Posts From Mishaal Rahman

Mishaal Rahman
Mishaal Rahman

Editor-in-chief at XDA-Developers. I follow AOSP and the Chromium Gerrit to uncover new features, and I also routinely analyze Android applications and device firmware to do the same. Tips/media inquiries: [email protected]

Google adds WireGuard VPN to Android 12’s Linux Kernel

Google adds WireGuard VPN to Android 12’s Linux Kernel

October 26, 2020
With remote work becoming the norm at many businesses thanks to COVID-19, it's more important than ever to secure network connections with a virtual private network, or VPN. There are multiple VPN tunneling protocols that services can make use of, but a relatively new implementation called WireGuard has taken the tech world by storm. As...
Google Assistant prepares to let you pay for gas from your phone

Google Assistant prepares to let you pay for gas from your phone

October 21, 2020
Remember CES? It seems like the world's biggest tech event happened ages ago, so it's easy to forget that so many new products and services were announced there. Take, for example, Amazon's new "Pay for Gas" service for Alexa. The feature lets drivers ask Alexa to handle fuel payments at over 11,000 gas stations across...
Here are the countries using Google and Apple’s COVID-19 Contact Tracing API

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

October 19, 2020
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...
The Google Assistant Driving Mode announced at Google I/O 2019 seems to finally be rolling out

The Google Assistant Driving Mode announced at Google I/O 2019 seems to finally be rolling out

October 16, 2020
After announcing Google Assistant's Driving Mode back at Google I/O 2019, Google seems to finally be rolling out the feature on Android. The new feature is supposed to serve as a replacement for the Android Auto app on smartphones. Two weeks ago, a few users started to see a new navigation UI in the Google Maps...
Download Google’s new “Captured on Pixel” and “Art & Culture” wallpapers

Download Google’s new “Captured on Pixel” and “Art & Culture” wallpapers

October 8, 2020
Last week, Google announced the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5, the latest premium Pixel smartphones with Qualcomm's mid-range Snapdragon 765G SoC. The two phones will only be available in a handful of regions, but they won't reach the hands of consumers until later this month. With each new Pixel phone launch, Google introduces a...
[Update: Extended deadline for India] Google clarifies In-App Billing requirements, says using third-party app stores will be easier in Android 12

[Update: Extended deadline for India] Google clarifies In-App Billing requirements, says using third-party app stores will be easier in Android 12

October 5, 2020
Last week, we learned that Google was preparing to update its Play Store guidelines with new language that clarifies the requirements around the use of the Google Play In-app Billing service for in-app purchases. The report suggested that Google wanted to crack down on apps that offered in-app payments without using Google's payment service, which...
Gmail prepares to let you opt out of personalizing other Google services

Gmail prepares to let you opt out of personalizing other Google services

October 2, 2020
Given how important email has become in our day-to-day lives, it's important that you sign up with an email service that you can trust. Most people are using free email services like Gmail, and it's thanks to Gmail's huge userbase that Google is able to collect massive amounts of aggregated data on our email habits....
Google Pay 2.118 confirms the old app will be replaced by the Flutter one

Google Pay 2.118 confirms the old app will be replaced by the Flutter one

September 30, 2020
Last week, the Google Pay team announced that the Google Pay for India app (formerly called "Tez") is getting a major design rewrite with Flutter, Google's open-source UI development kit. Google currently maintains two versions of the Pay app: one for global users and one for Indians. In the blog post, Google said they were...
Watch Google announce the Google Pixel 5, Pixel 4a 5G, and new Chromecast and Nest devices!

Watch Google announce the Google Pixel 5, Pixel 4a 5G, and new Chromecast and Nest devices!

September 30, 2020
Today is September 30th, the date that Google set for its "Launch Night In" event. The event starts in under 1 hour, and we're expecting to see Google announce 2 new Pixel phones, 1 new Chromecast, and 1 new smart speaker. Thanks to leaks, official teasers from Google, and retailers breaking street date, we know...
Vivo beats Google to launching the first phone with Android 11

Vivo beats Google to launching the first phone with Android 11

September 30, 2020
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...
[Update: Rolling Out] The new Google Assistant will soon support German, French, Spanish, and Italian on the Pixel 4a/4

[Update: Rolling Out] The new Google Assistant will soon support German, French, Spanish, and Italian on the Pixel 4a/4

September 29, 2020
Today, Google lifted the veil on the Pixel 4a, the company's second-ever mid-range Pixel smartphone. They also surprisingly teased the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 for a fall launch. But new hardware isn't all that Google announced today. The company also announced software updates to two of its nifty AI-powered features: Live Caption...
Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Review – The Smartwatch Upgrade That Wear OS Needs

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Review – The Smartwatch Upgrade That Wear OS Needs

September 24, 2020
It's been over 6 years since Android came to wearables, and yet smartwatches running Google's Wear OS only account for 10% of the total smartwatch market. With Google themselves declining to launch their own smartwatch, Mobvoi and Fossil have been the two standard-bearers for Wear OS smartwatches. The two brands have done everything they could...