Xiaomi Mi Box 3 finally receives its stable Android Pie update

Xiaomi rolled out the long-overdue Android 9 Pie beta update for the Mi Box 3 earlier this year in August. The update, which measured in at just 620MB, brought Android Pie to the Android TV box and introduced support for the Mi Remote app. Now, Xiaomi is finally releasing a stable version of the update to the Mi Box 3, which brings Android TV 9.0 and support for the Mi Remote app to the stable channel.

The Mi Box 3 (codename once) stable Android Pie update measures in at 650MB and it includes the Android security patches for July 2020. With the update, Xiaomi has added a couple of new features to the Android TV box, including a new settings layout, a new power menu that can be accessed by pressing and holding the power button, a less intrusive volume interface, preinstalled Amazon Prime Video app, a Mi Box recommends section in the app drawer, a shortcut for the Google Play Store, and more.

As per a Reddit thread on the matter, the update has started rolling out to Mi Box 3 users worldwide and it should be available on your device. In case you haven’t received the update notification yet, you can manually download the update package from the link below. Do note that the Android Pie build (build number 2604) for the Mi Box 3 is the same as the build for the Mi Box S (codename oneday) that was released earlier this year in April. Therefore, it also includes all of the bug fixes that were previously released for the Mi Box S.

The Mi Box 3 packs in a quad-core Amlogic SoC, Mali 450 GPU, and 2GB of RAM. It supports 4K video playback at 60fps and Dolby Digital Plus audio.

Download Android 9 Pie for the Mi Box 3

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Thanks to XDA Recognized Developer yshalsager for the tip and download link!

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Samsung teases a new Good Lock module called Keys Cafe to customize the Samsung Keyboard app

Samsung’s Good Lock suite of customization tools recently received two exciting new modules — Pentastic and Wonderland. In case you missed our coverage of these modules, the new Pentastic module lets you theme the S Pen experience on your Samsung device and the Wonderland module lets you create live wallpapers from any still image of your choice. Now, Samsung is teasing yet another Good Lock module, called Keys Cafe, that will let you personalize the Samsung Keyboard app.

As per a recent press release from the company, the upcoming Keys Cafe module will let you customize the Samsung Keyboard app as per your preference. It will include support for keyboard height and width adjustment, key layout repositioning options, a wide range of themes to customize the look of the keyboard app, and dynamic effects that will bring your keyboard to life.

Additionally, the Keys Cafe module will come with a gamification feature that aims to help you minimize typos by turning typing into a game. The feature will give you a score and ranking based on your performance, which is expected to help you improve your typing accuracy over time. The Keys Cafe module will be available on Samsung devices running One UI 2.1 and above starting next month. In order to use the module, you’ll also need to update the Samsung Keyboard app to version 5.1.05.

Along with the upcoming Key Cafe module, Samsung has announced an update for the Home Up module. The update will introduce a new Share Manager feature that will let you hide specific share commands from the sharing window, manage your Direct Share contacts, and select the apps you want to see in the sharing window. The new Share Manager feature will soon be available on devices running One UI 2.5 and above.

Furthermore, Samsung is pushing an update for the MultiStar module with a new I ♡ Galaxy Tablet feature. The feature includes a Wireless Keyboard Share option that lets you connect your tablet’s physical keyboard with your Galaxy smartphone for a better typing experience. It also lets you quickly switch between the two devices at the tap of a button. This update has already started rolling out to Galaxy tablet users and it’s supported on tablets running One UI 2.5.

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Source: Samsung Newsroom

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Vivo beats Google to launching the first phone with Android 11

In a little over 12 hours from now, Google will announce the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 at its Launch Night In event. Thanks to numerous leaks, we pretty much know everything there is to know about the two phones, including the fact that they’ll both launch with the latest version of Android, Android 11, out of the box. An update to Android 11 was released for existing Pixel devices on September 8th, and we’ve seen numerous OEMs release beta updates for their own devices. But so far, no one has launched a new smartphone with the latest version out of the box. We all thought that Google would be the first one to do so, but Chinese smartphone brand Vivo has beaten them to the punch with the launch of the new Vivo V20.

In a press release, Vivo says its new V20 series “will run on the recently-launched Android 11 operating system,” which sure sounds like the 3 devices will run on the latest OS version. However, the press release also mentions that the company “has a plan to equip V20 series with Android 11 in succession” depending “on market conditions.” That’s rather vague, and left us to wonder if the Vivo V20 SE, V20, and V20 Pro really will run Android 11. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen companies mention the latest OS version as a marketing tactic—HMD Global says its new Nokia 2.4 and Nokia 3.4 are “Android 11-ready,” which just means they’ll receive the actual Android 11 update whenever the company is ready to roll it out. Interestingly, the product pages for the Vivo V20 SE and V20 Pro state the two devices are running Funtouch OS 11 based on Android 10, while the product page for the Vivo V20 says it’s running Funtouch OS 11 based on Android 11.

Thankfully, it’s easy for us to confirm that the regular Vivo V20 is, in fact, running the latest Android version. The phone has already reached the hands of Indonesian YouTubers like GadgetIn, who published an unboxing of the new phone. In the video, he goes through the settings menu and shows that the device is running Android Version 11 and has the new Easter egg.

Vivo V20 running Funtouch OS 11 based on Android 11. Source: GadgetIn.

His video also confirms that the device’s model name is “V2025.” I cross-referenced that with the Google Play Console’s Device Catalog and confirmed that the device’s SDK level is indeed listed as “30” for Android 11. In fact, the Vivo V20 is the only device on the catalog to have its SDK version listed as “30” and nothing else, confirming it’s the first phone to launch with the latest Android version. All the other phones on the catalog that support SDK level 30 either upgraded to Android 11 (like the current crop of Pixel phones and the ADT-3) or are currently in beta (like the OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, and Xiaomi phones that are listed).

As for why this matters, well, there are two reasons. First, the fact that an OEM managed to beat Google to launching a phone with Android 11 is impressive considering how slow most OEMs usually are at releasing major OS updates. Second, the “shipping API level” of a phone is actually quite important to note, because it factors into how many OS updates the manufacturer is expected to deliver. When most OEMs promise “2 years” of OS upgrades, they really mean “2 letter upgrades” or “2 generations of updates.”Thus, a phone launching with Android 10 can expect to get an update to Android 11 and Android 12, while a phone launching with Android 11 can expect to get an update to Android 12 and Android 13. We’re not sure how long Vivo plans on supporting the new Vivo V20, but it’s definitely promising that the phone has launched with the latest OS version.

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Google Messages app tests categorizing your conversations to reduce text message clutter

Google is testing a long-awaited feature in its popular Messages app. The feature, which our tipster Hani Mohamed Bioud first discovered, adds categories at the top of the app, allowing users to better organize their messages.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

From what we can tell, the categories that are being tested in the Google Messages app include: All, Personal, Transactions, OTP, Offers, and More. There are other apps like Microsoft’s SMS Organizer that can do this already, but it’s nice to see this feature integrated into Google’s Messages app.

While we were able to manually surface the categories at the top, we weren’t able to get it working completely. Conversations weren’t moved to any of the categories automatically, and we are unable to manually move a conversation into one of the tabs. When the feature is functional, we expect Messages to automatically categorize conversations, much like Gmail does for email.

The hope is to seemingly provide users with a more organized experience, thus making it easier to carry on conversations. Having a filter for one-time passwords (OTP) is particularly nice, because those can clutter up a messaging app quick. Speaking of which, we recently spotted evidence in the Messages app that Google will allow users to automatically delete OTPs after 24 hours.

From what we can tell, it doesn’t look like the categories are available to users just yet, either via an update or a server-side flag, and it’s unclear when it’ll be available to test out by a wider audience. But since we were able to surface its UI, it’s possible the rollout is just around the corner. Once it goes live to everyone, we’ll be sure to let you know, along with any changes we find.

Messages (Free, Google Play) →

Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

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Google Phone app testing Caller ID announcement and auto-deleting Call Screen transcripts

Google is testing new features in its Google Phone app, the default dialer app on Pixel phones which recently became available for everyone. The new features that are in development include Caller ID announcements and auto-deleting Call Screen transcripts. While the features sound pretty self-explanatory, they’re still worthy of discussion. If anything, it’s always nice to hear about new features designed to improve the quality of life of users.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

When enabled, Caller ID announcement will announce the name or phone number of whoever is calling. Meanwhile, the new Call Screen option will allow the Phone app to automatically delete Call Screen transcripts and audio recordings after 30 days.

We were able to manually surface these two features in the Google Phone app, but the features are not available to users just yet, either via an update or a server-side flag. It’s unclear when they’ll be available to test out by a wider audience, but it’s possible they’ll go live alongside the launch of the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 tomorrow.

These features aren’t monumental additions to the Google Phone app, but they are welcome tweaks nonetheless. When the features do officially become available, they’ll join a host of other new features that have been recently added to the Google Phone app, which is now available to non-Pixel devices. The Google Phone app is capable of detecting spam and fraud calls, recording calls (depending on the region), and even supports a convenient “Flip to Silence” feature. On Pixel phones, the app also supports the Call Screen feature to screen robocallers and other unknown callers.

Phone by Google - Caller ID & Spam Protection (Free, Google Play) →

Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

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[Update: Native Integration] Google releases new Chrome extension for linking directly to specific text on a page

Update 1 (09/29/2020 @ 05:31 PM ET): Google is preparing to natively integrate the functionality of the Link to Text Fragment extension into Google Chrome. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on June 18, 2020, is preserved below.

It’s not often that Google releases its own new Chrome extensions, but today it did just that (via The Verge). The company’s latest extension is called “Link to Text Fragment” and it allows you to link to a specific section of text on a webpage. Rather than linking to an entire article, you can share a link directly to a part on a page you want someone to read.

The Link to Text Fragment extension is very simple to use. Once installed in Chrome or a Chromium-based browser with extensions support, all you need to do is highlight some text on a webpage and right-click. You’ll see “Copy Link to Selected Text” as an option in the menu, which will automatically copy the link to your clipboard. When someone visits the created link in Chrome (or another Chromium-based browser like Microsoft Edge), the text that you selected will appear highlighted in yellow. It does work on Android as well.

The extension is using a feature that was recently added to Chromium called “Text Fragments.” It basically adds extra information to a URL after the “#” to navigate to a specific part. Google is already using this technology to link to specific parts of web pages from Google Search. The links created with the Link to Text Fragment extension will work in Chromium-based browsers version 80 and up. As mentioned, that includes the Chrome for Android browser.

You can download the Link to Text Fragment extension in the Chrome Web Store right now or view its source code here. Admittedly, this may be a niche extension, but it can be extremely useful for people who often share long articles. It’s super easy to use and you won’t realize it’s there until you need it. Check it out.

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Update 1: Coming to Chrome Natively

Update by Mishaal Rahman

As reported by Techdows, Google is working to bake the functionality of the Link to Text Fragment extension into Chrome. In the Chrome Canary channel on Mac, Window, Linux, and Chrome OS, you can enable a flag called “Copy Link to Text” that “adds an item to the context menu to allow a user to copy a link to the page with the selected text highlighted.” This feature is currently under development, but once it rolls out, you won’t need to use the Link to Text Fragment extension anymore.

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Here are the countries using Google and Apple’s COVID-19 Contact Tracing API

SARS-CoV-2, also known colloquially as just the coronavirus, has wreaked havoc across the world. Many countries shut down large parts of the economy in order to contain the spread of the virus. As countries reopen their economies, many health experts fear a “second wave”, ie. resurgence, of COVID-19. To prevent a second wave, public health experts are advocating that nations adopt contact tracing, ie. tracing all the people who have recently come into contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 and then undertaking steps to isolate those individuals. Contact tracing is difficult to implement correctly without violating an individual’s privacy. The threat to personal privacy was severe enough for Google and Apple to collaborate on an API that developers of public health agencies can use to implement app-based contact tracing solutions. This contact tracing API, which Google and Apple call the Exposure Notification API, is designed to respect user privacy and security.

Once a user downloads an app that uses the Exposure Notification API and opts in to contact tracing, their device starts generating “proximity identifiers” that are changed every 15 minutes (on average). Via Bluetooth Low Energy, these “proximity identifiers” are periodically shared with nearby devices whose users have also opted into contact tracing. The proximity identifier is then processed on-device and does not reveal information about a user’s location or other personally identifiable information. Once a user confirms a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, they can share their diagnosis with the app they installed, which will then inform other users who have come into close contact with them in the last 14 days. For more information on how the Exposure Notification API works, we recommend reading our initial coverage.

Google first rolled out the Exposure Notification API for Android devices on May 20, 2020, as part of an update to Google Play Services, but its use is restricted to apps that have been developed by official public health agencies (for obvious reasons). However, neither Google nor Apple has made details public about the list of apps that have been whitelisted for using this API, so unless you’re constantly keeping up with the news, it’s hard to know which countries have adopted the API. We’ve previously covered some of the countries that have adopted the Exposure Notification API when we talked about the various open-source contact tracing projects that are out there. In this article, we have compiled a list of official contact tracing apps from designated health agencies from various countries that are using Google and Apple’s Exposure Notification API. Our list contains COVID-19 contact tracing apps that have been released or are currently in development.

We discovered Google’s hidden whitelist of application package names for the API. Subsequently, these package names were traced back to apps, their listing, and the countries they belong to. The information is compiled below in a table for easy reference. We have also added Google Play Store and Apple App Store links, if the app has been publicly released, as well as the source code and the official website link, wherever available. We will update the following tables as more countries/regions adopt the API.

Table Changelog

• June 26, 2020
  • Added: Brazil, Ghana, Ecuador, Spain, Estonia, Egypt, Portugal, Croatia, MIT’s PathCheck SafePlaces
  • Package names updated: Canada, Alabama
• June 29, 2020
  • Updated Ireland’s listing to include the source code
  • Added the name and package name of Spain’s app.
  • Google has updated the package name “eg.nc.moh.bruhealthtrace” to “egnc.moh.bruhealthtrace.” This matches the “BruHealth” contact tracing app from the government of “Brunei.” We have updated the table accordingly.
• June 30, 2020
  • Added Spain’s Radar COVID app
• July 1, 2020
  • Fixed Japan’s listing to reflect that COCOA – COVID-19 Contact App has already been released.
  • Added a separate table for open contact tracing implementations based on Google and Apple’s Exposure Notification API. PathCheck SafePlaces was moved to this table and COVID Shield and Common Circle were added.
• July 6, 2020
  • Ireland’s COVID Tracker app has been released on Google Play and the Apple App Store, so the listing in the table has been updated with links to reflect that.
• July 8, 2020
  • Added: North Ireland, the Netherlands (second app), Finland, and MITRE’s COVID Aware app
• July 15, 2020
  • Added: Arizona, CV Key
  • Updated: New Canadian app, package names for UK apps, Mexican app, updated Ghana –> Gibraltar
• July 22, 2020
  • Added: Nevada (?) pending verification
• August 5, 2020
  • Added: Belgium (In-Development), New York (In-Development)
  • Updated: Virginia (Released), North Dakota (In-Development), Canada (Released), Croatia (Released), Ecuador (Released), Northern Ireland (Released)
• August 10, 2020
  • Added: Slovenia, Arizona, South Africa (?) pending verification
  • Re-verified that released apps are using COVID-19 ENS.
• August 13, 2020
  • Updated: United Kingdom (Released)
• August 24, 2020
  • Added: Czech Republic (In-Development), Michigan (In-Development), North Carolina (In-Development), Pennsylvania (In-Development), Scotland (In-Development), Kazakhstan (In-Development)
  • Updated: Spain (now using ENS), Estonia (Released), Netherlands (Released), Slovenia (Released), Alabama (Released), Nevada (Released), North Dakota & Wyoming (Released)
• August 28, 2020
  • Added: Guam (Released)
  • Updated: Portugal (Released), South Africa (Released)
• August 31, 2020
  • Updated: Finland (Released)
• September 1, 2020
  • Added: Puerto Rico (Released)
  • Updated: Czech Republic (now using ENS)
• September 9, 2020
  • Updated: Scotland (Released), Spain (source code)
• September 14, 2020
  • Added: Delaware (Released)
• September 21, 2020
  • Added: California (Released)
  • Updated: North Carolina (Released), Belgium (Released), Kazakhstan (Released), Malta (Released), Pennsylvania (Released)
• September 29, 2020
  • Added: New Jersey (Released)

Regions with COVID-19 contact tracing apps based on the Exposure Notifications System (ENS)

Region	App Name	Android Package Name	Status	Useful Links
Australia	COVIDTrace	au.gov.dta.covidtrace	In-Development	–
Austria	Stopp Corona	at.roteskreuz.stopcorona	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Belgium	Coronalert	be.sciensano.coronalert	Released	Google Play Store Website
Brazil	Coronavirus – SUS	br.gov.datasus.guardioes	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store
Brunei	BruHealth	egnc.moh.bruhealthtrace	In-Development	Website
Canada	COVID Alert	ca.gc.hcsc.canada.stopcovid	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Croatia	Stop COVID-19	hr.miz.evidencijakontakata	Released	Google Play Store Source Code
Czech Republic	eRouška	cz.covid19cz.erouska	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Denmark	Smittestop	com.netcompany.smittestop_exposure_notification	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
Ecuador	ASI	ec.gob.asi.android	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store
Estonia	Hoia	ee.tehik.hoia	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
Finland	Koronavilkku	fi.thl.koronahaavi	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Germany	Corona-Warn-App	de.rki.coronawarnapp	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Gibraltar	Beat Covid Gibraltar	com.gha.covid.tracker	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
Ireland	Covid Tracker	com.covidtracker.hse	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Italy	Immuni	it.ministerodellasalute.immuni	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Japan	COCOA – COVID-19 Contact App	jp.go.mhlw.covid19radar	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Kazakhstan	Saqbol	kz.nitec.bizbirgemiz	Released	Google Play Store Website
Kenya	–	ke.go.health_togethertrace	In-Development	–
Latvia	Apturi Covid Latvia	lv.spkc.gov.apturicovid	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
Malta	COVID Alert Malta	mt.gov.dp3t	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
Mexico	COVID-19MX	mx.gob.www	Testing ENS	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
Netherlands	CoronaMelder	nl.rijksoverheid.en	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website Source Code
Northern Ireland	StopCOVID NI	net.hscni.covidtracker	Released	Google Play Store Source Code
Philippines	StaySafe PH	ph.staysafe.mobileapp	Testing ENS	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
Poland	ProteGO Safe	pl.gov.mc.protegosafe	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Portugal	STAYAWAY COVID	fct.inesctec.stayaway	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Saudi Arabia	Tabaud	sa.gov.nic.tabaud	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
Scotland	Protect Scotland	gov.scot.covidtracker	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
Slovenia	OstaniZdrav	si.gov.ostanizdrav	Released	Google Play Store Website
South Africa	COVIDConnect	za.gov.health.covidconnect	Released	Google Play Store Website
Spain	Radar COVID	es.gob.radarcovid	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code
Switzerland	SwissCovid	ch.admin.bag.dp3t	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
United Kingdom	NHS COVID-19	uk.nhs.covid19.production	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
Uruguay	Coronavirus UY	uy.gub.salud.plancovid19uy	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
USA – Alabama	GuideSafe	gov.adph.exposurenotifications	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
USA – California	California COVID Notify	gov.ca.covid19.exposurenotifications	Released	Google Play Store Website
USA – Arizona	Covid Watch	gov.azdhs.covidwatch.android	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Source Code Website
USA – Delaware	Covid Alert DE	gov.de.covidtracker	Released	Google Play Store
USA – Guam	Guam Covid Alert	org.pathcheck.guam.bt	Released	Google Play Store Website
USA – Michigan	–	gov.michigan.MiCovidExposure	In-Development	–
USA – Nevada	Covid Trace Nevada	gov.nv.dhhs.en	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
USA – New Jersey	COVID Alert NJ	com.nj.gov.covidalert	Released	Google Play Store Website
USA – New York	–	gov.ny.health.proximity	In-Development	–
USA – North Carolina	SlowCOVIDNC	gov.nc.dhhs.exposurenotification	Released	Google Play Store Website
USA – Pennsylvania	COVID Alert PA	gov.pa.covidtracker	Released	Google Play Store Website
USA – Puerto Rico	Rastrea el Virus BT	org.pathcheck.pr.bt	Released	Google Play Store Website
USA – North Dakota & Wyoming	Care19 Alert	com.proudcrowd.exposure	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website
USA – South Carolina	–	–	In-Development	–
USA – Virginia	COVIDWise	gov.vdh.exposurenotification	Released	Google Play Store Apple App Store Website

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Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

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