Android

TLDR:

New silicon-carbon smartphone batteries offer huge capacities in thinner phones (0:25). While many companies like Xiaomi are using them, major players like Apple, Samsung, and Google are holding back (0:55). The main reason appears to be concerns about battery swelling and longevity due to silicon expanding significantly during charging (3:09). These companies are waiting for more real-world data and improved reliability before adopting the technology on a large scale (6:44), especially given their massive production volumes (6:31) and the potentially severe consequences of battery failure (5:21). The US market's focus on software and ecosystem lock-in also means less pressure on hardware innovation (7:11).

I updated my Pixel 10 Pro with the latest Pixel software (BP4A.260105.004.E1) and noticed that notifications for things like Signal, news alerts, discord, etc. even though the notifications are there when I pull down the notification bar.

I initially thought it was the new notification "groups" but turned that off.

I don't have "Do Not Disturb" set since my phone is perpetually turned on silent.

The odd thing is that they selectively show up throughout the day. Some conversations show while others don't.

This seems like a setting something I need to change so that I see the icons. Does else have this problem?

The phone gets 0 major Android upgrades though Moto isn't the only OEM to indulge in these shenanigans. I had personally a phone from little known Techno (popular in South East Asia). Decent hardware for the price but it never went above the Android 12 it shipped with.

Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 devices seem to be now following a quarterly update schedule instead of monthly patches.

The attempt to restrict installing and development of applications, Android's development now happening closed doors and now we're getting updates only quarterly.

The way the stock Android experienced is quite bloated (when I got this one I was annoyed how power button just put me to Google Assistant than give me the power/restart options) and just my big dislike of Big Tech like Google just has made me run custom ROMs full time and I am worried in long term Android will become non-free eventually.

I recently bought a pixel tablet that I installed lineageOS with Gapps and I'm looking for a launcher that has home screen like Lawnchair so I can add weather widgets, but have the app list/drawer be similar to Niagara launcher. I looked through fdroid, but couldn't find one I liked and launchers on the play store tend to pester you to purchase their subscription or a bunch of ads.

On my phone I personally use OLauncherCF, but it just doesn't work well on a large screen in my opinion. So does anyone know of any good ones?

I remember the original Syncthing Android app being discontinued and have been putting of dealing with this for way too long.
What is the current consensus? Is there any trusted app on the PlayStore, F-Droid, GitHub, ... ?
Have you replaced the old app and if so how?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42358527

Nothing mistitled their latest vid. Per Carl, the "a" line got much sales and they'll have a new "a" line this year. They won't make a 📱 with the 8 elite gen 5 this year. But there was no 4a teaser. He didn't talk re the specs. Didn't talk re the design. He didn't say if there'll be a 4a pro and a 4a ultra. Most of the vid isn't re the "a" line. My issue has been the title. Please edit the title. The chapters immediately say the vid is mostly re other stuff –

00:00 Coming up

00:20 Intro

01:05 2025 recap

02:39 2026, brand and Cbo

04:19 New London office

06:00 New Nothing shops

07:38 2026 items

11:20 The ram situation

14:16 Outro

Knowing how frustrating certificate pinning can be when trying to intercept an app's traffic, I was really excited by this post about being able to quickly and easily bypass certificate pinning (which was shared here).

Unfortunately, it still required cloning a git repo, installing NPM, then installing the project dependencies, then running a local web server, in order to use it.

So here is a publicly available instance of reversing.works' work which should allow anyone to use it without having to install anything (except for their intercepting proxy of choice). Make sure to check their blog and leave a star on their repo if you find this useful

Minor gripe: I had find it better if the article elaborated if phones had a SD card slot or not. This phone ships with 128 GB base storage which is a problem if there is no SD card slot but not a big thingy if expandable options are present.

As for 3.5mm Jack, Samsung only has them in their cheapest lineup now I think.

https://9to5google.com/2026/01/27/android-desktop-leak/

I love FOSS apps that are made for for everyone to use and help improve lives. But I also love apps that someone clearly made to address a very specific problem that they were solving.

I love to imagine the person struggling and thinking, "someone must have already made an app for this. I can't be the only one who needs help manually counting the transportation percentage at a series of crossings!" Then finally doing the Thanos thing and just knocking out an entire app to share with the world.

Cross-posted from "Release 2026.01.24 is out" by @CoMap@sopuli.xyz in !CoMaps@sopuli.xyz

Release 2026.01.24 is now out on all distribution channels! Beyond fresh OpenStreetMap data, it includes adding road outlines for better readability, renaming of the "Bookmarks & Tracks" to the clearer "Favorites" and many more updates: https://codeberg.org/comaps/comaps/releases/tag/v2026.01.24-5

My Zenfone 8 is getting old. I love this smartphone as it runs perfectly smooth despite its age and easily fits in every pocket. However, more and more problems start to pop up. The internet connection is unstable and I need to restart the phone once in a while for the internet to start working again. The battery is really weak. It even struggles to get past the day.

I am even considering getting another one, perhaps with a broken screen, to replace the mainboard in mine, but this phone is not getting security updates anymore, so I think it may be finally the time to buy a completely new phone.

What am I looking for:

• At least 1 year old. Yes, you read that right. I want to see long-term reviews and experiences with servicing. New phones often appear super fast in the store and then start lagging just a few months after buying. And also there's a chance to get an older model at a decent price.
• Relatively small. I know that it's rare to see a phone with less than 6 inch screen, so it's not a hard requirement. I'm even considering getting a foldable as used ones are getting cheaper, but I worry that with me dropping things once in a while, it's not a good idea.
• Clean software. This is subjective of course, but Zenfone 8 has almost pure Android with only a few noninvasive things added by ASUS (like smaller tiles!). Any ads are a no-go.
• Inexpensive. I don't need a flagship, I need something I can rely on. And I'm piss poor currently, so I really rather not spend all my money on a phone.

I'm sorry if this sounds like a stupid question but why won't android just straight up run like Linux distros that almost run on any computer? Why does each model under each manufacturers require separate maintainors seperately? Aren't they running like almost similar hardware like processors from Qualcomm, mediatek, Exynos, etc? Why hasn't there been a single android os that is compatible with all the device?

All the other discussions I found on Lemmy dismiss it because they find the idea of a second phone ridiculous. Or because they don't buy into the "dumb phone" concept. But I think it makes a compelling phone on it's own, and you wouldn't need a second.

But really look into it. By every indication it appears designed to be a fully featured main phone. It has some compromises made to fit the keyboard first philosophy, but it has everything you'd need and more. Dual SIM (eSIM+physical), a headphone jack, micro SD Card support, a 50mp camera with OIS (I know megapixels don't mean much but I think it shows it's not gonna be the cheapest crap camera), NFC/Google Pay support, Android Auto, Qi2... That doesn't read "second phone" to me. It's just.... phone.

They have now said that it will have an unlockable bootloader too. I'm not finding much to dislike here. 8GB of RAM is somewhat low but should be fine. The processor is still a question mark but honesty as long as it's not bottom of the barrel it should be perfectly fine. I have always gone for flagship phones but honestly I've started analyzing what I actually do on my phone and I pretty much never push the hardware. I like knowing I have the top of the line but I basically just web browse, message, read email, scroll Lemmy, and listen to music/podcasts. Very occasionally watch some YouTube but that's usually on my TV or PC. No gaming or anything. I should be able to do all of that on this device, some of it won't be as good on that screen obviously but it should still be doable. I need the camera to at least be decent. Not great just not garbage. Like it's fine if the low light performance is meh and the video isn't the best. But I don't want to look at my photos and regret taking it with that device, so we'll see.

I don't want a dumb phone, and I don't think this is one. You should be able to do everything any other phone can. I don't think it's a second phone either. I think they're just leaning into that for marketing reasons, so that when anyone points out the tradeoffs of this form factor they can just wave it away as a secondary device.

It appeals to me because it's a small phone. Seriously nobody makes one worth using. Unihertz sure, if you want a bad software experience with no updates ever. But otherwise you just have the non-plus sized iPhone/Galaxy S. Those are considered small. Or maybe the flip-foldables. It also appeals to me because it has major character and (imo) style. I'm bored of glass and metal sandwiches. Give me this! A plastic device with a swappable back that has a (vegan?) leather option? Hell yeah.

Does anyone know this company? I hope it's Nova launchers saving grace.