Android 14 update tracker: release timeline, features, supported devices, and more | 91mobiles.com

Android 14, the next iteration of the world’s most popular mobile operating system, is expected to launch at the Google I/O 2023. The major Android 14 OS update comes after the Android 13 update, which Google released last year, and runs on nearly 12 percent of Android devices currently. The latest Android update continues Google’s effort to build the OS around core themes of “performance, privacy, security, and user customization”. Google also continues to improve the experience on large-screen devices such as tablets, foldable, and more with the new OS.

Android 14 development is in active development, and the final stable build should arrive sometime later this year. That said, users can access the early build of the operating system to try the new features. This article lists the highlighting feature of the upcoming OS and the many new improvements it brings to the table.

Android 14 launch date

Android 14 is most likely to be announced at the Google I/O 2023, scheduled for May 10th. Google has already released the Android 14 developer preview and beta 1 update for developers and the public to try out before the actual release later in the year.

Android 14 release timeline

Android 14 is currently in active development. After releasing the two developer previews, the tech giant has released the first beta update ‘Beta 1’ for users to try out. This should follow with several betas and the OS should reach platform stability sometime in Q3 of 2023. The stable release should follow in late Q3, which we expect to be around August or September of this year.

As with previous releases, Google’s Pixel devices should be the first to recover the new OS update. OEMs including Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, and others should start seeding the Android 14 to their entire eligible device lineups soon after Google pushes the final Android 14 build to AOSP. And if the past is any indication, we should first see the Android 14 update on the latest flagship devices followed by the mid-rangers and others.

Android 14 features

Bigger fonts with non-linear scaling

Android has always been about customisation, and Google continues to give us more features to get more control over how our smartphones look and behave. With Android 14, the fonts can now be scaled up to 200 percent, which was previously limited to just 130 percent. Google is also making sure the scaled font appears correctly by applying the non-linear font scaling curve on the text.

Per-app language preferences

Android 14 allows dynamic customisation of the set of languages displayed in Android settings in the per-app language list. Google says this should help with customising the language list per region and doing A/B experiments, as well as updating locales through server-side updates. Further, IMEs (Input Method Editors) can now easily get the UI language currently in use with the help of LocaleManager.getApplicationLocales.

Grammatical Inflection API

The new Grammatical Inflection API introduced in Android 14 lets developers easily support languages that use grammatical gender. 

Privacy and security improvements

Android 14 introduces safer implicit intents and safer dynamic code loading to improve the privacy and security of the users. Android 14 restricts the installation of older apps that haven’t been updated in a while. Now users can no longer install apps that target API level lower than 23 (apps targeting Android 6.0) on Android 14. Google says this should help with privacy and security since some malware apps used targetSdkVersion 22 (Android 5) to evade Android runtime permission restrictions introduced in Android 6.0. 

Restricted photos and videos access with new Photo Picker permission dialogue

The next privacy improvement on Android 14 comes in the form of how the apps can access photos and videos stored on the device. Apps can now selectively access photos and videos on the device by using the new photo access permission dialogue, which lets the app access either all the photos and video on the device or just selected photos with Allow access to all photos and Selected photos permission, respectively. Selected photo access lets users deny access to photos and videos if they want the app not to access any media stored on the device to protect privacy.

Credential manager API

On Android 14 Credential Manager is now available as a Platform API, which will now make sign-in easier — bringing users a level of convenience for users when they want to sign in to various services on Android. The Credential Manager supports multiple sign-in methods such as logging in by using the combination of username and password and even federated sign-in methods such as ‘Sign-in with Google’. Credential Manager also supports passkey, a new industry standard for passwordless sign-in.

Passkeys are also stored and synced with the Google Password Manager and will be available across devices when users sign in with the same Google account. Android 14 Credential Manager also brings all the sign-in methods available for the app into one list for users, so users can focus on quickly signing into the app. If you want to learn more about how Android 14 is helping users move to a passwordless future, you can head over to the Google blog (here and here) that dives deeper into the inner working of Credential Manager. 

New back arrow

Google has added a new distinct back arrow to Android 14 to improve user interaction with the apps. The new Material You-themed back arrow also matches the device’s wallpaper’s accent colour. 

Further, Google is expected to use this new back arrow introduced in Android 14 to guide app navigation with the upcoming predictive back gestures, which aim to make how users interact with the OS and the apps even more intuitive by letting users know where the system back gesture will take them beforehand. Head over here to learn more about predictive back gestures. 

Improved system sheet

The system share sheet has been a long-standing pain point of the Android OS and Google knows it. That’s why it’s been making continuous improvements to the Android share sheet over the course of various Android updates. In Android 14, Google is now adding ‘actions’ to the share sheet. Apps can now add custom actions to the system share sheet, and additionally, the share sheet now uses more signals to decide the app ranking.

Further, according to the Esper blog by Mishaal Rahman, the system share could be decoupled from the Android system and could appear as an independently updatable component through a mainline module. If this is the case, it could eliminate the need for a custom-designed share sheet that we see across Android OEMs. A more updatable and consistent share sheet would definitely be a welcome move for an improved user experience.

Android 14 could kill third-party task managers

Android is now a mature operating system. In the earlier days of the OS, task managers that claimed to boost the system performance by killing the background processes of other apps were quite popular. These task killers actually do more harm than good as Android keeps the frequently used apps in the memory to help system performance. So, these task killers are essentially making Android work harder as the system tries to reload the killed apps in the memory — using more system resources bandwidth and precious battery. The Esper blog suggests Google could finally kill task killers/system boosters by restricting the APIs used by these apps on Android 14.

Separate slider for volume and ringtone control

While the system notification and ringtone volume control sliders are separate on many Android OEM custom skins, the stock Android still features a single control slider for both. According to commit changes seen by 9to5Google, this will soon change with Android 14, and the Android system will finally feature two separate sliders for notifications and ringtones. This is another welcome addition by Google as more customisation is always better.

Enhanced lock screen PIN entry 

PIN entry on every system restart is mandatory on most Android devices now. So, it is increasingly likely that one would experience a shoulder surfing attack. To avoid this, Google is now disabling the PIN entry animations (via) starting with Android 14. This should hopefully help users keep their PINs secure.

Regional Preferences

Android 14 is adding region preferences to let users select their desired regional settings for things such as “temperature units, the first day of the week, and numbering systems” for added user convenience. And Google is adding new Android Settings menus for that purpose as well. The company notes these personalised settings also persist in a system backup and restore.

Satellite connectivity support

Wild to think about user experiences for phones that can connect to satellites. When we launched G1 in ’08 it was a stretch to get 3G + Wifi working. Now we’re designing for satellites. Cool! Excited to support our partners in enabling all of this in the next version of Android!

— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) September 1, 2022

Android 14 now supports satellite connectivity, letting users communicate emergency information via satellite when there is no cellular connectivity. The feature will be similar to the Apple iPhone satellite connectivity for emergency communication.

Camera flash for notifications

A notification LED has been missing on most Android devices in recent times. With Android 14, users can use the camera flash as the notification LED. Whenever you receive notifications on Android 14 camera flash will turn on and off to indicate a notification has been received. 9to5Google notes, you’ll also get a flashlight toggle in Android’s Quick Settings panel to notify you of notification status.

Improved experience on tablets and foldables

Google is continuing its work to improve the user experience on tablets and foldable devices. To that end, the company is introducing new window Size classes, Sliding pane layout, Activity embedding, Box with constraints, and many other helpful features for developers (all in the Jetpack Compose) so they can make optimised apps that work across the form factors and screen sizes.

More app background behaviour tweaks

Apps continuously running in the background draining precious battery life has been a long-standing issue on Android devices. Google has been making tweaks to the inner working of Android and has been introducing new standard behaviours for the background services and activity launching limitations for apps, especially from Android 10 and up. Now, the apps running in the foreground also get more control over unexpected interruptions while interacting with other apps.

The work is also continuing to improve system performance and battery life with the new OS. Android 14 now also includes memory management optimisations tweaks so that apps can efficiently use system resources while running in the background.

Improvements to the JobScheduler and Foreground Services

Google has introduced improvements to the Job scheduler and Foreground services. The Android OS maker says it is now restricting the foreground service usage to only the “highest priority user-facing tasks” so that resources and battery consumption usage could be improved. Google is also adding ‘user-initiated data transfers’ functionality to run downloads and uploads even more efficiently, especially when set to download/upload on Wi-Fi conditions. In addition, Google will be introducing policy changes to Google Play to make sure these new APIs are used appropriately.

Android 14 supported devices

No other manufacturer besides Nothing has announced the rollout schedule for the Android 14 update for their smartphones yet. But if we go by the past, most flagships released in 2023 and 2022 should be eligible for the next major Android update. That said, we expect the below devices to get the Android 14 update.

Google Pixel

Google’s Pixel devices are always first in line to receive the latest major Android updates. Android 14 Beta 1 is currently supported on these devices, which me ans the below devices should receive the final Android 14 update when it releases later this year.

• Pixel 7 Pro
• Pixel 7
• Pixel 6a
• Pixel 6 Pro
• Pixel 6
• Pixel 5a
• Pixel 5
• Pixel 4a (5G)

Samsung

Most of Samsung’s latest flagship and mid-range devices launched in 2023 and 2022 should be eligible for the Android 14 update. However, we expect the below devices to get Android 14.

Samsung Galaxy S series

• Samsung Galaxy S22
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
• Samsung Galaxy S23 
• Samsung Galaxy S23+
• Samsung Galaxy S3 Ultra
• Samsung Galaxy S21
• Samsung Galaxy S21+
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
• Samsung Galaxy S21FE

Samsung Galaxy A series

• Samsung Galaxy A73
• Samsung Galaxy A72
• Samsung Galaxy A53
• Samsung Galaxy A52
• Samsung Galaxy A33
• Samsung Galaxy A23
• Samsung Galaxy A14
• Samsung Galaxy A13
• Samsung Galaxy A04s

Samsung Galaxy M series

• Samsung Galaxy M53 5G 
• Samsung Galaxy M33 5G 
• Samsung Galaxy M23

Samsung Galaxy Tab series

• Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S8

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Flip series

• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

OnePlus

OnePlus flagships like the OnePlus 11 series/10 series/9 series should get the Android 14 update. And the OnePlus Nord midranges like OnePlus Nord 2T/CE 2 Lite 5G/CE 3 Lite 5G should also be eligible for the Android 14 update. The recently launched flagship tablet OnePlus Tab should also receive the next major Android 14 update.

OnePlus Flagships

• OnePlus 11
• OnePlus 11R
• OnePlus 10 Pro
• OnePlus 10T
• OnePlus 10R
• OnePlus 9 Pro
• OnePlus 9
• OnePlus 9R
• OnePlus 9RT
  

OnePlus tablets

OnePlus Midrangers

Nothing

Asus 

Asus Zenfone 9 and Asus ROG Phone 6 should receive the Android 14 update. The Asus Zenfone 8 has already received the Android 13 update, which is the last major Android upgrade promised by the company.

• Asus Zenfone 9 
• Asus ROG Phone 6

Nothing

Nothing Phone (1) is set to receive the Android 14 update in the near future. Similarly, Nothing Phone (2), which is set to launch sometime in 2023 will also get Android 14. Meanwhile, the company has announced Nothing Phone (1) users can soon access the Android 14 Beta 1 on their devices.

OPPO

Oppo’s latest flagship Reno series should receive the Android 14 update along with the Find X and N series. Here is Oppo smartphones that we expect to receive Android 14 in the near future.

Oppo Reno series

• Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G
• Oppo Reno 8 5G
• Oppo Reno 7 5G
• Oppo Reno 7 Pro 5G
• Oppo Reno 6 5G
• Oppo Reno 6 Pro 5G

Oppo Find X series

• Oppo Find X5
• Oppo Find X5 Lite
• Oppo Find X5 Pro

Oppo Find N series
Other Oppo smartphones

• Oppo F21 Pro
• Oppo A78 5G
• Oppo A77

Realme

Here are the Realme smartphones we expect to get the Android 14 update.

Realem GT series

• Realme GT 2 Pro
•  Realme GT Neo 3 150W
• Realme GT Neo 3 80W
• Realme GT 2
• Realme GT Neo 3T

Realme number series

• Realme 10 Pro+
• Realme 10 Pro
• Realme 10 5G
• Realme 9 Pro+ 5G
• Realme 9 Pro 5G
• Realme 9i 5G
• Realme 9 5G
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition

Realm Narzo series

• Realme Narzo 50 Pro 5G
• Realme Narzo N55

Vivo

Vivo is also expected to update its range of devices with Android 14. That said, here is the list of devices we expect to be updated with the latest Android release.

Vivo X series

• Vivo X90 Pro
• Vivo X90
• Vivo X80
• Vivo X80 Pro
• Vivo X70
• Vivo X70 Pro+

Vivo V series
Vivo Y series

Xiaomi

These are the Xiaomi device we expect to will get Android 14

Xiaomi flagship series

• Xiaomi 13 Pro 5G
• Xiaomi 12 Pro

Redmi series
POCO devices

• POCO X5
• POCO X5 Pro
• POCO X4 Pro 5G
• POCO M5
• POCO F4 5G 

Android 14 codename

Google has stopped naming Android releases after desert names publically. But Google still continues to name major Android updates after desserts internally. The Android 14 is currently codenamed internally as “Upside Down Cake” (via 9to5Google). Previously, Android 13 was codenamed “Tiramisu”, Android 12 “Snow Cone”, Android 11 “Red Velvet Cake”, and Android 10 “Quince Tart”. 

Android 14 news

Separate slider for volume and ringtone (May 1st)

According to 9to5Google, Android 14 is all set to introduce separate sliders for volume and ringtone. Previously stock Android had a single slider for both volume and ringtone.