Android releases are a way to improve your Android device and now, a new major version is launched – Android 14.
Android 14 is packed with features, such as new customization options, more health and safety controls, and better accessibility. This upgrade has rolled out on supported Pixel devices and will later arrive on more devices from Samsung Galaxy, iQOO, Nothing, OnePlus, OPPO, realme, Sharp, Sony, TECNO, vivo and Xiaomi.
Here’s what’s in store for you when your phone gets Android 14:
- Express yourself more: The updated customization picker on Android 14 lets you switch between wallpapers easily. Set custom lock screen shortcuts, including the QR reader and Google Home app, for quick access of your most used controls directly from the lock screen.
Select from new, curated lock screen templates for fonts, widgets, colors, and formats to match your style. These also use AI to adjust your device’s screen based on your situation. For instance, if the weather takes a turn for the worse, the lock screen weather widget will become more obvious.
Android 14 also includes a monochromatic theme if you prefer a less powerful phone aesthetic.
- Create beautiful wallpapers with AI: Show off your most creative and artistic self with Android 14 via Generative AI wallpapers. The engine uses AI-generated text-to-image diffusion models in creating wallpapers that match your vision. You also have the option to select from pre-set suggestions to create never-before-seen wallpapers.
- Even better camera quality: Based on Android 13’s high dynamic range (HDR) video support, Android 14 supports HDR images with Ultra HDR. Ultra HDR brings out vibrant colors, brighter highlights, and darker shadows from your photos. Plus, Ultra HDR shows high-definition photos without altering the original quality on HDR screens.
- Greater control over your health, security, and data: To track your health and fitness data without compromising privacy, the Health Connect on Android 14 stores all your data in one place and gives you control of your privacy.
Your data is also securely encrypted on your phone, so Google or anyone else can’t see or use it for other purposes. Just connect and sync your favorite health and fitness apps to get started.
You can now see how your data is being used by apps that request access to it. On Android 14, when an app asks for permission to access information, you’ll be notified when that app is sharing the data with third parties and give you a more informed decision on whether or not to grant access.
Now, digital protection on Android 14 extends to your most sensitive information, like the device’s personal identification numbers (PIN). Android 14 enhances PIN security by encouraging you to use a six-digit PIN. After typing in the correct six-digit or longer PIN, no need to hit enter as your device will automatically unlock. - Better accessibility for low-vision users: Android 14 sports many vision-and hearing-inclusive features. For low-vision users, the improved magnifier is more intuitive with the ability to pinch to zoom in and out from 100%.
You can also change the magnifier size in a new Magnifier Settings panel or change how much of the screen you’d like magnified.
To prevent your magnifier from turning off when you go from app to app, set your magnification to “Keep on when switching apps” in the Accessibility settings.
You can also improve readability and quickly change the size of the text with the font size Quick Settings tile.
Enjoy better readability with nonlinear font scaling, which enlarges larger font size at a slower rate than smaller font size. This prevents text that is already large from getting bigger than necessary, so you can read your screen without text getting cut off, text wrapping to multiple lines, or text breaking the page layout. - Better accessibility for hearing-impaired users: Android 14 has an updated hearing accessibility, which is more intuitive to connect and interact with hearing aids, such as a dedicated hearing-aid setup flow from Accessibility settings. This improvement makes it easy to route audio to different outputs and allows quick access to hearing aids controls from a shortcut.
- New flash notifications: Similarly, notification sounds, rings or alerts aren’t effective to all users. On Android 14, you can turn on “Flash notifications” from the Accessibility and Notifications settings and get visual light flashes for incoming notifications.
- Even more quality-of-life improvements: Android 14 is packed with many other exciting features as well, like automatic framing in video calls, one-tap access to your Google Home controls, performance improvements, and more.
