Android

A hands-on video offers the best look yet at Samsung's heavily delayed Android 15 update, One UI 7, on a Galaxy S24 Ultra.

There aren't many "cheap" foldable phones but the Tecno Phantom V Fold 2 hits the mark while being more impressive that it ought to be.

cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/28192103

The CPU of the Exynos 1580 moves to a three-cluster design with one prime Cortex-A720 core (2.9GHz), three big A720 cores (2.6GHz) and four A520 (1.95GHz). This alone represents a major performance boost compared to the 1480, which used ARMv8 cores.

The GPU is based on AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture, now featuring two Work Group Processors – up from just one on the 1480 (the Exynos 2400 has six). Samsung says that maximum performance is up by 37% while performance at the same power level as the 1480 is up by 20%. This GPU also increases the GL2 cache.

The NPU delivers 14.7 TOPS of performance. The 1380 had just 4.9 TOPS, while the 1480 went up to... Samsung doesn’t say. However, both the 1480 and 1580 NPUs are described as “6K MAC”, so presumably there’s no difference. The spec sheet does say the new NPU has an increased cache capacity of 2MB, but the effects of that will only be known after benchmarks.

Samsung Exynos 1580 chipset Samsung Exynos 1580 chipset Samsung Exynos 1580 chipset Samsung Exynos 1580 chipset

The new chip supports LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. Connectivity is mostly the same with 5G (both sub-6GHz and mmWave), Wi-Fi 6E (ax) and Bluetooth 5.4. There is no AV1 decoder.

	Exynos 1480	Exynos 1580
Node	4nm EUV	4nm EUV
CPU (prime)	-	1x Cortex-A720 @ 2.9GHz
CPU (big)	4x Cortex-A78 @ 2.75GHz	3x Cortex-A720 @ 2.6GHz
CPU (small)	4x Cortex-A55 @ 2.0GHz	4x Cortex-A520 @ 1.95GHz
GPU	Xclipse 530 RDNA 3, 1x WGP	Xclipse 540 RDNA 3, 2x WGP
NPU	6K MAC	6K MAC (14.7 TOPS)
RAM	LPDDR4X, LPDDR5	LPDDR5
Storage	UFS 3.1	UFS 3.1
Screen	1080p+ @ 144Hz	1080p+ @ 144Hz
Camera	200MP, 4K @ 60fps	200MP, 4K @ 60fps
5G	NR (5.1Gbps down, 1.28Gbps up) mmWave (4.84Gbps down, 0.92Gbps up)	NR (5.1Gbps down, 1.28Gbps up) mmWave (4.84Gbps down, 0.92Gbps up)
4G	Cat. 18 (6CC 1.2Gbps down, 2CC 211Mbps up)	Cat. 18 (6CC 1.2Gbps down, 2CC 211Mbps up)
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth	5.3	5.4

Android 16 may organize Quick Settings tiles into distinct categories like accessibility, connectivity, and privacy. Here's a first look.

Google's new Longevity GRF program makes it easier for chipset vendors to support 7 years of Android updates. Here's how.

Google today released what should be the last major release of the Android 15 QPR1 preview cycle with Beta 3 for Pixel devices ahead of the December launch. It comes almost six weeks since the last release with no patch in-between despite some outstanding bugs.

Boox today announced a new generation of its phone-sized e-reader with the Palma 2.

The dispute between Qualcomm and Arm has escalated with the latter canceling Qualcomm’s ability to use the instruction set for designing chips.

Android phones haven't fully adopted UWB over the years, but with Snapdragon 8 Elite directly supporting the connectivity, that could change.

The Google Pixel 9a is getting a redesign for 2025, complete with a flat camera module, as we’ve already shown off. Now, we also see that Google is changing up the cameras a bit this year. It is ditching the 64-megapixel primary sensor for a 48-megapixel sensor. It’s likely the same sensor that is included in the rest of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

• The Android 15 update for Pixel devices is causing unexpected bricking of Pixel 6 devices.
• Users report their Pixel 6 becoming completely unresponsive, with troubleshooting methods yielding no results.
• The issue might be related to the Private Space on Android 15, but further investigation is needed.

Google Chrome will support Identity Check, an Android feature that forces biometric authentication when your phone has been stolen.

Per the GitHub readme:

This app is discontinued. The last release on Github and F-Droid will happen with the December 2024 Syncthing version. Interactions (issues, PRs) are limited now, and the entire repo will be archived after the last release. Thus all contributions are preserved for any future (re)use. The forum is still open for discussions and questions. I would kindly ask you to refrain from trying to challenge the decision or asking "why-type" questions - I wont engage with them.

The reason is a combination of Google making Play publishing something between hard and impossible and no active maintenance. The app saw no significant development for a long time and without Play releases I do no longer see enough benefit and/or have enough motivation to keep up the ongoing maintenance an app requires even without doing much, if any, changes.

Thanks a lot to everyone who ever contributed to this app!

This is extremely disappointing news. I have been using the Syncthing-Fork version, but since it is based on this app, this may be the end for that app as well.

The two-way connection between HMD Fusion and Smart Outfits1 opens up all sorts of possibilities. Human Mobile Devices teamed up with Venom: The Last Dance to create a conceptual outfit that explores those possibilities. With its dark, dripping visual effect and change of notification sounds, The Venom: The Last Dance outfits pay homage to one of the most iconic antiheroes from the world of comic books.

VP of Design at HMD, Raun Forsyth, explains. “Using electromagnetic arrays and ferrofluid, we’ve created a mesmerizing effect where the inky liquid dances across the back of the phone.”

Just as the symbiote changes its host, the Venom: The Last Dance outfits make changes to the phone itself. The interface gets a dark-looking overhaul, and lines from the new movie take the place of default notifications sounds, like “Who sent this?” when a message is received, and “Eddie, the time has come,” as an alarm sound. These bespoke outfits to celebrate the arrival of the Venom: The Last Dance cinematic release will not be available to purchase.

Other than having to make a workaround by creating an auto-syncing script through at least, like, probably 2 other apps... hmm...

TL;DR

• Google is working on a Download Manager feature for the Play Store, which could list your recently downloaded apps.
• We managed to activate the feature to give you an early look at the Download Manager.

We activated the feature in v43.2.16-29, giving us a better look at it and an idea of what it does. The Download Manager within the Google Play Store shows all apps that are currently downloading and all the recently installed apps that you haven’t opened yet. When you open the apps you can see in the list, the app exits the list, giving you an updated view of what you have yet to open. Take a look at the Download Manager in action in the video below:

https://youtu.be/Rd3IEenFbUk

Further, you will see the download count of the recent apps and games you have downloaded as a badge at the top of the app details page.

For now, the Download Manager within the Play Store merely lists the apps you have downloaded and not opened yet. It will be handy for people who download multiple apps in one go and forget about opening up.

This feature is not currently live in the Play Store, and Google hasn’t shared anything about its existence either, so it may or may not be released in the future. We’ll update this article when we learn more.

Once upon a time you could get a small android device with good specs.
https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz1_compact-8610.php

It's still my favourite phone, even though it's been retired and is only used as an MP3 player with AUX in the garage nowadays.
I realize that for most people the phone is now a device to consume media through and that the larger screens are helpful there, but having a smart phone that is fully usable with one hand is still something I miss. Often.

Considering that modern androids have about 85% to 90% of their size as display size then a phone with the size of the xz1 compact should get a screen size of ~5 inches instead of the old 4.6 inches.

With the SoC advancements I don't even feel that the phone would require a flagship SoC to interest me. Put a Snapdragon 6, as much battery as you can fit and an AUX input in it and I'm game.

What would make you guys interested in a smaller phone today?