During the Google I/O 2023 event last night, the company spent very little time speaking about Android 14. However, it did share some interesting tidbits across the entire session, shining some light on the features that we can expect to see on Android smartphones, including Samsung's Galaxy lineup of phones and tablets.
Android 14 preserves Ultra HDR photos
Google announced that Android 14 will bring HDR image support for playback. This will help offer more realistic stills thanks to better brightness, contrast, and color range. The format will be known as Ultra HDR, which will be backward compatible with JPEG. Pictures taken in this format will be saved in the original 10-bit HDR and can be viewed as is on supported Android 14 running devices. Google expects Ultra HDR to be a default format within the native camera app as well as in in-app camera views.
Google is taking steps with Qualcomm and others to optimize the hardware capabilities to handle this new format. Moreover, Google Photos will support “Ultra HDR for display, backup, editing, sharing, and downloading.”
Enhanced privacy and security in Android 14
Privacy and security are also being enhanced with Android 14. Users will get granular control by granting apps partial/select media access. Also, permission prompts will require app developers to explain why and when location data is being shared with third-party companies. Android 14 users will also get ‘Data sharing updates for location' roundups. Users will also get the ability to do partial sharing, i.e., sharing a single app or the whole screen.
Material You+ design
Material You+ design is also coming up with Android 14. Monochrome is a new theme that will feature black and white colors. Thanks to color fidelity, Dynamic Color will be more vibrant and will be able to generate an expanded range of colors. Dynamic Color will also let buttons change the color based on the components of the screen. Material You is also getting high-contrast and medium-contrast themes.
Some other tweaks that Android 14 brings are the video thumbnails, share sheet updates with custom app inclusion, and the new Material design for Predictive Back animations.
