Android 14 Beta 2: The big innovations from I/O are still missing

At the start of the I/O developer conference, Google showed further customisations for the lock screen - with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), of course. Like Magic Compose, which is supposed to suggest messages in the Messages app, these have not yet made it into Beta 2 of Android 14. However, the pre-release version of the operating system is no longer only available for Pixel smartphones.

In the blog post on Beta 2 of Android 14, Google primarily addresses developers who want to adapt their apps to the new possibilities of the operating system. However, there are also some things you can look forward to as an end user of Android devices.

Camera, audio and graphics

In the field of photography, cameras with the new Ultra HDR format from Android 14 will capture even more information from the image sensors with 10-bit images. The format should be backwards compatible with JPEG.

Google has also revised the interfaces that apps use to access cameras in Android 14. This should enable longer processing times and the images should be better in the end. If necessary, however, a quick preview in poorer quality is possible. It should also be possible to use in-sensor zoom outside of the camera app. For sensors with a high resolution, only a section is viewed. For example, if you only use 12 megapixels out of 108 megapixels, this results in a zoom.

Android 14 should be able to output lossless music formats by cable via the USB-C interface. The new operating system also makes use of new options for graphics calculation. These include canvas layers, custom meshes and AGSL. For you, this essentially means The graphics on your smartphone can look even better.

Health Connect and more information on shared location data

Health Connect is set to become the central storage location for fitness and health data. They remain on the device and you decide which apps you want to allow access to them. Up to now, Health Connect can be installed as an app from the Play Store. With Android 14, the service will be permanently integrated into the operating system.

When you share your location data with Android 14, you can view additional information. In addition, the operating system will notify you when an app retrieves location data, unlike before.

In Android 14, Google limits the ability to display notifications in full screen to apps with calls or alarms.

App developers will also receive new functions and guidelines to improve animations when changing actions on sale in apps. For example, when you switch from the overview to a new email to be written in the mail programme. There are also new instructions for them to integrate the back preview into their applications.

Extension of the test

Beta 2 is the first time that Android 14 can be tested on more than just Pixel smartphones. You can install the pre-release version on the following devices, among others:

• Lenovo Tab Extreme
• Nothing Phone (1)
• OnePlus 11
• Oppo Find N2 Flip
• Realme GT 2 Pro
• Vivo X90 Pro
• Xiaomi 13 Pro, Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 12T

However, these are also pre-release versions that are not suitable for everyday devices. Installation is more complex than with the Pixel devices. You can find more information on the individual devices here.

This is what happens next

Google wants to achieve platform stability with the next beta version in June. New functions are hardly to be expected. The main focus will then be on fixing bugs. Android 14 could be ready as early as August. However, the new version of the operating system is still only likely to be released for Pixel devices first. Other manufacturers still have to adapt the software to their devices.