5 Cool New Features to Try Out in Android 14

Android 14 is already obtainable for Pixel cellphone homeowners and is rolling out to different handsets as we communicate—and whereas it doesn’t embrace a plethora of latest options, there are some cool upgrades to your handset which can be price making use of. We’ve picked out 5 of our favorites that you need to check out as quickly as Android 14 hits your machine.

1) Emoji wallpapers

Emoji wallpapers had been one of many first Android 14 options that Google confirmed off, enabling you to create a backdrop out of your alternative of emojis relatively than a picture. The characteristic arrived on Pixel gadgets first with the later updates for Android 13, however you need to have entry to them on any Android cellphone, as soon as Android 14 turns up.

From Settings, open up Wallpaper and elegance, then More wallpapers and Emoji workshop. The wallpaper generator allows you to decide the number of emojis you wish to mix, the sample you’d like to seem in, and the colour scheme you wish to use. Any wallpapers you create are saved in a gallery so that you can get again to at any time.

2) Photo permissions

With Android 14, Google’s cellular working system matches iOS by enabling you to restrict the images and movies that an app can entry—beforehand it was all or nothing, so both apps had permission to entry your cellphone’s media gallery, or they didn’t.

Now there’s a 3rd choice, which is granting entry to sure images and movies: Tap Allow entry to all images, Select images, or Don’t enable when the permission request pops up on display screen. To discover these choices once more, open up Settings, then select Apps, decide an app, and choose Permissions after which Photos and movies.

3) Customize the lock display screen

Perhaps essentially the most noticeable upgrades in Android 14 are the additional lock display screen customization instruments you get: From Settings, select Wallpaper and elegance, and also you’ll see the subsequent display screen has now been break up up into Lock display screen and Home display screen sections.

The Lock display screen tab is the place the brand new choices are. You can change the wallpaper and colours as earlier than, however you’re additionally now capable of swipe left and proper on the lock display screen preview to cycle by completely different clock kinds till you discover the one you want essentially the most.

Using the Shortcuts hyperlink you possibly can eventually change the shortcut buttons that seem within the decrease left and proper corners of the lock display screen—your selections are None, Camera, Do Not Disturb, Home, Mute, QR code scanner, Torch, Video digital camera, and Wallet.

Tap Clock shade and measurement to search out extra choices. Via the Color tab, you possibly can alter the colour of the lock display screen clock independently of the opposite system colours, through the swatches and the saturation slider, and through Size, you possibly can decide between Dynamic (the clock measurement adjustments primarily based on what else is on display screen) and Small (the clock is at all times set to the smaller measurement).

4) Notification flashes

If you need extra of a warning when notifications arrive, then Android 14 makes it doable: You can have the digital camera flash mild up, or the display screen flash mild up, or each, each time one thing wants your consideration.

From Settings, faucet Notifications after which Flash notifications to search out the Camera flash and Screen flash toggle switches. Tap the Screen flash label relatively than the toggle swap to alter the colour, and use the Preview choice to verify how the impact will look.

5) Regional preferences

Different elements of the world measure the temperature in another way, and in Android 14 you possibly can set your choice throughout the entire system, relatively than specifying it in every particular person app. You can discover the choice underneath System, Languages, and Regional preferences in Settings.

At the time of writing, there are two completely different choices to set right here: Temperature and First day of week. Make your selections accordingly, or go away it for apps to resolve—and word that app builders should replace their apps to be suitable with this regional preferences setting in Android 14.