Google has revealed the fact that they would be hosting a Reddit AMA, once the Android Q Beta 5 will roll out. This AMA would answer numerous questions regarding the new operating system and many everything else concerning it. The AMA took place on August 1st, with the Android engineering team offering compelling details about Android Q and what they might provide us with the Android R.
Screen recording
When Android Q beta was first released, it was possible to enable a handy, built-in screen recording UI. Sadly, this feature was later removed, completely disappearing in the third beta, outside of a change through ADB.
An Android fan asked the developing team when we will get the built-in screen recording again. The product manager for Android UI, Allen Huang, responded that the feature is just a part of what we will get with Android R.
Dark theme enhancements
One of the hot issues of Android Q has been its native dark mode support. Needless to say, the topic came up numerous times during Android Q’s AMA, and more precisely, a handful of Redditors asked if the dark mode can be triggered automatically.
A model Google had thought to switch to and from dark mode was according to sunset and sunrise time, but this was later abandoned because it needed an entirely accurate location data. Enabling users to set the dark mode using the time of the day has been taken into consideration, but will not be offered with Android Q.
Privacy improvements
When asked about Play Store policy enforcement, product manager for privacy on Android, Charmaine D’Silva, released a compelling statistic. You might remember that Google made a significant change last year, limiting permission to Android call and text logs almost entirely to the main phone call or texting app on your device.
D’Silvia responded with the upside to that privacy change saying: “For example, last fall, we introduced the SMS and Call Log policies that limited the types of apps that could request for these permissions. As a result, today, the number of apps with access to this sensitive information has decreased by more than 98%. The vast majority of developers were able to switch to an alternative or eliminate minor functionality.”
Adjustments to Android Q future development
As many knows, Google has a public bug tracker where users and developers can share errors with Android and a few other Google items. Even so, while a few problems posted may create tension as people focus on them, many of such issues go unnoticed for long periods or are rejected in a somewhat baffling way.
A worried Reddit user taking part in the AMA mentioned the possibility of Google regarding the issues brought up by developers and the public more intently and serious in the future. Jeff Bailey addressed this request first by mentioning that the issue tracker has a high possibility to be overwhelmed, as more digital-savvy people notice. However, he did not dismiss the idea, stating that it is possible that some teams may handle external bugs directly in the future.
Dorothy has been a journalist for ten years and has been working with the Tech News Watch staff since the beginning of the news site. Her main contribution to Tech News Watch are mobile, IT and science news, with a focus on software updates and great outer space discoveries.
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