Google released Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 some days ago. It's not uncommon for QPR betas to contain information about a forthcoming Android release, as Google likes to start working on its software releases pretty early. Similarly, we learned recently that Android 16 could introduce a significantly redesigned Quick Settings panel, which, per recent reporting, could also pick up categories to discover tiles more easily. A follow-up report has revealed that this upcoming Quick Settings revamp could have another big feature addition on the cards — resizable tiles.
To be clear, Quick Settings tiles aren’t resizable by default in the most recent Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 release, so don’t bother trying to resize them on your Pixel. However, if you enable the in-development Quick Settings panel in Beta 3, then they are resizable. All you have to do to resize them is to tap on any tile while in the editor view and then drag the dot left or right to shrink or expand it. Tiles can be either 1×1 or 2×1 in size, allowing you to fit as little as 8 or as many as 16 tiles in a single page. You can resize any tile, even ones provided by third-party apps, though obviously not every tile will have a useful description when it’s expanded.
Resizing individual Quick Settings tiles will require users to navigate to the editor view via the pencil icon in the bottom right of the panel. From here, just long-press the tile you want to shrink/expand and adjust the size accordingly.
Rahman warns that since the ability to resize the Quick Settings tiles is still in its infancy, there's no certainty it will debut with Android 16 next year, as Google may decide to scrap it from the final release. However, the updated Quick Settings panel will probably make the cut, given the amount of work that has gone into it so far.
There's been plenty of reporting on Android 16 already, including news that Google may release it by the second quarter of 2025.
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Now that the most important specifications of the Google Tensor G5 and Tensor G6 have been leaked, Google's internal performance forecasts reveal how the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro will perform in comparison to rivals from Apple, MediaTek and Qualcomm.
Earlier this week, a source revealed documents,that next year's Tensor G5 and 2026's Tensor G6 would be dropping a nanometer and be the first completely designed internally by Google. The new TSMC-built 3nm chips should be both faster and more efficient than the 4nm Samsung-manufactured ones in the Pixel 9 series. This finally helps Google's chip catch up a little to the Apple A18 processor and Snapdragon 8 Elite.
Google apparently expects that the Tensor G5 of the Pixel 10 series and the Tensor G6 of the Pixel 11 series will not be able to keep up with the flagship chips from MediaTek, Qualcomm and Apple at the time of launch, at least as far as performance in Geekbench is concerned. The exact figures should be viewed as very rough guidelines at best, as it is simply too early for benchmark results from prototypes.
The forecast makes sense in view of the leaked specs, as the Google Tensor G5 is said to be equipped with an ARM Cortex-X4 super core, just like the Tensor G4, meaning that single-thread performance will hardly increase. However, since the new chip has five instead of just three performance cores, which are more modern Cortex-A725 instead of Cortex-A720, it is hardly surprising that the multi-thread performance is expected to increase by around 30%.
The Tensor G6 will ultimately do away with efficiency cores altogether and instead combine a new ARM Cortex-X930 super core with six Cortex-A730 performance cores, which should lead to around 15% higher single-thread performance and around 11% stronger multi-core performance compared to the Tensor G5. If this forecast is anywhere near accurate, customers can look forward to a considerable performance upgrade with the Pixel 10, even if Google cannot catch up with the competition.
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There has been a quiet shift in the last couple of years with Android devices as new phone updates have been extended. For years, it was risky to keep an Android phone longer than two or three years because it wasn't guaranteed that it would continue to receive operating system and security updates beyond that.But Google and Samsung are changing that.
Mountain View-based Google was first to officially extend support for its flagships in 2023, announcing that the Pixel 8 series will have seven years of guaranteed Android OS and security updates until October 2030. What was surprising was that Google extended the same support to its mid-range Pixel 8a as well, marking a major change in our expectations of the tech giant.
Samsung followed suit by announcing seven years of OS and security updates for the S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra, with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Fold 6 gaining the same support.
These changes are part of a long-gestating program created by Google in 2020 called "Google Requirements Freeze" (GRF). That program enables chip makers, like Qualcomm, to support multiple operating system versions on a single SoC, which means that manufacturers do not need to update software for at least three versions of Android.
Under the program, for the first three years, the vendor's software will remain frozen, though OEMs will need to update the Linux kernel after three years in order to receive Google's certification, ensuring timely security patches. Qualcomm's recently-announced Snapdragon 8 Elite is the first chipset under LRGF.
While the program does have obvious benefits, like longer lifespans for a larger subset of devices, it has drawbacks and limitations too. For example, one limitation in place is that OEMs can not ship a device with an Android version that is four updates ahead of its chip's original vendor software. For example, Snapdragon 8 Elite's vendor software, designed for Android 15, can not be directly used on a device that is launching with Android 19. This is to prevent manufacturers from shipping devices that would only benefit from three OS updates.
A new supply-chain report notes that the Apple Watch Series 10 advanced display technology is expected to be adopted in future iPhones.
Apple’s trickle-down approach means that the Apple Watch always gets the most advanced display tech first before it later rolls out to other devices, and the S10 tech is likely to be later used for iPhones – but not next year …
On the flagship Apple Watch Series 10, LTPO3 enables Apple to optimize each pixel to emit more light at wider angles and improve battery efficiency. As a result, the display is 40% brighter than on the previous model, theApple Watch Series 9, which employed LTPO2. The newer technology also allows for a faster refresh rate when the watch is in always-on mode.
From a technical standpoint, LTPO2 uses two switching TFTs (thin-film transistors), while LTPO3 uses a more efficient oxide-based version. It can directly control the current to emit light from the display’s OLED element.
The LTPO3 feature on the Apple Watch Series 10 is reported to enhance battery efficiency; however, it does not appear to extend battery life. The Apple Watch Series 10 offers a battery life of up to 18 hours between charges, similar to other models in the series. Whether LTPO3 will yield similar or improved results on future iPhones remains to be seen.
The Elec reports that supply-chain observers expect LTPO3 to be used in future iPhones, to further boost battery life.
The core of LTPO3, which was first applied to Apple Watch 10 this year, is that the drive TFT was changed from the existing LTPS to oxide. The drive TFT directly controls the current to emit light on the OLED device.
The industry is paying attention to the possibility that LTPO3 will also be applied to Apple iPhone in the future. Apple first applied LTPO OLED to Apple Watch 4 in 2018 and then applied LTPO OLED to the iPhone 13 Pro lineup in 2021.
The iPhone 16 Pro series uses LTPO2, which isn’t expected to change in the 2025 iPhone 17 Pro series. Therefore, the earliest we may see LTPO3 on iPhones could be with the iPhone 18 in 2026.
Huawei has announced its latest operating system (OS) in China which has been developed independently of Android. Dubbed HarmonyOS Next, it does not leverage Google's Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code, which is adopted by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for developing Android skins for their devices. Instead, it is built on the Hongmeng kernel and system architecture, as per the company. HarmonyOS Next brings new home and lock screen customisation options, features powered by artificial intelligence (AI), and faster animations and app launch speeds.
HarmonyOS Next is set to power the current and future generations of Huawei devices in China for now, though a global release was confirmed previously. It will work across a broad range of devices ranging from smartphones to wearables, smart home devices and car cockpits.
Huawei's new OS brings new ways to customise the home and lock screens. It borrows certain design elements from Harmony OS – the company's Android skin. This includes app arrangements, widgets, a notification bar and the control centre. It features a new physical light engine which is claimed to make the interaction smoother and has a new wallpaper feature which recognises the object in the image and suggests a suitable composition.
A major component of HarmonyOS Next is the inclusion of AI, embedded in its core, from the kernel system to apps. It leverages an AI agent dubbed Celia, built on the company's proprietary Pangu large language model (LLM). The agent can also take advantage of third-party cloud-based AI models to provide enhanced services. Thus, the OS is capable of providing personalised content and smart services based on different scenarios. It also features a built-in system-level AI assistant that has high-level understanding and interaction capabilities. Its capabilities include on-screen content awareness, contextual understanding, document analysis and summarisation, and a Circle-to-Search-like functionality.
Huawei says HarmonyOS Next has over 15,000 apps and more will arrive soon. It is also claimed to result in 30 percent better system-wide fluency and an increase of up to 1.5GB in system memory. Leveraging the new star shield security architecture, the OS has nuclear-level system-wide security, as per the company.
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