This week, on our weekly firmware news roundup: Google starts sending another Pixel drop to all Pixels, OnePlus temporarily disables the Photochrom filter for the OnePlus 8 Pro globally, and more!
What's New This Week?
OnePlus
- OnePlus is disabling the X-Ray feature (Photochrom filter) on the global 8 Pro variants
- Another Pixel drop is here with numerous new, small features
LG
- LG V40 ThinQ (Verizon) is now receiving the latest version of Android
Samsung
- Galaxy Fold, S10 series, A30s, Z Flip, S20, A50, Note 8, and Xcover Pro are now receiving the June patch
- Galaxy M31 is now receiving another update in India
- The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ receive yet another minor update
OnePlus
OnePlus 8 Pro
In case you haven't heard about it, the OnePlus 8 Pro comes with an IR camera that can see through thin plastics and also through certain pieces of thin clothing. As expected, this created a small uproar throughout the community as some people may be able to abuse such functionality.
OnePlus originally responded by temporarily disabling the aforementioned feature in its Chinese units. We thought that the global variants would remain untouched but that's not the case. After all, OnePlus is pushing the very same update across Europe and India.
The changelog mentions that the filter is going to be temporarily removed while you can expect to get it back somewhere within this month.
We expect that OnePlus is going to re-introduce the aforementioned feature/filter with some kind of AI detection tool that will automatically turn itself off when you try to look through clothing. Either that or something similar.
Pixel Series
Another new Pixel drop is here which brings a few new features for Google Pixel devices.
The very first thing that Google mentions is the improved Adaptive Battery. It can now recognize which apps you're using more frequently and reduce power usage for those that you don't care about. This only works with Pixel 2 and newer models for now.
Other than that, there's also the "Bedtime" feature.
As the name suggests, this is a small feature that can help you maintain a sleep schedule. You can use it to track your sleep progress, see what apps are keeping you up at night, and also to play soothing sounds.
The recorder app is seeing a few additions and further integration with Google's voice assistant and Google Docs. To be more specific, you can execute various recorder commands with your voice while also being able to sync recordings with the cloud.
That aside, the Personal Safety app that you can find on the Pixel 4 is now going to become available for all Pixel devices. Furthermore, car crash detection is coming to the Pixel 3. But, keep in mind that it's not available in all countries and all languages just yet.
New safety features such as Safety Check are present too.
This is basically a timer that you can set when you think that you may be at risk of getting hurt - such as walking alone during the night. Once the timer runs out, you need to verify that you're safe. Otherwise, the phone will automatically inform your selected contacts while regularly tracking your location.
Last, but not least, there's also the Personal Safety app that's going to let you know about things like natural disasters or other public emergencies.
LG
Verizon's LG V40 ThinQ
AT&T along with T-Mobile have already delivered the latest version of Android on their LG V40 ThinQ and now it's Verizon's turn. The only carrier who's yet to deliver it in the US is Sprint.
Apart from Android 10, you also get April's security patch along with most Android 10 features. We're talking about Focus Mode, improved Digital Wellbeing, universal Dark Mode, improved privacy controls, and more.
This is most likely a phased rollout. So, there is a good chance that some users will have to keep on waiting for a few more days.
Samsung
Galaxy Fold, S10 series, A30s, Z Flip, S20, A50, Note 8, and Xcover Pro
As per usual, Samsung is one of the first, if not the first, to start pushing out the latest security patch at the beginning of the month. It's only been 5 days and we're already seeing tons of Galaxy devices receiving the update both in the US and worldwide.
To be more specific:
- Galaxy Fold: Europe (Not the 5G variant) minor camera updates along with 4K 60FPS selfie video capability
- S10 for both Exynos and Snapdragon variants: Worldwide and starting in Germany
- Note 10 unlocked variants: US
- Galaxy A30s: Worldwide - starting from Israel
- Galaxy Z Flip: Worldwide
- S20 series for both Exynos and unlocked variants: Worldwide (Including the US)
- Galaxy A50: Worldwide
- Note 8: Worldwide
- Xcover Pro: Worldwide
As far as we currently know, there are no new features with this update. Just the monthly security patch.
Keep in mind that when we say "Worldwide", we actually mean that the update is already available in numerous regions and that it's likely to spread truly worldwide in the time-span of a few days or weeks. After all, such updates are usually incremental. This means that some of you may end up having to wait a bit longer than others to get the very same update.
As for June's patch, there are 25 security fixes for the Android OS, two of which are critical vulnerabilities, and 29 other fixes that are exclusive to Samsung's software.
Galaxy M31
The Samsung Galaxy M31 originally started receiving a small update in India which unfortunately bricked quite a few devices. That is most likely why Samsung decided to pause the release.
Now the very same update is back and, hopefully, it's not going to cause any issues this time.
The official changelog doesn't mention anything in particular. It only contains the generic mentions of "performance and stability improvements".
We also know it weighs close to 400 megabytes and that it contains April's security patch. But, that's about it. So, if you see anything interesting with it, feel free to let us know about it in the comments.
Galaxy Buds+
A minor update is now being delivered to the Galaxy Buds+. It only weighs 1.32 megabytes and it improves the overall system stability while also improving sound quality for the Ambient Sound feature.
As per usual, this is an incremental update. So, some of you may have to keep on waiting for a week or two before receiving it.
That's all for now. Feel like we forgot to mention something important? Got anything wrong? Then let us and everyone else know about it in the comments section down below!
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