Key features coming with Android 10:
You may have noticed that we mentioned the latest version of Android with the number 10. As known, Google assigns dessert names to new versions of Android, but this time things have changed. The company officially announced that it has dispensed with dessert names in future Android versions and will use a numerical naming strategy, which is more comprehensive and easier to understand globally.
Related: Will Android Q carry a dessert name or is there something new from Google?
Android 10 features:
First: Gesture Navigation
Gesture navigation is the biggest change users will face with Android 10. This addition comes after many Android device manufacturers tried to add different forms of gestures similar to those on iPhones but failed. With Android 10, instead of the traditional three-button navigation system, there will be a gesture bar. These gestures are nearly identical to those found on Apple iPhones.
For example, a quick scroll up will take you to the home screen, while a quick scroll up while continuing to swipe will open the Recents menu. Swiping up from the home screen will open the app drawer. Google Assistant also receives a new gesture through a diagonal swipe towards the middle of the screen from either of the bottom corners. Short animated symbols appear at the bottom of the device, indicating that the assistant is ready to work shortly after. If you have a Pixel or Essential Phone that currently supports Android 10, you can change the navigation style by going to Settings, then System, then Gestures, and Navigation system, where you can switch between Gesture Navigation, 2-button navigation (default in Android 9), and the classic 3-button navigation.
Second: System-Wide Dark Mode
Dark mode, or the dark theme, is a feature frequently requested by Android users. After years of development and attempts, developers have now been able to add the dark mode feature to their applications. Google, on the other hand, has included this feature at the system level in Android 10. With Android 10, you can activate dark mode by going to Settings, then Display, then Dark Theme, or simply by going to the quick settings panel and enabling dark mode.
Third: Smart Reply:
Android 10 becomes smarter when it comes to notifications. For example, when using the Digital Wellbeing tools to silence suspended apps, the Smart Reply feature offers quick responses and actions for incoming messages. This allows you to easily send a one or two-word response to someone or click on a link to open a matching app. Google states that the suggested actions work with YouTube links and addresses in its Maps, and Android 10 can use Smart Reply with any of your favorite messaging apps.
Fourth: Better Permission Controls and Monitoring
Let’s be honest, when it comes to permissions, Android is somewhat behind iOS. However, with Android 10, Google has added a new permissions manager with better and more powerful controls. There is also an updated dialog box for location permissions that appears when an app requests the device’s location. Instead of granting full access or nothing at all, there is a new option that only allows permission when the app is open, and this change is disabled as soon as the app is closed. The updated permissions list can be accessed by going to Settings, then Privacy, then Permission Manager, where you can see which apps have permission to perform certain actions and revoke access to each permission as needed.
Fifth: Security Updates via Google Play
Instead of waiting for device manufacturers and carriers to push Android updates, Google can now send security patches and bug fixes through the Google Play Store. This ensures both the company and users that any device running Android 10 does not have any security vulnerabilities. You can manually search for security patches by going to Settings, then Security tab, and then System update from Google Play.
Sixth: Easter Egg
With the release of Android 10, Google has hidden an Easter Egg feature. Instead of cloning the Flappy Bird game found in previous Android versions, there is now another puzzle game that provides hours of entertainment. From Android 10, you can access the Easter Egg by going to Settings, then About Phone, and then tapping on the Android version several times in quick succession. After that, you can long-press and drag each item that appears on the screen around the screen to access this puzzle game.
When will my phone be updated?
As mentioned earlier, Google first made Android 10 available to all Google Pixel phones, which is currently available to all its phone holders worldwide. Shortly after, both Essential Phone and Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro received Android 10. More importantly, is the release date of Android 10 for the rest of the smartphones, including Samsung, LG, Huawei, and others. Here, the rollout will be according to what the manufacturer deems appropriate, with each company announcing the phones that will receive Android 10. Most importantly, Android 10 will be available on many phones before the end of the current year, a change in the release system compared to older versions of Android, which usually take longer to reach users’ phones.
Final word:
This was the topic of our article for today, where we discussed the top 5 key features coming with the latest version of the Android system. The dark theme and gesture navigation are the standout features with this version, and of course, we will have more discussions in the future about buried features and tricks in this release.
