Android

Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Google is adding a new privacy dashboard to track AI agents installed and running on your phone. In addition to agents created with Spark, Android 17 should allow you to track ones using third-party services. This appears to be part of Android’s upcoming Privacy Dashboard for AI activities on your device. Agentic workflows are the next big thing in AI, letting users hand off elaborate tasks to assistants like Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude to handle with minimal intervention at every step. For months now, Google has been talking about automation for a variety of workflows — from something as simple as ordering food online to booking, not just planning, your entire trip for you — right from your Android device. Naturally, Gemini isn’t the only app capable of creating and running agents in the background. So, with Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4, Google appears to be building a dedicated dashboard to keep a tab on what agents do, especially in the background. A new option for “Agents” appears in the latest Android 17 QPR2 beta under Security & privacy > Privacy controls. While the page doesn’t list any agents for us yet, the description notes it is meant to list “agents that can access info or take actions within apps.” It further prompts us to install an agent for it to show on this page.

TL;DR Some Google Messages users say old texts from unrelated conversations are unexpectedly resurfacing. Reports span multiple Pixel and Samsung phones. In some cases, those messages appear to be sent alongside new texts or images, raising serious privacy concerns. Google Messages is getting some welcome attention with custom chat themes and selective text copying finally becoming available, but the app’s recent run of bugs is taking some shine off those additions. Besides broken RCS messaging and conversations turning into multiple threads, users are reporting a more worrying problem: Messages appears to be pulling old texts from unrelated conversations and attaching or sending them with new messages. Several Reddit reports describe the same basic nightmare. A user starts a new conversation, only for Messages to insert a message from a completely different chat, sometimes from months or even years ago. In some cases, the stray text appears alongside a photo or group message. In others, users say the old message actually reaches the unintended recipient.

Three months after Samsung launched the three mainline Galaxy S25 models, it followed up with a fourth offering: the Galaxy S25 Edge. By all indications, Samsung released the ultra-thin Galaxy S25 Edge to get ahead of the iPhone Air, and it almost worked. The Galaxy S25 Edge came with better specs and fewer compromises than the iPhone Air, but one year later, Samsung’s slim flagship has no successor in sight. It’s easily the brand’s worst phone of 2025, and seems destined to be forgotten as a quirky flop. I bought the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in cash, with no promotions or discounts, and used it for the last year. Whenever I wasn’t reviewing a new Android phone, the Galaxy S25 Edge was my daily driver. I still love the concept, but I struggled to live with Samsung’s execution.

I’ll admit that for the last few years, I’ve been pretty lazy about testing new weather apps. I’ve almost exclusively used a combination of Samsung Weather or Pixel Weather alongside AccuWeather. Ready for something new, I decided to dive into the alternatives. What I was looking for was something that bridged the gap between the two services. That meant something easy to jump into, with a fair amount of customization, and a reputation for accuracy. Ultimately, I found two apps that best fit what I was looking for, even though they took somewhat different approaches: Gradient Weather and Breezy Weather. While they both were a dream to use, neither was perfect, but one of these apps ended up winning me over a tad more than the other.

Credit: C. Scott Brown / Android Authority TL;DR Code in One UI 9 Beta 7 indicates Google and Samsung plan to bring Scam Detection to the upcoming Galaxy S27 lineup. The feature could also expand to the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z Flip 7, and Galaxy Z TriFold. The code also mentions the “s5e9975” (Exynos 2700) alongside a Qualcomm chip, signaling that Samsung may retain its dual-chipset strategy for 2027 flagships. Scam Detection started off as a Pixel-exclusive feature when it launched on the Pixel 9 series, but this year, Google shed that exclusivity by expanding it to the Galaxy S26 series. Even Samsung’s newer Galaxy Z8 foldables support Scam Detection working through Samsung’s own Phone app, and the feature has been spotted in the works for vivo phones too. It seems Google has even more expansion in the cards, as we’ve spotted clues that it’s set to expand to even more Samsung flagships, including older foldables. You’re reading an Authority Insights story. Authority Insights brings you all the latest exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage from the Android Authority team that you won’t find anywhere else.

Google Clock might come preinstalled on several Android phones, but it’s not necessarily the best in its class. It’s not a particularly great alarm app, nor does it offer the range of timing features that more specialized apps do. It lurks somewhere in the middle, and its accessibility is the primary reason many use it. However, with just a few minor tweaks and upgrades, Google Clock could easily grow into one of Google’s gems. Looking over the fence at the host of other timing and alarm apps available on the market, here are just a few features I’d love to see Google integrate into its longstanding Clock app.

Credit: Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority TL;DR Snapseed is the first app to implement the new location metadata API in Android’s Photo Picker. When you use the Photo Picker to choose an image in Snapseed, it’ll now ask whether you want to include the picture’s location info. This is a welcome move as it gives users greater control over sensitive metadata. Google recently announced a major improvement to Android’s Photo Picker. The photo picker will allow users to choose whether to keep or remove location data in shared images. It seems like the waiting is over if you really want to try this feature. You’re reading an Authority Insights story. Authority Insights brings you all the latest exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage from the Android Authority team that you won’t find anywhere else.

I wasn’t expecting much from the Pixel 11 Pro. I didn’t plan to buy the phone, let alone love it. In fact, the original idea for this article was to discuss how Google hasn’t earned the right to make small iterations of its phones the way Samsung and Apple have, and that I was going to keep my Pixel 10 Pro. In the end, I changed my mind, and after almost a week with my Pixel 11 Pro, I can say that Google has (barely) done enough this year, and I’m glad I upgraded.

Credit: Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4, which was released last week, brings an easier way to broadcast your voice over a private network. The new Audio broadcast feature expands Pixels’ existing Auracast-based media-sharing features to transmit audio over Bluetooth LE Audio. While the feature was introduced last month, it is now much easier to access. Google is in the final legs of testing Android 17 QPR2 Beta before a significant feature drop for Pixels in September. Last Friday, it released the fourth QPR2 Beta, sorting out a long list of bugs and usability issues from previous beta builds. As part of Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4, Google is adding a few useful features that didn’t make it into the changelog, including easier access to Voice Broadcast. Voice Broadcast on Pixel devices with Android 17 QPR2 Beta is like a personal PA system. It lets users voice their views over, or share audio from a media player, in private listening channels. This private network is enabled by Bluetooth LE (Low Energy), and audio devices — earbuds and such — used by recipients must support the technology.

TL;DR Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4 is available, but its official OTA download links appear to be broken. Pixel testers trying to manually download the update are being met with 404 errors. Google hasn’t explained the issue yet, but we’ve reached out for more information. Google’s Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4 rollout appeared to be going smoothly when it landed late last week. But for those who need to manually sideload it, the experience has been considerably less straightforward. Google’s official OTA download links now appear to be broken, returning a 404 error when users attempt to download the required files. We checked Google’s manual download page and encountered the same 404 errors when attempting to access Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4 OTA images. That suggests this isn’t simply an isolated problem affecting a handful of users.

Credit: Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR ANBERNIC launches the RG 55G1 today, and it recently revealed pricing for the Android handheld. The device has a recommended starting price of $149.99, but an early bird price of $139.99. Expect a design that’s very similar to the Nintendo Switch Lite, along with a Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 chip, and a 6,000mAh battery. ANBERNIC has been teasing the RG 55G1 for a while now, and it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Nintendo Switch Lite. We’ve already seen the spec sheet, but we’ve finally got pricing. The RG 55G1 launches today, and ANBERNIC has revealed a recommended price of $149.99 for the 4GB/64GB model and $174.99 for the 8GB/128GB variant. However, the company is also offering a $10 discount on each model for the first three days. That means you’re paying $139.99 and $164.99, respectively.

Credit: Andy Walker / Android Authority TL;DR Google Maps is now starting to call Lake Ontario “Lake America” following recent executive orders. Last week, President Trump signed the executive order to rename the lake officially. Google says the new change is only visible for people in the US, while those in Canada will continue to see “Lake Ontario.” Last week, US President Donald Trump signed executive orders to officially rename Lake Ontario “Lake America,” his second re-christening, so to speak, of a body of water after the Gulf of Mexico. Following these official orders, Google Maps has started showing the name of the body of water bordering both the US and Canada. In an official announcement, Google noted it will start showing the lake’s new official name, as designated by the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). It said the official name change will appear on Google Maps, but only for people in the US.

As someone who grew up in the 90s, I can tell you that ringtones were once a major status symbol. It meant you had a cutting-edge phone capable of such witchcraft, after all. Unfortunately, it took less than a decade for custom ringtones to go from impressive to something most people considered tacky. The rise of smartphones and the bombardment of notifications didn’t help custom ringtones any, either. Even if not as popular as they once were, ringtones are still a great way to add a little flair to your phone, as long as you don’t go overboard. These days, there are tons of sources for ringtones, from dedicated apps to websites that allow you to download ringtone files. Many phones can even take full tunes you own and automatically cut them into ringtones.

The Google Pixel 11 series is officially out in the wild. As with pretty much every Pixel Google has released before, the new phones aren’t necessarily set up to give you the best experience out of the box. There are plenty of useful features and settings that are either disabled by default or require manual configuration. And with the Pixel 11 series bringing a heap of new software features, there are even more things worth tweaking this year.

Google is playing catch-up with the new Pixel 11 Pro Fold. The North American foldable market is as competitive as ever, with Samsung, Motorola, and Google all vying for a piece of the pie. Last year’s Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold was largely overshadowed by thinner, lighter foldables, but the Pixel 11 Pro Fold will prove more competitive. This year’s Pixel foldable is thinner, lighter, and more refined than its predecessor. Regardless, there are still a handful of compromises that might push foldable buyers to choose a different Android phone instead.

Credit: Tushar Mehta / Android Authority Google’s latest Pixel 11 series has been making waves since its announcement earlier this month. If you weren’t so savvy about the (stealthy) upgrades — or the new colors — that it brings, you’d probably pass the phones off as the old Pixel 10 series. But if you do make the effort to inquire about the improvements the Pixel 11 brings, you’ll find a few good, handy additions. A few of these include better control over the camera’s tones, the new, enticing Tap-to-Share, real-time translations for podcasts and videos, and more. One of my favorite inclusions is Android 17’s new Digital Wellbeing feature, called Pause Point. When enabled, it forces you to deliberate whether you truly want to open a possibly distracting app. While it was announced as a core Android 17 feature, Google screwed up big time by limiting it to the Pixel 11 series.

When Google introduced an infrared thermometer on the Pixel 8 Pro, the reaction from the tech world, and me, was pretty dismissive. It felt like a strange, pandemic-era feature that arrived two years too late, squeezed into the phone for no reason other than “why not.” Now, with the Pixel 11 series, Google has quietly killed the temperature sensor, dropping it from its flagship hardware. Replacing it is Google’s new HiLight notification light, which someone might call equally gimmicky in implementation. But I digress. It is easy to dismiss a smartphone thermometer as a useless gimmick. The space could have been better used for an IR blaster, a larger camera sensor, or even a bigger battery. But as someone who inadvertently ended up using it far more than I expected, I’m surprised to say I’m genuinely sad to see it go.

There are many popular web browsers for Android. Still, Chrome remains the go-to choice for many users, including me. It’s fast, offers universal web compatibility, and packs plenty of useful features you won’t find on other browsers. As someone who’s been using Chrome for many years, I’ve picked up several tips and tricks that help me get things done more efficiently. If you use it on your Android phone, too, here are 10 of my favorite Chrome tips and tricks to help you with a range of tasks.

Credit: Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR The team behind GrapheneOS has confirmed that they were unable to complete GrapheneOS for Google Pixel phones. GrapheneOS developers said this was due to Google’s new phones lacking support for the MTE security feature. The team says they might have to skip the Pixel 11 phones as a result and shift focus entirely to Motorola devices. GrapheneOS is the best custom ROM if you want a secure, private experience. Unfortunately, Google recently made it harder for developers to build custom ROMs for Pixel phones. Now, it turns out that the Pixel 11 phones might not get GrapheneOS at all due to a missing security feature. The GrapheneOS team announced on Mastodon that they were unable to complete GrapheneOS for Google Pixel 11 phones:

I seriously thought this day would be far out in the future, but here we are. We already have AI assistants that can take instructions and execute a series of tasks (not just one at a time) without your supervision — it’s almost like having a human assistant. Google’s Gemini Spark is one such product. In fact, it’s one of the first of its kind to be so easily and widely accessible to end users rather than enterprises. It’s so intuitive that I instinctively gravitate towards Spark whenever I need something done within the Google ecosystem. It’s supposed to work in the background, but I just can’t help marveling at an AI assistant pulling context and information from various sources, verifying it, and executing any given task as if it were a meticulous researcher. The novelty factor alone makes it so fun to use.

I miss the days when notification LEDs were a thing. I still remember the red light flashing on my BlackBerry whenever a notification came in. I’d immediately pick up my phone and check what I’d missed. Smartphones have mostly left that idea behind. Yes, Nothing did bring it back in its own way with the Glyph lights, but personally, that feels like a little too much of a light show. That’s why Google’s HiLight feature on the Pixel 11 Pro series immediately caught my attention. It feels like a much more modern take on the notification LED I used to love. The light sits neatly inside the camera visor; it can glow in different colors, and it’s quite subtle. But the problem is, after using HiLight, I can’t stop thinking about how much more useful it could be.

It’s been nearly two weeks since I first put my SIM in the Galaxy Z Fold 8. I got some hands-on time with the device before picking one up, so I largely knew what to expect. However, what I didn’t anticipate was not wanting to use any other phone afterward. I test over 40 smartphones a year, and I desperately need to move on to other devices, but I’m just having too much fun with the Galaxy Z Fold 8. If you’re using the Galaxy Z Fold 8, you know the feeling extends beyond the initial honeymoon phase. The phone has flaws, and I can easily point them out. However, the mark of an excellent phone is that I look beyond them.

Google Messages is a solid all-around texting app, but it still lacks some pretty basic features, or has only recently added them. One such feature is custom chat themes. In the year 2026, Google Messages is just now rolling out proper theme customization. As someone who loves tweaking and customizing my Android phone as much as possible, the fact that Google Messages hasn’t supported chat themes until now has been an insane omission. But thankfully, as of late August 2026, chat themes have finally arrived.

I haven’t used an OPPO Reno phone since 2022’s Reno 8 Pro, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the Reno 16 Pro () before it arrived. Then I saw that the phone is compatible with an official magnetic case and rear display combo. Evidently, OPPO is jumping on a minor trend we’ve seen in the last year or so, with Xiaomi reviving the integrated rear display while accessory makers have released add-ons that attach via a magnetic connection.

Over the past two decades, Google Maps has evolved from a simple navigation app into a tool I use for almost everything. From my daily commute to helping me find nearby coffee shops and business opening hours, to providing live traffic information so I can figure out when I need to leave for my destination, the feature set has expanded by leaps and bounds. But despite all those updates, redesigns, and AI additions, there are still some features I wish Google Maps had added. None of these features require a ground-up rethink. Instead, these are simple quality-of-life tools that would make Maps more useful for people who rely on it every day.