Android 14 Beta 4 arrives with new Easter Egg mini-game plus Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet eligibility
Google has rolled out Android 14 Beta 4, the second Platform Stable build in this year's beta program. Thus, the new beta build contains finalised developer APIs and app-facing behaviours, allowing developers to update and publish their apps on Google Play for devices running Android 14. Platform Stability also means that Google is only polishing what it has already integrated in earlier builds, with no new major features to be added.
For example, Google has added new profile picture options, as well as a toggle for automatically unlocking a device when you input a correct PIN. Previously, Google Pixel devices required you to press Enter after inputting a correct PIN. Additionally, Google has changed the mute status bar icon to match its volume slider counterpart and has added a split screen button in the fly-out menu that appears when you long-press a home screen app icon.
Arguably the inclusion of the Android 14 Easter Egg is the biggest user-facing change bundled within Beta 4. For reference, you can view a short run-through of the mini-game in the embedded tweet below. Also, Beta 4 is the first Android 14 beta build open to the Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet, which Google has now started shipping. Please see Mishaal Rahman's thread for full changes found so far in Android 14 Beta 4. Moreover, Google has bundled the following changes from Beta 3 builds:
- Fixed a null pointer exception that sometimes caused the launcher to crash after launching an app.
- Fixed a system issue that caused both notifications to stop appearing and Quick Settings tiles to stop working until the device was restarted. (Issue #287756395, Issue #286542217, Issue #286556831, Issue #286739130, Issue #290217714)
- Fixed a system issue that caused the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) window to be unresponsive when using an app (such as Google Maps) in PiP mode and then locking the screen and reopening the app by tapping the notification on the lock screen.
- Fixed a system issue that sometimes caused the Android System Intelligence service to crash. (Issue #286290268)
- Fixed an issue that caused the CredentialManager registry to fail when using more than one set of credentials.
- Fixed an issue that caused the rounded borders on notifications to display incorrectly.
- Fixed an issue that could cause fingerprint enrollment to fail if the device was rotated during enrollment.
- Fixed an issue that sometimes caused a USB headset to consume additional power when connected to a device that was making a call using Voice over LTE (VoLTE).
- Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Face Unlock to fail.
- Fixed an issue that sometimes caused only a right-side Bluetooth earbud to be paired.
- Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the system volume slider to be stuck on the screen.
- Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented devices from charging or allowed a device to charge but erroneously reported that there were issues with the connected charging cable or accessory. (Issue #278143400)
- Fixed an issue where a device could sometimes become unresponsive if eSIM was disabled.
- Fixed an issue where an intent picker dialog was incorrectly shown during work profile setup, which interfered with a user completing setup successfully.
- Fixed an issue where connected Bluetooth devices were not ranked correctly in the system audio output switcher.
- Fixed an issue where notifications from a prioritised conversation were erroneously dismissed when the group of non-prioritised notifications was dismissed.
- Fixed an issue where some elements on the system UI didn't retheme correctly when switching between day and night modes.
- Fixed an issue where the lock screen sometimes got stuck with a blank, black screen.
- Fixed an issue where the lock screen wallpaper was sometimes reset to a blank, black screen when setting a new wallpaper for the home screen.
- Fixed an issue where the notification shade didn't close after tapping a notification to launch an intent. Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the analogue clock to fail to display when viewing wallpaper preview.
- Fixed an issue where the share sheet sometimes crashed after pressing the copy button.
- Fixed an issue where the title of the currently playing song would abruptly disappear or be replaced with other information when transitioning a device from always-on-display mode to the lock screen. (Issue #286522735, Issue #239835302)
- Fixed an issue where the UI didn't return to the share sheet workflow if a user-edited an image from the share sheet.
- Fixed an issue where, when using a device with a work profile, the Google Play Store app in the work profile would hang or crash when launched.
- Fixed an issue with ConnectivityService that could cause a device to crash and restart in rare cases.
- Fixed issues that caused poor UI animations in the launcher.
- Fixed issues that could cause boot loops and "Application not responding" messages on some devices.
- Fixed issues that prevented app launch animations from playing correctly.
- Fixed issues where the HealthConnect API returned null pointer exceptions in some cases to calling apps.
- Fixed issues where the titles of some Settings pages were not announced correctly and some areas within the system Settings app couldn't be accessed when TalkBack was enabled.
- Fixed other various issues that were impacting system stability.
- Fixed system issues that sometimes caused VoIP apps to stop recording audio when the screen was locked or the app was put in the background. (Issue #286703227, Issue #286927629, Issue #286917690, Issue #287473522)
- Fixed various issues that caused the system UI to crash in some cases.
Here's a more mobile-optimized video showing me accessing the Easter egg for those who are asking. pic.twitter.com/W9z2YH9Zzn
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 11, 2023Source(s)
Google via 9to5Google & @MishaalRahman