a perfect solution - people still need to acquire a display/keyboard/mouse, but it cuts the barriers significantly.

this must be one of the most stupid takes to defend this "invention"

Those swaths of society are probably living in less afluente countries so their homework's are most likely still pen and pencil based. same for filing out taxes.

On the other hand if you force people to do that online and make it as convoluted as possible that you either have to use computer (or other being) just underlines the stupidity of the system - in most civilised parts od the world "filling out taxes" doesn't require University degree and boils down to confirming pre-filled form. And homework's are still analog and this won't change anything soon because doing it that way reinforces the learning...

combination of tech-bro and usanian mentality always results in amusing lecture

 

[hawthorn]

For some people, their phone is their only computer. For them, having the option to connect it to a monitor and a keyboard is a game changer.

Samsungs have supported this for a while. I quite often just plug my phone into my laptop docking station (USB-C) when I want to type a long email on my phone with a proper keyboard and big screen.

 

[EspHack]

why do they even bother with big numbers still? it could be 12.1.234.5.465 at this point and seem perfectly fine

 

[lwdj905]

this must be one of the most stupid takes to defend this "invention"

Those swaths of society are probably living in less afluente countries so their homework's are most likely still pen and pencil based. same for filing out taxes.

On the other hand if you force people to do that online and make it as convoluted as possible that you either have to use computer (or other being) just underlines the stupidity of the system - in most civilised parts od the world "filling out taxes" doesn't require University degree and boils down to confirming pre-filled form. And homework's are still analog and this won't change anything soon because doing it that way reinforces the learning...

combination of tech-bro and usanian mentality always results in amusing lecture

You would fail my Econ Class due to a lack of understanding of variation or derivatives.

Simple usage case for you to grasp - PDFs. I receive a PDF of the Wall Street Journal every morning. It is impossible to read on my Pixel 10. The ability to cast that same pdf to a monitor or tv in a hotel room would fix that issue.

*You also show little concern for those with differing physical abilities. A cell phone is a truly adaptive tool with the correct set of periphery items.

 

[Onomatopeon]

Finally...

 

[JMTronicHobbyist]

Google using phone conversations for AI training would violate call recording laws in several states and probably federal wiretap laws as well. At least a dozen states require all parties on a call to be aware of recording, and every state requires at least one party to be aware of recording. If Google started recording, they would be subject to criminal prosecution and the biggest ever class-action suit (or, following the recent Supreme Court decision, dozens of class-action suits, each vying to be the largest ever).

Ummm, it would be pretty cheap to give Trump a golden plaque and $10M to get an executive order saying no one can sue Google ever again in any court, state or federal, because Google is like, uhh, national security or something? Yeah, that sounds irrefutable! Let's just say that! And if any judge disagrees it's treason and they will be executed by ICE.

It's a custom with people like Trump and his buttsucker proxies to psychologically and physically coerce others to do their will while punishing non-compliance. That's the C in ICE.

Everyone thought it was like taxes, checking plants for pests, looking for contraband crossing the border - naahh, it's the Custom of might-makes-right animal-style law. The exact kind of thing that makes a country a "shithole", and lays bare the lie when MAGA talk about their belief in humans being supernaturally created and mentally and morally superior to animals.

Well guess what, orange-poo-sniffers? Planning years in advance, not just eating everything up as soon as you find it until there's nothing left and then eating the golden goose that made all of it, using non-violent rules with fairness to settle disputes instead of using physical coercion, having the self-control to not follow your blind emotions and instincts, actively learning new things about how our world operates even when the payoff isn't obviously linked to that research, making sacrifices to help others who aren't even familially related to you, etc. are what make humans special and fitter than other animals, arrrghh I know I'm ranting and going off topic but I just feel a need to vent and explode so my apologies if you've been wasting your time reading this far

 

[Cantharellus]

More Android slop. Android 16 is nothing short of appalling. All of Microsoft's product require signing in multiple times a day. One note is just as dysfunctional. There is so much to dislike in an update for the sake of an update, to keep up with the extorniate Apple empire. There are lots of issues, too numerous to catalogue.

 

[gordone]

More Android slop. Android 16 is nothing short of appalling. All of Microsoft's product require signing in multiple times a day. One note is just as dysfunctional. There is so much to dislike in an update for the sake of an update, to keep up with the extorniate Apple empire. There are lots of issues, too numerous to catalogue.

That sounds like a problem with Microsoft's apps and not an Android problem.

 

[.wojtek]

You would fail my Econ Class due to a lack of understanding of variation or derivatives.

Simple usage case for you to grasp - PDFs. I receive a PDF of the Wall Street Journal every morning. It is impossible to read on my Pixel 10. The ability to cast that same pdf to a monitor or tv in a hotel room would fix that issue.

*You also show little concern for those with differing physical abilities. A cell phone is a truly adaptive tool with the correct set of periphery items.

"less affluent"

"hotels"
"monitor", "TV"

your economic grasp must be amazing xD