TL;DR

• Google Maps appears to be working on a new power saving mode for navigation.
• The mode would eliminate almost all UI elements and extraneous map labeling from your view.
• Power saving mode limitations could prevent it from working in landscape or with public transit

TL;DR

• Android 16 introduces “seamless app updates” to make installing app updates faster and less disruptive.
• This feature significantly reduces the time an app is frozen during an update, cutting it from seconds to milliseconds.
• The improvement is achieved by running optimization scripts earlier in the installation process, reducing app downtime.

UFS 5.0 will include the following and other features:

• Increased sequential performance up to 10.8 GB/s to meet AI demands
• Integrated link equalization for more reliable signal integrity
• Distinct power supply rail to provide noise isolation between PHY and memory subsystem, easing system integration
• Inline Hashing for greater security

Pros

• solid performance
• fast Wi-Fi
• great battery life
• fast charger included
• can work as a proper flashlight
• projector feature is worth every penny

Cons

• very heavy and unwieldy
• cameras fail to impress
• lights can run just 5 minutes at full brightness

Pros

• Premium design, IP68 certification.
• Larger and brighter OLED panel with Dolby Vision.
• Excellent camera performance, stills and videos, impressive telephoto cam.
• Fast wired and wireless charging.
• Dependable battery life
• Potent chipset.
• Feature-rich HyperOS with 5 years of major OS updates.

Cons

• No AF on the ultrawide, the selfie camera is underwhelming.
• 144Hz refresh rate is a gimmick.
• The wired charging is slightly downgraded.
• Becomes hot when chipset is pushed for long periods.

1. Does this mean sideloading is going away on Android?

Absolutely not. Sideloading is fundamental to Android and it is not going away. Our new developer identity requirements are designed to protect users and developers from bad actors, not to limit choice. We want to make sure that if you download an app, it’s truly from the developer it claims to be published from, regardless of where you get the app. Verified developers will have the same freedom to distribute their apps directly to users through sideloading or through any app store they prefer.

2. Making APKs available to your test team

If your team’s current test process relies on distributing APKs to testers for installation using methods other than adb, you will need to verify your identity and register the package. This also applies if you make APKs available to your test teams through Google Play Internal Testing, Firebase App Distribution, or similar solutions through other distribution partners.

3. Do I still need to register my apps if I’m only distributing to a limited number of users?

We recommend you register. It's a simple, one-time process that will allow anyone to download and install your app. However, if you prefer not to, we are also introducing a free developer account type that will allow teachers, students, and hobbyists to distribute apps to a limited number of devices without needing to provide a government ID.

4. What can I do to prepare for developer verification?

The best way to get ready and stay updated is to sign up for early access. We’ll start sending invitations in October.

We recommend you participate in developer verification because, even though verification is not required to develop apps with Android Studio, you will need it to distribute apps to certified Android devices. Apps installed through enterprise management tools on managed devices will also be installable without being registered.

A OnePlus spokesperson gave 9to5Google the following statement:

We acknowledge the recent disclosure of CVE-2025-10184 and have implemented a fix. This will be rolled out globally via software update starting from mid-October. OnePlus remains committed to protecting customer data and will continue to prioritize security improvements.

As for how this happened, essentially, OnePlus seemingly modified the stock Telephony app back in the Android 12 days — this bug doesn’t exist in OxygenOS 11 — to add additional content providers into the service, including the following three listings:

• com.android.providers.telephony.PushMessageProvider

• com.android.providers.telephony.PushShopProvider

• com.android.providers.telephony.ServiceNumberProvider

Modifying this package isn’t inherently bad, obviously, but when you’re dealing with something that can provide read and write access to messages stored on device, you need to take additional steps to ensure you aren’t leaving vulnerabilities — and that’s exactly what happened here. While OnePlus assigned read permissions for SMS messages to these providers, it failed to add write permissions, which, as Rapid7‘s blog post states, “may allow client apps to perform writer operations, if the relevant write […] operation is implemented within the provider.”

For now, OnePlus users should tread cautiously until that patch rolls out in mid-October. Rapid7 suggests only installing apps from known sources and removing all non-essential apps. If you receive OTP texts for 2FA logins, you’ll also want to switch to an authenticator app as soon as possible to prevent your code from being sent over SMS. Switching to a third-party chat application can also help in this regard.

I get a ton of spam messages. I want to archive or delete those messages based on what I flag as spam. A basic Bayesian spam filter would be good too.

I could not find anything in fdroid.

SpamBlocker can filter sms but needs manual hand crafted rules.

One app for notification which does this is FilterBox. I want one for SMS.