The operating system of most smartphones is Android by Google. Typically, every year, there’s a new update of Android released. With each new update, Android keeps getting better, which is why we get excited whenever we hear that there’s a new version coming.
While we haven’t gotten over all the exciting features of Android 13 from 2022, Google has announced the coming of a newer Android version Android 14. This next operating system update is scheduled for release sometime later this year.
But what do we know about this new update? Let’s look at the things to expect as we wait in anticipation for the latest Android operating system.
Features to Expect in Android 14
At the moment, nothing officially has been heard from Google about the features of Android 14. But based on a few leaks and rumors here and there, we have a decent idea of what Android 14 holds for us.
Satellite Connectivity
Back in September 2022, there was a tweet by Google’s Senior Vice President for Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer, which revealed that the company was working on satellite designs. With this, we expect that Android 14 might include features for connecting phones to satellites. This means that our phones will be able to utilize satellite coverage to make emergency calls.
Mandatory AV1 Codec
AV1 is the forth-coming royalty-free video codec as opposed to the MPEG LA video formats which usually attract fees. This latest video codec is supported by Google, Netflix, Mozilla, Amazon, and others.
Based on the information gotten from Esper’s Mishaal Rahman who noticed the comments left in recent commits to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), we gathered that the new AV1 video codec could become mandatory for all smartphone companies who want to use Android 14.
Improved Back Navigation Functionality
Android 14 might come with some improvements on the back navigation functionalities. We’ve gathered that a ‘predictive back gesture’ will feature in all Android 14 smartphones, allowing users to see a preview of the previous screen before navigating backward.
Android System share sheet
Share sheet for Android is a feature meant for sending content from app to app or directly to another user. Now, we hear that Google intends to include a smarter and easier system share sheet in the latest Android 14 that will be joined with Google Play Services.
Expected Date for Google’s Android 14
Google has always been unpredictable with release dates for its Android updates. And as of this moment, there isn’t an official date of release for the Android 14 update. But some sources say that Google might start its Developers Preview in February and start to release the beta version of Android 14 in April 2023.
But considering the release dates of previous Android updates in the past years, it is likely that the full version of Android 14 might launch in the third quarter of this year.
What Will Be the Codename for Android 14
Google has a record of giving its Android versions dessert-related names. However, we haven’t had dessert names since the Android 10 version in 2019. But that doesn’t mean that the dessert codenames stopped internally. And somehow, these internal dessert names manage to find their way to the public ears.
Android 11 was internally codenamed ‘Red Velvet Cake’, Android 12 was ‘Snow Cone’, and Android 13 was ‘Tiramisu’.
You’ll notice that the first letter of the codenames follows an alphabetical order. From this, we can tell that the next Android version Codename will begin with the letter ‘U’.
Based on the information we’ve gathered, Google is adopting the codename ‘Upside Down Cake’.
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