Cops Bust Botnet of 1.3 Million Android TV Boxes
A coalition of security firms working with Japan’s National Police Agency has disrupted a botnet of more than 1.3 million Android devices across 200+ countries. “We assess with high confidence that the backdoor and botnet were intentionally developed, deployed, and operated for financial gain by Videostrong Technology,” the Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) said in a blog po … ⌘ Read more

First Wired XR Glasses Powered By Android XR
XREAL has launched the AURA, its first wired augmented reality glasses powered by Google’s Android XR platform. They feature transparent Micro-OLED displays, a 70-degree field of view, Gemini AI integration, and a Snapdragon Reality Elite processor. TechPowerUp reports: The device is built around a simple idea: your apps, screens, entertainment, and AI assistant should be able to come … ⌘ Read more

Google Begins Certifying Registered App Stores For Android
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Running an app ecosystem has gotten a lot more complex for Google after its loss in the Epic Games antitrust case. While U.S. users can access app stores in Google Play by court order, international users will use Google’s voluntary Registered App Stores program. Google has announced that stores wishing … ⌘ Read more

Google Says Gmail and Photos Data Shared with AI Search Could Be Used for Targeted Ads
The blog Android Authority offers this TLDR:

Google updated its privacy policy to clarify that it could use information shared through Personal Intelligence to personalize ads. Gmail, Drive, and Photos content isn’t used for targeted ads by default, but connecting them to eligible Google services could … ⌘ Read more

Google’s C Binder Driver Removed With Rust Binder Ready For “Few Billion Devices”
Linus Torvalds merged the “char/misc” changes for the Linux 7.4 kernel driver on Saturday. Most notable this cycle for char/misc is what’s being removed: Google’s C-written Binder driver has left the kernel with the Rust-based modern Binder driver ready to take for the role of being used by all future Android devices… ⌘ Read more

Fwupd Working Toward Proper Android Integration
Google Chromebooks already have a mandate for nice Fwupd support with the Linux Vendor Firmware (LVFS) while now there is work on improving the Android integration for Fwupd/LVFS… ⌘ Read more

Sony Updates the Walkman As a $5,900 Gold-Plated MP3 Player
Sony has revived its Walkman lineup with three Android 16-powered high-end music players ranging from $1,900 to $5,900, topped by the gold-plated NW-WM1ZM3 with 256GB of storage. The Register reports: The Japanese giant named the new models the NW-WM1ZM3, NW-WM1AM3 and NW-ZX900. All can store and play many codecs, including MP3s, WMA, and FLAC files, plu … ⌘ Read more

Google Updates Android Earthquake Alerts With 200+ Regions
Google is expanding its Android Earthquake Alerts System from 98 to more than 200 regions worldwide, using smartphone sensors to detect early earthquake activity and warn users before potentially dangerous shaking begins. The update also enhances the system’s “Be Ready” alerts with estimated earthquake magnitudes, epicenter information, maps showing affected … ⌘ Read more

Google Is Silently Linking Your Phone Number Across All Signed-In Accounts
Google has made Android’s phone-number verification opt-out, automatically verifying and associating a device’s phone number with every Google account signed in on that phone, including secondary and work accounts. Android Authority reports: As spotted in a recent Reddit thread, users report receiving confirmation emails out o … ⌘ Read more

Google Play Now Lets Anyone Build Private, Vibe-Coded Apps That Run On Android
Google Play is adding support for private personal Android apps, allowing users to build an app with tools like Google AI Studio and run it on their own devices without publishing it publicly to the Play Store. “These personal apps won’t show up in Google Play’s search or listing pages, and won’t be shared with anyone e … ⌘ Read more

Google’s Fitbit Edge Debuts a Replaceable Battery, Brings Back the Screen
Google has introduced the $179 Fitbit Edge, a new fitness tracker with a 1.34-inch OLED display, built-in GPS, ECG support, week-long battery life, and Fitbit’s first user-replaceable battery. “And unlike the Pixel Watch, it’s compatible with Android and iPhones via the Google Health app,” reports Wired. From the report: The Edge … ⌘ Read more

F-Droid 2.0: FOSS Android Appstore Continues Updating Despite Google’s Pending ‘Developer Verification’ Plan
“F-Droid, a third-party app repository that only distributes free and open-source software packages for Google’s Android mobile platform, on Thursday announced version 2.0 of its Android app,” reports The Register.

Though they also note “a big banner across the to … ⌘ Read more

Google’s “Painful To Maintain” Binder C Linux Driver Being Removed In Favor Of Rust
Google’s Binder driver written in the C programming language has long been part of the mainline kernel as the inter-process communication (IPC) mechanism used on Android. The past few years the Binder driver was rewritten in Rust as one of the first “real” drivers in the Rust programming language. The Rust Binder driver was upstreamed in Linux 6.18 and now for the upcoming Linux 7.4 kernel cycle, the old Binder C-based driver is se … ⌘ Read more

Android Rolling Out Passkey Transfers Between Password Managers
Android is rolling out a system-level way to securely transfer passwords and passkeys between credential managers, eliminating the need to export passwords as unencrypted text files or manually recreate passkeys. The feature initially supports Google Password Manager, 1Password, Bitwarden, and Dashlane, with other providers able to integrate through … ⌘ Read more

@prologic@twtxt.net Must say I do kinda like the rounded design, passport screen ratio, the inner screen textured finish and the promised pencil support, making this a pocketable drawing tablet.

Obviously wouldn’t buy it, or any other foldable device, with these fragile plastic displays, lack of a headphone jack and thanks to iOS also too many software compromises.

Since earlier this year, I main a TCL phone, I got during a sale event, for under $150 and it really has pretty alright specs: 8GB RAM, recently updated to Android 16, 90Hz refresh rate, even the headphone jack, …

In the horror roguelite 500 FINGER FILLET you have to save your fingers
Giving me flashbacks to the scene in Aliens where the Android Bishop does a knife trick inbetween the fingers of Hudson - check out 500 FINGER FILLET.

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Read the full article on [GamingOnLinux](https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/09/in-the-horror-roguelite-500-finger-fillet-you-have-to-save-your-f … ⌘ Read more

Google’s AI-Powered Lifestyle App ‘Dreambeans’ Now Free in the US
Google’s AI assistant Gemini crawls your Google apps for “more personalized suggestions,” in a feature they call Personal Intelligence. Now when given permission, an Android/iOS app called Dreambeans “uses Personal Intelligence to connect information from Google apps like Gmail, Calendar, Photos, YouTube and Search History, to curate a finite coll … ⌘ Read more

AI’s Memory Crunch Is Coming For Android Apps
Google is imposing new memory-use limits on Android apps as the AI data center boom contributes to a broader memory chip shortage that could leave lower-cost phones with less RAM. Developers will have until February 2027 to meet new thresholds for memory and bitmap usage. To aid developers, Google is adding tools to flag apps that exceed the limits and help prevent slowdowns and … ⌘ Read more

Motorola’s 2027 Flagships Will Officially Support GrapheneOS
Motorola is working with GrapheneOS to officially support the privacy-focused Android alternative on its 2027 flagship phones, starting with a non-folding model and later expanding to the next Razr Fold and Razr Ultra. “These will ship with Motorola’s normal Android skin, but you will be able to switch to GrapheneOS later if you want to,” notes GSMArena.c … ⌘ Read more

Firefox Announces Free VPN and ‘Startpage’ Search Engine Rolling Out to Android, iOS - Plus GeForce NOW Support
Firefox 154 “brings a number of usability improvements,” writes PC World:

The free built-in VPN, introduced with Firefox 149, continues to offer a selection of virtual locations — temporarily extended to 28 countries until the end of August… The free VPN … ⌘ Read more

Real tired of doing these, but here’s another Android developers vs Google update, this time there’s both good and bad news.

The good:
-Users will be able to enable “sideloading” for all current and future devices, attached to their Google account, rather than having to undergo the tedious 24 hour wait including process, on each device.

-Rather than these changes to “sideloading” and “advanced workflows” being implemented at random different dates, in different countries, we’ll all get them come 2027.

The bad:
As GrapheneOS developers recently mentioned “Google replaced pushing Git tags for certain source code with obtaining source code via Google Drive after making a request through Google Forms. It’s completely ridiculous and they’ve gradually become very slow at handling requests. They’re in clear violation of the GPLv2 now.”

whole thread: https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/117057099753905023

Judge Orders Google To Make Rival App Store Installs Easier
A federal judge has ordered Google to remove what he called “anticompetitive friction” that makes rival Android app stores harder to find and install. The order is part of the remedies stemming from Epic’s antitrust victory, which already requires Google to carry competing app stores inside Google Play and give them access to its app catalog. The Verge rep … ⌘ Read more

Reddit Bans 11-Year Account for GPL Game Post, Testing the EU’s DSA
Longtime Slashdot reader DF5JT writes: On July 26, I posted a single announcement in r/backgammon: GNU Backgammon for Android, GPLv3, the first standalone backgammon engine on F-Droid. Reddit’s spam filter removed the post and permanently banned my 11-year, 30,000-karma account – the result is publicly visible at reddit.com/user/OE1FEU. To t … ⌘ Read more

First Rival Android App Store Arrives In the US Play Store
Aptoide has become the first third-party Android app store available directly through Google Play in the U.S. “The change is a direct result of Google’s litigation with Epic, which saw a judge rule in 2024 that the Play Store would have to open up to third-party stores,” notes The Verge. The change makes rival storefronts far easier to discover and install, potent … ⌘ Read more

The Days of Walking Into a T-Mobile Store May Be Numbered
A leaked roadmap suggests T-Mobile plans to make its T-Life app the primary way customers manage their accounts by the end of 2026, “gradually moving one feature at a time into the app” and away from physical stores, reports Android Authority. That includes upgrades, new-line activations, and eventually new-account sign-ups. From the report: According to an … ⌘ Read more

Google Plans To Exempt Sanctioned Nations From Android Developer Verification
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: We are a month away from the initial rollout of Google’s Android developer verification system, and the company contends this policy does not impinge on the platform’s open nature. Still, the restrictions will be a big change, and there are still some unanswered ques … ⌘ Read more

Google Brings Its Age-Assurance Tech To Android Developers Worldwide
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Google is expanding its answer to Apple’s age-assurance tools with Wednesday’s news that it will bring its Play Signal API to users worldwide by the end of 2026. The technology, already available in Brazil, allows Android developers to identify younger users of their apps in order … ⌘ Read more

libx11-compat Is Working To Implement Xlib Atop SDL For Wayland, macOS, Android
For helping to keep X11 clients running in a modern Linux desktop world with Wayland or even for running on macOS or Android, there is now yet-another option being developed with libx11-compat. The libx11-compat project is working to re-implement the Xlib client library atop SDL2/SDL3 interfaces for allow broad underlying platform coverage… ⌘ Read more

FSF Shares Update on ‘LibrePhone’ and New Automated Site Monitoring Tool
At the end of 2025, the FSF launched LibrePhone project, which is working to “better understand and reverse-engineer the nonfree blobs used by a great majority of (if not all) system on a chip designs available today.” The FSF’s summer newsletter shares this update:

We started with researching the proprietary files in Android phone … ⌘ Read more

Android 17 Drops For Pixel Phones and Watch
Google has begun rolling out Android 17, the June Pixel Feature Drop, and Wear OS 7 simultaneously across supported Pixel phones and watches. Highlights include floating app bubbles, improved foldable multitasking and gaming, tighter location and contact permissions, stronger lost-device protections, new Pixel AI tools, and up to 10% better Pixel Watch battery life. PhoneArena reports: … ⌘ Read more

Commodore’s Callback 8020 Is a $499 Flip Phone That Blocks Social Media and Browsers
Commodore has unveiled the Callback 8020, a $499 Sailfish OS flip phone that runs most Android apps but deliberately blocks social media, browsers, email, and workplace apps to discourage doomscrolling. The “not dumb dumbphone” still supports messaging, music, maps, ridesharing, hotspots, a removable battery … ⌘ Read more

Firefox 152 Adds JPEG XL Support, Redesigned Settings
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Linuxiac: Mozilla has released Firefox 152, the latest update to its popular open-source web browser, with updated settings, improved media controls, experimental JPEG XL support, and various platform-specific fixes for desktop and Android. A key update is the redesigned Firefox Settings page, which now features clearer groupings … ⌘ Read more

Google-freies Android: Murena präsentiert /e/OS 4.0
Die neue Version von /e/OS soll den Umzug von Google-Diensten erleichtern - und nun auch bei Gmail helfen. ( Android-ROM, Smartphone)

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Anzeige: Lenovo Idea Tab samt Stift bei Amazon über 50 Euro günstiger
Wer ein Android-Tablet für Surfen und Büro sucht, findet bei Amazon einen Deal: Das Lenovo Idea Tab ist samt Stift stark reduziert. ( Technik/Hardware, Tablet)

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New Power Banks Released By BMX With Safer Semi-Solid-State Batteries
From Android Authority:

Singapore-based BMX has announced that its SolidSafe magnetic power bank lineup, first showcased at CES 2026, is now available for purchase through its website and Amazon US, with prices starting at $59. What sets these power banks apart is their use of semi-solid-state batteries. Traditional lithium-ion and … ⌘ Read more

Android Gets Fake Call Detection That Uses RCS
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Google: Phone by Google wants to combat the “growing threat of impersonation scams” and protect Android users against “sophisticated, AI-powered deepfake attacks” with fake call detection. […] Fake call detection requires that both parties are on Android and use the Phone by Google app, while Google Messages and Google Contacts also … ⌘ Read more

How to Block Spam Calls and Spam Texts on iPhone and Android (2026)
Fight the scourge of unsolicited rings and pings from spammers, scammers, and telemarketers. ⌘ Read more

Microsoft’s Project Solara Is an OS For Devices That Run AI Agents Instead of Apps
An anonymous reader quotes a report from GeekWire: A team inside Microsoft has been quietly building a platform for devices that run AI agents instead of apps, based on Android instead of Windows, with two working hardware designs so far, and an initial set of big-name companies lined up to run pilots. The p … ⌘ Read more

Android Is Fighting Phone Scams With a New Feature to Prove Who’s Calling
Available for Android 12 and later, the anti-scam feature is baked into Google Dialer, which sends a silent “confirmation signal” to ensure whoever’s calling you is who they appear to be. ⌘ Read more

Servo 0.2 Released With Revamped Android Browser UI
For ending out the month of May is a new monthly release of Servo, the open-source, Rust-based browser engine being developed by Linux Foundation Europe stakeholders and the open-source community. There are many nice enhancements on the desktop side with Servo 0.2 while also improving the Android browser UI experience with Servo too… ⌘ Read more

Google Is Killing ChromeOS: Aluminium OS, Its Android-Based Replacement
Article URL: https://techjournal.org/google-aluminium-os-replacing-chromeos

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48244476

Points: 13

# Comments: 3 ⌘ Read more

Circle Medical (YC S15) Is Hiring a Mobile Engineer
Article URL: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/circle-medical/jobs/onMKAG9-mobile-engineer-android

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48234688

Points: 0

# Comments: 0 ⌘ Read more

5 Best Android Tablets in 2026: OnePlus, Lenovo, and Pixel Compared
Whether you need a portable, around-the-house entertainment center or a full-on laptop replacement, these are the best Android tablets. ⌘ Read more

Google’s AI Studio Now Lets Anyone Build Android Apps In Minutes
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The AI coding boom is now coming directly for Android app development. On Tuesday at Google IO 2026, the company announced new native Android app creation capabilities in its web-based Google AI Studio, shrinking a process that takes weeks of setup and coding down to minutes. The company also sa … ⌘ Read more

Hands-On With All of Google’s New Upcoming Android XR Smart Glasses
Here’s your first look at smart glasses coming from Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, powered by Google and Samsung’s XR platform. ⌘ Read more

Set Up Your Phone’s Always-On Display So You’re Unlocking It Less Often
Break the pattern of unlocking your phone for one thing and then getting sucked into something else. Set up your lock screen to show all the information you need at a glance. ⌘ Read more

Google I/O 2026 Live Blog: All the Gemini and Smart Glasses Updates as They Happen
Follow our live coverage of Google’s annual developer keynote, where the company will announce updates to its Gemini suite of AI tools and more details about Android XR smart glasses. ⌘ Read more

How to Watch Google I/O
Google I/O is back with updates to Search, Android, Gemini, and a fresh peek at upcoming Android XR smart glasses. Here’s how to watch the announcements live and what to expect. ⌘ Read more

Lumara – 在手机上实时观看 NASA 的太阳、月亮直播
Lumara 是一个网页、iPhone、Android 应用，它通过 NASA 太阳动力学观测站（SDO）等公开数据源，将太阳、月亮以及太空天气的实时观测画面，以一种接近“直播”的方式展示在手机上。@Appinn NASA 的太阳图像大约每 12 秒更新一次，所以你几乎可以实时看到太阳活动的变化。 ⌘ Read more

How to Control Everything on Your Phone With Your Voice (iOS and Android)
Go fully hands-free with these tips for Android and iOS. ⌘ Read more