Introducing the 2022 Digital Inclusion Fellows

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This summer, Google Fiber celebrates the 10th anniversary of opening sign-ups in our first market, my hometown of Kansas City. The first few months after launch were intense and rewarding, humbling and inspiring. One of the greatest takeaways from that period - and demonstrated countless more times over the years - is that the most effective digital equity work happens collaboratively, when people who know their communities best are empowered to make a difference. 


The Digital Inclusion Fellowship, a program we co-founded with NTEN,  is one way that we’ve demonstrated the impact of this type of collaboration. Since 2015, 78 digital literacy leaders, advocates and practitioners from nonprofit organizations and municipal agencies across the country have been sponsored by Google Fiber. Through training and planning support that is delivered to these cohorts, these changemakers have created and managed projects ranging from improving access to the internet to multi-generational digital literacy initiatives. 


Because I have seen firsthand the impact this program can have on communities, it is my privilege to welcome the eighth cohort of Digital Inclusion Fellows, who are dedicated to broadening digital equity in their communities over the next year. This year’s Google Fiber sponsored fellows for 2022 include:


Atlanta, GA  Stacy Rozier, Goodwill of North Georgia

Austin, TX  Dan Reddi, Austin Public Library

Charlotte, NC  Natali Betancur, The Center for Digital Equity, and Chantez Neymoss, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

Kansas City, MO  Erika Garcia Reyes, Revolución Educativa

Provo, UT  Baylee Swanson, United Way of Utah County

Salt Lake County, UT  Hoang Ha, Spy Hop Productions, and Jaleen Johnson, Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN)/Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center (NRTRC)

San Antonio, TX  Dallana Camargo, Empower House SA


As Fellow Chantez Neymoss said, “Digital inclusion is important to me because of how transformational it can be in someone’s life. Expanding this access opens up new opportunities for employment, small businesses, connecting with family, education, and more. Digital skills and tools should be an opportunity for expansion, not a barrier.”


During the fellowship and beyond, we know this commitment to collaboration will open up new opportunities with the hope that it will bring their communities closer to meeting their larger social, economic and civic needs. We wish this new cohort great success!


Posted by Rachel Merlo, Head of Government and Community Affairs - Central Region | Orange County, CA


Migrating from App Engine Blobstore to Cloud Storage (Module 16)

Posted by Wesley Chun (@wescpy), Developer Advocate, Google Cloud

Introduction and background

The most recent Serverless Migration Station video demonstrated how to add use of the App Engine's Blobstore service to a sample Python 2 App Engine app, kicking off the first of a 2-part series on migrating away from Blobstore. In today's Module 16 video, we complete this journey, arriving at Cloud Storage. Moving away from proprietary App Engine services like Blobstore makes apps more portable, giving them enough flexibility to:


Showing App Engine users how to migrate to Cloud Storage

As described previously, a Blobstore for Python 2 dependency on webapp made the Module 15 content more straightforward to implement if it was still using webapp2. To completely modernize this app here in Module 16, the following migrations should be carried out:

  • Migrate from webapp2 (and webapp) to Flask
  • Migrate from App Engine NDB to Cloud NDB
  • Migrate from App Engine Blobstore to Cloud Storage
  • Migrate from Python 2 to Python (2 and) 3

Performing the migrations

Prior to modifying the application code, a variety of configuration updates need to be made. Updates applying only to Python 2 feature a "Py2" designation while those migrating to Python 3 will see "Py3" annotations.

  1. Remove the built-in Jinja2 library from app.yaml—Jinja2 already comes with Flask, so remove use of the older built-in version which may possibly conflict with the contemporary Flask version you're using. (Py2)
  2. Use of Cloud client libraries (such as those for Cloud NDB and Cloud Storage) require a pair of built-in libraries, grpcio and setuptools, so add those to app.yaml (Py2)
  3. Remove everything in app.yaml except for a valid runtime (Py3)
  4. Add Cloud NDB and Cloud Storage client libraries to requirements.txt (Py2 & Py3)
  5. Create an appengine_config.py supporting both built-in (those in app.yaml) and non built-in (those in requirements.txt) libraries used (Py2)

The Module 15 app already migrated away from webapp2's (Django) templating system to Jinja2. This is useful when migrating to Flask because Jinja2 is Flask's default template system. Switching from App Engine NDB to Cloud NDB is fairly straightforward as the latter was designed to be mostly compatible with the original. The only change visible in this sample app is to move Datastore calls into Python with blocks.

The most significant changes occur when moving the upload and download handlers from webapp to Cloud Storage. The video and corresponding codelab go more in-depth into the necessary changes, but in summary, these are the updates required in the main application:

  1. webapp2 is replaced by Flask. Instead of using the older built-in version of Jinja2, use the version that comes with Flask.
  2. App Engine Blobstore and NDB are replaced by Cloud NDB and Cloud Storage, respectively.
  3. The webapp Blobstore handler functionality is replaced by a combination of the io standard library module plus components from Flask and Werkzeug. Furthermore, the handler classes and methods are replaced by Flask functions.
  4. The main handler class and corresponding GET and POST methods are all replaced by a single Flask function.

The results

With all the changes implemented, the original Module 15 app still operates identically in Module 16, starting with a form requesting a visit artifact followed by the most recents visits page:
The sample app's artifact prompt page

The sample app's most recent visits page.

The only difference is that four migrations have been completed where all of the "infrastructure" is now taken care of by non-App Engine legacy services. Furthermore, the Module 16 app could be either a Python 2 or 3 app. As far as the end-user is concerned, "nothing happened."

Migrating sample app from App Engine Blobstore to Cloud Storage

Wrap-up

Module 16 featured four different migrations, modernizing the Module 15 app from using App Engine legacy services like NDB and Blobstore to Cloud NDB and Cloud Storage, respectively. While we recommend users move to the latest offerings from Google Cloud, migrating from Blobstore to Cloud Storage isn't required, and should you opt to do so, can do it on your own timeline. In addition to today's video, be sure to check out the Module 16 codelab which leads you step-by-step through the migrations discussed.

In Fall 2021, the App Engine team extended support of many of the bundled services to 2nd generation runtimes (that have a 1st generation runtime), meaning you are no longer required to migrate to Cloud Storage when porting your app to Python 3. You can continue using Blobstore in your Python 3 app so long as you retrofit the code to access bundled services from next-generation runtimes.

If you're using other App Engine legacy services be sure to check out the other Migration Modules in this series. All Serverless Migration Station content (codelabs, videos, source code [when available]) can be accessed at its open source repo. While our content initially focuses on Python users, the Cloud team is working on covering other language runtimes, so stay tuned. For additional video content, check out our broader Serverless Expeditions series.

Android 13 is in AOSP!

Posted by Seang Chau, VP of Engineering
Today we’re pushing the Android 13 source to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and officially releasing the newest version of Android. For developers, Android 13 is focused on our core themes of privacy and security as well as developer productivity, making it easier for you to build great experiences for users. We’ve also continued to make Android an even better OS for tablets and large screens, giving you better tools to take advantage of the 270+ million of these devices in use across the world. 

Android 13 is rolling out to Pixel devices starting today. Later this year, Android 13 will also roll out to more of your favorite devices from Samsung Galaxy, Asus, HMD (Nokia phones), iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, Xiaomi and more.

As always, we thank you for the feedback you’ve shared, and we appreciate the work you’ve done to make your apps compatible with today’s release. Your support and contributions are what make Android a great platform for everyone!


What’s in Android 13 for developers?

Here’s a look at some of what’s new in Android 13 - make sure to check out the Android 13 developer site for details on all of the new features.


Developer productivity and tools

Themed app icons - Android 13 extends Material You dynamic color to all app icons, letting users opt-in to icons that inherit the tint of their wallpaper and other theme preferences. All your app needs to supply is a monochromatic app icon and a tweak to the adaptive icon XML. More here.

Themed app icons adapting to wallpapers colors and dark theme (left).

Per-app language preferences - Android 13 makes it easier to support multilingual users who want to use your apps in a language that’s different from the system language. Android now provides a standard “App language” Settings panel for apps that have opted-in, and you can call a new platform API to get or set the user’s preferred locale at runtime, helping to reduce boilerplate code and improve compatibility. More here.

Per-app languages in Settings

Improved text support - Android 13 includes text and language improvements that help you deliver a more polished experience. Faster hyphenation optimizes hyphenation performance by as much as 200% so you can now enable it in your TextViews with almost no impact on rendering performance. Text conversion APIs make searching and autocompletion faster when using phonetic lettering input for languages like Japanese, Chinese, and others. Android 13 also improves line heights for non-latin scripts (such as Tamil, Burmese, Telugu, and Tibetan), eliminating clipping and making them easier to read. More here.

Improved line height for non-Latin scripts in apps targeting Android 13 (bottom).

Color vector fonts - Android 13 adds rendering support for COLR version 1 (spec, intro video) fonts and updates the system emoji to the COLRv1 format. COLRv1 is a new, highly compact, font format that renders quickly and crisply at any size. For most apps this will just work, and the system handles everything. More here.

COLRv1 vector emoji (left) and bitmap emoji.

Quick Settings Placement API - For apps that provide custom Quick Settings tiles, Android 13 makes it easier for users to discover and add your tiles. Using a new tile placement API, your app can now prompt the user to directly add your custom Quick Settings tile in a single step, without leaving your app. More here.

Programmable shaders - Android 13 introduces programmable RuntimeShader objects, with behavior defined using the Android Graphics Shading Language (AGSL). You can use these shaders to create ripple, blur, stretch, and similar advanced effects in your apps. More here.

Media controls derived from PlaybackState - For apps targeting Android 13, the system now derives media controls from PlaybackState actions, providing a richer set of controls that are consistent across phones and tablet devices and align with other Android platforms such as Android Auto and Android TV. More here.

Android 13 media controls are consistent on phones and tablets.

Bluetooth LE Audio - Low Energy (LE) Audio is the next-generation wireless audio built to enable new use cases like sharing and broadcasting audio to friends and family, or subscribing to public broadcasts for information, entertainment, or accessibility. It’s designed to ensure that users can receive high fidelity audio without sacrificing battery life, and lets them seamlessly switch between different use cases. Android 13 adds built-in support for LE Audio, so developers can use the new capabilities on compatible devices. More here.

MIDI 2.0 - Android 13 adds support for the new MIDI 2.0 standard, including the ability to connect MIDI 2.0 hardware through USB. This updated standard offers features such as increased resolution for controllers, better support for non-Western intonation, and more expressive performance using per-note controllers. More here.

OpenJDK 11 updates - Android 13 Core Libraries now align with the OpenJDK 11 LTS release, with both library updates and Java 11 programming language support for app and platform developers. We plan to bring these Core Library changes to more devices through Google Play system updates, as part of an ART module update for devices running Android 12 and higher. More here.

Predictive back gesture - Android 13 introduces new APIs that let your app tell the system that it will handle back events in advance, a practice we call the "ahead-of-time" model. This new approach is part of a multi-year effort to help you prepare your app to support the predictive back gesture, which is available for testing in this release through a developer option. More here.

Built for tablets

Android 13 extends the 12L update that we released earlier this year, and it delivers an even better experience on tablets. You’ll find features like an enhanced multitasking taskbar, more large-screen layouts and optimizations in system UI and apps, improved compatibility modes for apps, and more. We’re continuing to invest to give you the tools you need to build great experiences for tablets as well as Chromebooks and foldables. You can learn more about how to get started optimizing for large screens, and be sure to check out our large screens developer resources.

Multitasking on tablets with Android 13.

Privacy and security

Photo picker and APIs - A new system photo picker now gives users a standard, privacy-protecting way to share local and cloud-based photos. Photo picker extends Android’s long-standing document picker and makes it easy for users to share specific photos and videos with an app, without giving the app permission to view all media files on the device. Photo picker provides a dedicated experience for photos and videos and includes APIs for apps to access the shared media files. The photo picker experience is now available to users who receive Google Play system updates, on devices (excepting Go devices) running Android 11 and higher. More here.


Photo picker lets users share specific photos and videos with an app.

Notification permission - To help users focus on the notifications that are most important to them, Android 13 introduces a new notifications runtime permission. Apps now need to request the notification permission from the user before posting notifications. For apps targeting Android 12 or lower, the system will handle the upgrade flow on your behalf. More here.

Notification permission dialog in Android 13.

Nearby device permission for Wi-Fi - Android 13 introduces the NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES runtime permission for apps that manage a device's connections to nearby access points over Wi-Fi. The new permission is required for many commonly-used Wi-Fi APIs and enables apps to discover and connect to nearby devices over Wi-Fi without also needing to acquire the location permission. More here.

Granular permissions for media file access - Photo picker is our recommended solution for user-friendly, permissionless sharing of photos and videos, but for apps that haven’t moved to photo picker yet or for audio use cases, Android 13 adds new granular media permissions. These new permissions replace the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission and provide access to specific types of media files, including images, video, or audio. We highly recommend moving your app to photo picker if possible; otherwise, use the granular media permissions when targeting Android 13. More here.
Requesting permission to access audio files.

Developer downgradable permissions - Starting in Android 13, apps that no longer require permissions previously granted by the user can use a new API to downgrade the permissions. By removing unused permissions, your app can show that it’s using the minimum permissions needed, which can improve user trust. More here.

Safer exported Intent filters - Android 13 applies stricter rules when delivering explicit intents to exported intent filters in another app that’s targeting Android 13. For intents that specify actions, the system now delivers the intents to the exported component only if the intent matches the receiver’s declared <intent-filter> elements. More here.


Performance for apps

Android 13 improves performance and efficiency for all apps through updates to the ART runtime. We plan to bring these improvements to more Android users through Google Play system updates, as part of our ongoing ART module updates for devices running Android 12 and higher.

Improved garbage collection - A new garbage collector based on the Linux kernel feature userfaultfd is coming to ART on Android 13 devices in an upcoming Google Play system update. The new garbage collector eliminates the read barrier and its fixed overhead per object loaded, reducing memory pressure and leading to as much as ~10% reduction in compiled code size. It’s more efficient at GC-time as well, since pages are freed as compaction progresses. Overall, the new garbage collector helps to save battery, avoid jank during GC operations, and protect apps from low-memory kills.

Optimizations throughout ART - In Android 13, ART makes switching to and from native code much faster, with JNI calls now up to 2.5x faster. We’ve also reworked the runtime’s reference processing to make it mostly non-blocking, which further reduces jank. We’ve exposed a new public API, Reference.refersTo(), which is useful in reclaiming unreachable objects sooner, and we’ve made the interpreter faster by optimizing class/method lookups. Lastly, ART now performs more byte-code verification at install time, avoiding the expense of verification at runtime and keeping app startup times fast. More here.


Get your apps ready!

Now with today’s public release of Android 13 to AOSP, we’re asking all Android developers to finish your compatibility testing and publish your updates as soon as possible, to give your users a smooth transition to Android 13.

To test your app for compatibility, just install it on a device running Android 13 and work through the app flows looking for any functional or UI issues. Review the Android 13 behavior changes for all apps first, to focus on areas where your current app could be affected. Here are some of the top changes to test:

  • Notifications runtime permission - Make sure you understand how this new permission works with your app’s notifications, and plan on targeting Android 13 (API 33) as soon as possible to help support users. More here.
  • Clipboard preview - Make sure your app hides sensitive data in Android 13’s new clipboard preview, such as passwords or credit card information. More here.
  • JobScheduler prefetch - JobScheduler now tries to anticipate the next time your app will be launched and will run any associated prefetch jobs ahead of that time. If you use prefetch jobs, test that they are working as expected. More here.
Remember to test the libraries and SDKs in your app for compatibility. If you find any SDK issues, try updating to the latest version of the SDK or reaching out to the developer for help.

Once you’ve published the compatible version of your current app, you can start the process to update your app's targetSdkVersion. Review the behavior changes for apps targeting Android 13 for this, and use the compatibility framework to help detect issues quickly.


Tablet and large-screens support

With Android 13 bringing a better experience to tablets, make sure your apps look their best. You can test large-screen features by setting up an Android emulator in Android Studio, or you can use a large screen device from our Android 13 Beta partners. Here are some areas to watch for:

  • Taskbar interaction - Check how your app responds when viewed with the new taskbar on large screens. Make sure your app's UI isn't cut off or blocked by the taskbar. More here.
  • Multi-window mode - Multi-window mode is now enabled by default for all apps, regardless of app configuration, so make sure the app handles split-screen appropriately. You can test by dragging and dropping your app into split-screen mode and adjusting the window size. More here.
  • Improved compatibility experience - if your app isn’t optimized for tablets yet, such as using a fixed orientation or not being resizable, check how your app responds to compatibility mode adjustments such as letterboxing. More here.
  • Media projection - If your app uses media projection, check how your app responds while playing back, streaming, or casting media on large screens. Be sure to account for device posture changes on foldable devices as well. More here.
  • Camera preview - For camera apps, check how your camera preview UI responds on large screens when your app is constrained to a portion of the screen in multi-window or split-screen mode. Also check how your app responds when a foldable device's posture changes. More here.
You can read more about the tablet features in Android 13 and what to test here.


What’s next?

Android 13 is rolling out to Pixel devices starting today.

If you’re currently enrolled in the Android Beta program, you’ll get the Android 13 final release and remain enrolled to receive ongoing Beta updates for Android 13 feature drops, starting later this year. If you’d like to opt out of ongoing Beta updates without needing to wipe your device, just visit the Android Beta site and opt out after you get the Android 13 final release and before taking the first beta for Android 13 feature drops.

System images for Pixel devices are available here for manual download and flash, and you can get the latest Android Emulator system images via the SDK Manager in Android Studio. If you're looking for the Android 13 source, you'll find it here in the Android Open Source Project repository under the Android 13 branches.

Thanks again for participating in our program of early previews and Betas! We're looking forward to seeing your apps on Android 13!


Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Improved quality and performance for Google Meet effects on the web

Quick summary 

Background effects are now more accurate for Google Meet users on the web. Thanks to improved background and foreground separation, users can experience more accurate background blur, background replace, and immersive background and styles. 


Meet now offers improved background and foreground separation




In addition, to help users with devices that are not best designed for running real-time video effects, these effects can now be processed in the cloud. Meet automatically adjusts between device-based and cloud-based effect processing to offer the best possible experience. This helps to save battery and up to 30% of CPU on your device while optimizing effect quality. 


The first effects supporting this capability are background blur and light adjustment. Support for additional effects, such as background replace, will be added in the future. 

Getting started 


Rollout pace 

Improved background and foreground separation 
  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Cloud-based processing 
  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Availability 

Improved background and foreground separation 
  • Available to all users on eligible devices. Visit the Help Center to learn about device eligibility for background and visual effects. 

Cloud-based processing 
  • Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus customers, and Workspace Individual users on eligible devices in eligible countries (Northern America, Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia, Southeastern Asia). Visit the Help Center to learn more about availability. 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers. 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 


Resources 

Improved quality and performance for Google Meet effects on the web

Quick summary 

Background effects are now more accurate for Google Meet users on the web. Thanks to improved background and foreground separation, users can experience more accurate background blur, background replace, and immersive background and styles. 


Meet now offers improved background and foreground separation




In addition, to help users with devices that are not best designed for running real-time video effects, these effects can now be processed in the cloud. Meet automatically adjusts between device-based and cloud-based effect processing to offer the best possible experience. This helps to save battery and up to 30% of CPU on your device while optimizing effect quality. 


The first effects supporting this capability are background blur and light adjustment. Support for additional effects, such as background replace, will be added in the future. 

Getting started 


Rollout pace 

Improved background and foreground separation 
  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Cloud-based processing 
  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Availability 

Improved background and foreground separation 
  • Available to all users on eligible devices. Visit the Help Center to learn about device eligibility for background and visual effects. 

Cloud-based processing 
  • Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus customers, and Workspace Individual users on eligible devices in eligible countries (Northern America, Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia, Southeastern Asia). Visit the Help Center to learn more about availability. 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers. 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 


Resources 

Lucky number Android 13: The latest features and updates

Android 13 helps ensure your devices feel unique to you – on your terms. It comes jam-packed with new capabilities for your phone and tablet, like extending app color theming to even more apps, language settings that can be set on an app level, improved privacy controls and even the ability to copy text and media from one Android device and paste it to another with just a click.

There are many reasons to love Android 13, but here are our top 13:

Personalized to you

  • A customized Android 13 homescreen with complementary colors and app icons that match the wallpaper shows personalization.
  • In Settings, App language for Google Maps is open on an unlocked Android 13 phone. Español (Estados Unidos) is checked under “Suggested.”
  • A music widget is highlighted, showing a Carrie Underwood song playing. The media playback bar wiggles up and down as the song progresses on the Android 13 device screen.

1. Android 13 comes with an evolved look and style that builds on Material You. You can customize non-Google apps to match your phone’s wallpaper theme and colors, making your home screen more cohesive and unique to your style.

2. For the many Android users who speak more than one language, we’ve added a top feature request. You can assign specific languages to individual apps so you can keep your phone’s system in one language, and each of your apps in a different language.

3. Android 13 features an updated media player that tailors its look and feel based on the music or podcast you’re listening to. For example, when you’re listening to music, the media player spotlights album artwork and has a playback bar that dances as you progress through a song. It even works for media played through Chrome.

4. Your wellbeing has been an important theme for Android – and getting enough sleep is key! Android 13 allows you to further customize Bedtime mode with wallpaper dimming and dark theme. These screen options help your eyes adjust to the dark when you're about to go to bed – and get back to sleep if you wake up and check your phone in the middle of the night.

Keeping you protected and secure

5. Gone are the days when you had to share your entire media library with your apps. In Android 13, you can select only the specific photos and videos they’ll need to access.

6. Prevent any unwanted access to your clipboard. If you copy sensitive data like your email address, phone number or login credentials on your device, Android will automatically clear your clipboard history after a period of time.

7. Android 13 helps keep your notifications under control and makes sure you only get the alerts you ask for. The apps you download will now need your explicit permission to send notifications, rather than being allowed to send notifications by default.

Helping your devices work better together

  • The user composes an email on an Android tablet with Gmail open. The user opens the full app library from the taskbar and drags Photos onto the screen in split screen mode with Gmail. With the screen split, the user hard presses on an image from the Photos app open on the right side of the screen and drags it into the email on the left side of the screen.
  • Android 13 phone has Messages open and a text appears asking “Hi Katherine, how’s it going?” Katherine responds “Good! Just got back from the grocery store”. The text bubble expands and transfers to a Chromebook screen. User responds to the text from the Chromebook saying, “Oh nice! Making anything tasty tonight?”
  • Android 13 phone screen with Nest Audio website. User hard presses on image of Nest Audio and taps “Copy.” Image animates to the Nearby Share icon. Nearby Share opens with “Looking for your devices'' pulsing, identifying Liza’s Tablet. The user taps Liza’s Tablet. The tablet animates in next to the phone. The tablet screen shows “Birthday Gift Ideas.” The Nearby Share icon animates in, and the user taps “Paste” to transfer the copied Nest Audio image from the phone screen to the tablet screen.

8. Feel like you’re in the middle of the action with Spatial Audio. On supported headphones that enable head tracking, Spatial Audio shifts the source of the sound to adapt with how you turn your head, giving you a more immersive listening experience on your Android phone or tablet.

9. When you’re on your laptop, you don’t want to break your workflow to respond to a chat from your phone. Soon, you'll be able to stream your messaging apps directly to your Chromebook so you can send and receive messages from your laptop.

10. Android 13 adopts Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio, a new Bluetooth audio standard that results in lower latency than classic audio. This allows you to hear audio that’s in better sync with the sound’s source, reducing delay. With Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio, you can also enjoy enhanced audio quality and broadcast audio to multiple devices at the same time.

11. You’ll soon be able to copy content — like a URL, picture, text or video — from your Android phone and paste it on your tablet. Or you can start on your tablet and paste to your phone.

12. Multitasking on your tablet is even easier with Android 13. With the newly updated taskbar on tablets, you can see all your apps at a glance and easily drag and drop any app in your library into split-screen mode.

13. Android tablets will register your palm and stylus pen as separate touches. So whether you’re writing or drawing on your tablet, you’ll experience fewer accidental stray marks that come from simply resting your hand on the screen.

Android 13 is packed with these and many other features, like HDR video support on third-party camera apps, an updated media output switcher, braille displays for Talkback and more. And it goes beyond the phone to give you a connected set of experiences across your other devices like your tablets and laptops.

Android 13 is rolling out to Pixel devices starting today. Later this year, Android 13 will also roll out to your favorite devices from Samsung Galaxy, Asus, HMD (Nokia phones), iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, Xiaomi and more.

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Lucky number Android 13: The latest features and updates

Android 13 helps ensure your devices feel unique to you – on your terms. It comes jam-packed with new capabilities for your phone and tablet, like extending app color theming to even more apps, language settings that can be set on an app level, improved privacy controls and even the ability to copy text and media from one Android device and paste it to another with just a click.

There are many reasons to love Android 13, but here are our top 13:

Personalized to you

  • A customized Android 13 homescreen with complementary colors and app icons that match the wallpaper shows personalization.
  • In Settings, App language for Google Maps is open on an unlocked Android 13 phone. Español (Estados Unidos) is checked under “Suggested.”
  • A music widget is highlighted, showing a Carrie Underwood song playing. The media playback bar wiggles up and down as the song progresses on the Android 13 device screen.

1. Android 13 comes with an evolved look and style that builds on Material You. You can customize non-Google apps to match your phone’s wallpaper theme and colors, making your home screen more cohesive and unique to your style.

2. For the many Android users who speak more than one language, we’ve added a top feature request. You can assign specific languages to individual apps so you can keep your phone’s system in one language, and each of your apps in a different language.

3. Android 13 features an updated media player that tailors its look and feel based on the music or podcast you’re listening to. For example, when you’re listening to music, the media player spotlights album artwork and has a playback bar that dances as you progress through a song. It even works for media played through Chrome.

4. Your wellbeing has been an important theme for Android – and getting enough sleep is key! Android 13 allows you to further customize Bedtime mode with wallpaper dimming and dark theme. These screen options help your eyes adjust to the dark when you're about to go to bed – and get back to sleep if you wake up and check your phone in the middle of the night.

Keeping you protected and secure

5. Gone are the days when you had to share your entire media library with your apps. In Android 13, you can select only the specific photos and videos they’ll need to access.

6. Prevent any unwanted access to your clipboard. If you copy sensitive data like your email address, phone number or login credentials on your device, Android will automatically clear your clipboard history after a period of time.

7. Android 13 helps keep your notifications under control and makes sure you only get the alerts you ask for. The apps you download will now need your explicit permission to send notifications, rather than being allowed to send notifications by default.

Helping your devices work better together

  • The user composes an email on an Android tablet with Gmail open. The user opens the full app library from the taskbar and drags Photos onto the screen in split screen mode with Gmail. With the screen split, the user hard presses on an image from the Photos app open on the right side of the screen and drags it into the email on the left side of the screen.
  • Android 13 phone has Messages open and a text appears asking “Hi Katherine, how’s it going?” Katherine responds “Good! Just got back from the grocery store”. The text bubble expands and transfers to a Chromebook screen. User responds to the text from the Chromebook saying, “Oh nice! Making anything tasty tonight?”
  • Android 13 phone screen with Nest Audio website. User hard presses on image of Nest Audio and taps “Copy.” Image animates to the Nearby Share icon. Nearby Share opens with “Looking for your devices'' pulsing, identifying Liza’s Tablet. The user taps Liza’s Tablet. The tablet animates in next to the phone. The tablet screen shows “Birthday Gift Ideas.” The Nearby Share icon animates in, and the user taps “Paste” to transfer the copied Nest Audio image from the phone screen to the tablet screen.

8. Feel like you’re in the middle of the action with Spatial Audio. On supported headphones that enable head tracking, Spatial Audio shifts the source of the sound to adapt with how you turn your head, giving you a more immersive listening experience on your Android phone or tablet.

9. When you’re on your laptop, you don’t want to break your workflow to respond to a chat from your phone. Soon, you'll be able to stream your messaging apps directly to your Chromebook so you can send and receive messages from your laptop.

10. Android 13 adopts Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio, a new Bluetooth audio standard that results in lower latency than classic audio. This allows you to hear audio that’s in better sync with the sound’s source, reducing delay. With Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio, you can also enjoy enhanced audio quality and broadcast audio to multiple devices at the same time.

11. You’ll soon be able to copy content — like a URL, picture, text or video — from your Android phone and paste it on your tablet. Or you can start on your tablet and paste to your phone.

12. Multitasking on your tablet is even easier with Android 13. With the newly updated taskbar on tablets, you can see all your apps at a glance and easily drag and drop any app in your library into split-screen mode.

13. Android tablets will register your palm and stylus pen as separate touches. So whether you’re writing or drawing on your tablet, you’ll experience fewer accidental stray marks that come from simply resting your hand on the screen.

Android 13 is packed with these and many other features, like HDR video support on third-party camera apps, an updated media output switcher, braille displays for Talkback and more. And it goes beyond the phone to give you a connected set of experiences across your other devices like your tablets and laptops.

Android 13 is rolling out to Pixel devices starting today. Later this year, Android 13 will also roll out to your favorite devices from Samsung Galaxy, Asus, HMD (Nokia phones), iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, Xiaomi and more.

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Helping members of the military community find meaningful civilian careers

Every year, Google’s Veterans Network (VetNet) employee resource group hosts its VetNet Career Week to offer veterans, transitioning service members and their spouses or partners the tools, support and advice needed to help translate their experience and skills into civilian careers. This year’s event partnered with over 30 companies and welcomed more than 3,000 attendees to attend panel discussions, free skill-building sessions and 1-on-1 resume reviews with Google representatives. Also unique for this year, Google partnered with Welcome.US to extend Career Week to those seeking refuge in the U.S.

Our team sat down with Googlers Chris House and Tony Mendez, who attended last year's event as participants and are now Googlers, and Jenna Clark, a Googler and veteran who volunteered at last year’s event.

There is a ton of opportunity out there, and veterans have the skills.

Can you share a little about your military background?

Tony: I enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2009 as an infantry soldier and was commissioned as one of the Army’s first cyber operations officers in 2014. I led an incident response team that investigated breaches in control systems networks for a few years, and eventually transitioned to conducting proactive security assessments.

Chris: I was in the U.S. Navy for eight years, working on a submarine and on naval nuclear reactor design and operation.

Jenna: I enlisted into the Air Force in 2002 and spent just shy of 10 years working as an all-source intelligence analyst. In the Air Force, I spent my first six years attached to an aircrew, working to keep them informed of threats in the area, and later I was transferred to an intelligence squadron.

What drew you to participate in VetNet career week?

Tony: I learned about VetNet Career Week through a friend who was considering leaving the military. I’ve always had a hobby interest in Android security and loved Google products since the Nexus 5 phone, but never thought I was “ready” to apply. I signed up for the resume review to help me articulate how my experience was relevant to a company like Google.

Jenna: When I left the military, I struggled to find an opportunity. It was after attending networking and resume workshops that I was able to get my foot in the door at a startup in Boston. Within six months, I was promoted. This is what draws me to volunteer at Career Week. Veterans have diverse skill sets that are easily transferable to corporate — we just need a chance.

Video screenshot of virtual VetNet Career Week event

Lisa Gevelber, VP of Grow with Google, Google for Startups, and Americas Marketing, hosted a fireside chat during the virtual VetNet Career Week event last year.

Fast forward one year, how does it feel to be a Googler?

Chris: It feels great! It’s an incredible place to be, and I think the aspect that I’m most enthused about is how supportive, transparent and energizing the company culture has been. I’ve enjoyed the support VetNet has offered, whether it’s through events like Career Week to guide the post-military transition process, or simple social hours where we’ve all just bonded over shared experiences in the military and at Google.

Tony: Admittedly, I didn’t match with the first team that interviewed me, but it was a blessing in disguise. My current team in Android security is a perfect fit for my skill set and managerial style. I couldn’t be happier!

Why do you think events like this are so important for the military communities and their families?

Jenna: I think it’s important because it shows support towards veterans in a very real and helpful way. There is a ton of opportunity out there, and veterans have the skills — it’s just those skills need to be translated, and that requires commitment on both sides.

Tony: It’s hard to leave an organization that so thoroughly affects all aspects of your life. VetNet Career Week helps really demonstrate caring and support for the military community that’s uncommon outside of the military.

Chris: Probably the most important aspect, for me, was just seeing how many people had made similar transitions and how many well regarded companies valued a veteran's experience. I'm grateful for the time that the Googler I chatted with invested in my resume review and supporting my transition from the military.

Helping members of the military community find meaningful civilian careers

Every year, Google’s Veterans Network (VetNet) employee resource group hosts its VetNet Career Week to offer veterans, transitioning service members and their spouses or partners the tools, support and advice needed to help translate their experience and skills into civilian careers. This year’s event partnered with over 30 companies and welcomed more than 3,000 attendees to attend panel discussions, free skill-building sessions and 1-on-1 resume reviews with Google representatives. Also unique for this year, Google partnered with Welcome.US to extend Career Week to those seeking refuge in the U.S.

Our team sat down with Googlers Chris House and Tony Mendez, who attended last year's event as participants and are now Googlers, and Jenna Clark, a Googler and veteran who volunteered at last year’s event.

There is a ton of opportunity out there, and veterans have the skills.

Can you share a little about your military background?

Tony: I enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2009 as an infantry soldier and was commissioned as one of the Army’s first cyber operations officers in 2014. I led an incident response team that investigated breaches in control systems networks for a few years, and eventually transitioned to conducting proactive security assessments.

Chris: I was in the U.S. Navy for eight years, working on a submarine and on naval nuclear reactor design and operation.

Jenna: I enlisted into the Air Force in 2002 and spent just shy of 10 years working as an all-source intelligence analyst. In the Air Force, I spent my first six years attached to an aircrew, working to keep them informed of threats in the area, and later I was transferred to an intelligence squadron.

What drew you to participate in VetNet career week?

Tony: I learned about VetNet Career Week through a friend who was considering leaving the military. I’ve always had a hobby interest in Android security and loved Google products since the Nexus 5 phone, but never thought I was “ready” to apply. I signed up for the resume review to help me articulate how my experience was relevant to a company like Google.

Jenna: When I left the military, I struggled to find an opportunity. It was after attending networking and resume workshops that I was able to get my foot in the door at a startup in Boston. Within six months, I was promoted. This is what draws me to volunteer at Career Week. Veterans have diverse skill sets that are easily transferable to corporate — we just need a chance.

Video screenshot of virtual VetNet Career Week event

Lisa Gevelber, VP of Grow with Google, Google for Startups, and Americas Marketing, hosted a fireside chat during the virtual VetNet Career Week event last year.

Fast forward one year, how does it feel to be a Googler?

Chris: It feels great! It’s an incredible place to be, and I think the aspect that I’m most enthused about is how supportive, transparent and energizing the company culture has been. I’ve enjoyed the support VetNet has offered, whether it’s through events like Career Week to guide the post-military transition process, or simple social hours where we’ve all just bonded over shared experiences in the military and at Google.

Tony: Admittedly, I didn’t match with the first team that interviewed me, but it was a blessing in disguise. My current team in Android security is a perfect fit for my skill set and managerial style. I couldn’t be happier!

Why do you think events like this are so important for the military communities and their families?

Jenna: I think it’s important because it shows support towards veterans in a very real and helpful way. There is a ton of opportunity out there, and veterans have the skills — it’s just those skills need to be translated, and that requires commitment on both sides.

Tony: It’s hard to leave an organization that so thoroughly affects all aspects of your life. VetNet Career Week helps really demonstrate caring and support for the military community that’s uncommon outside of the military.

Chris: Probably the most important aspect, for me, was just seeing how many people had made similar transitions and how many well regarded companies valued a veteran's experience. I'm grateful for the time that the Googler I chatted with invested in my resume review and supporting my transition from the military.

Chrome Dev for Desktop Update

The Dev channel has been updated to 106.0.5231.2 for Windows, Mac and Linux.

A partial list of changes is available in the Git log. Interested in switching release channels? Find out how. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug. The community help forum is also a great place to reach out for help or learn about common issues.

Srinivas Sista
Google Chrome