Firmware News: Numerous Sony Devices Are Set to Get Android 10, and More

This week, on our weekly firmware news roundup: Android 10 beta is now available for the Huawei Mate 20 series, Japanese carrier DoCoMo lists numerous Sony smartphones that will soon get Android 10, and more!

What's New This Week?

Xiaomi

• Redmi K20 receives MIUI 11 - but not Android 10

Huawei

• Android 10 beta is now ready for the Mate 20 series (China only at the moment)

Google

• Google talks a bit more about Project Treble and Project Mainline

Samsung

• Android 10 beta is finally here for the Note 10 and Note 10+
• New update for the S10 and Note 10 will allegedly fix the fingerprint sensor issues

Sony

• Numerous Sony devices are expected to get Android 10

Xiaomi

Redmi K20

The Redmi K20 is now receiving MIUI 11 which brings quite a lot of new stuff to the table. But, alas, it's still based on Android Pie.

Some of the most important additions that you'll find in this update are:

• Effects for the Always On Display and new dynamic themes
• New design
• A new "Notes" app
• Menstruation cycle recording for women
• Quick replies are now supported in all apps
• Numerous improvements in biometric scanners and a few fixes as well
• A Game Speed Booster
• And more

The update weighs 766 megabytes and brings September's security patch. That's a bit of a shame, actually. Because, after all, it's almost November now.

That's all for the moment. We'll let you know if anything else comes up.

Huawei

Mate 20 Series

Android 10 beta is now finally ready for the Mate 20 series - at least for the Chinese models. To be more specific, we're talking about the Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20 RS Porsche Design, and Mate 20 X (Non-5G variant).

The update may currently be only available in China. But, usually, it doesn't take too long until such updates start being delivered on a global scale.

By the way, the Honor 20, 20 Pro, V20, and Honor Magic 2 are also getting Android 10 beta. But, instead of EMUI, they are using Magic UI 3.0 - which is frankly not all that different.

Google

Project Treble and Project Mainline

If you've been an Android user for at least 2-3 years, then you've probably already noticed that Android updates are a bit chaotic, to say the least.

Some manufacturers release two major updates before giving up on supporting their flagship. Others may only deliver a single major update - while some may end up not delivering a single major update at all.

Google is aware of that issue and has been working on things like Project Treble and as of lately, Project Mainline as well. These are tools that are built-in to the system in order to make the update process easier for manufacturers.

As you can see, the adoption rate for Android Pie has been significantly higher and we expect that things are going to be much better with Android 10!

After all, Android 10 is made in such a way that we'll be able to receive a number of important updates straight through the Play Store. And the manufacturer won't even have to do anything.

As far as we know, the only problem with Project Mainline as of now is that it'll only work with devices that came with Android 10 out of the box! So, at the moment, most of us aren't going to be able to take advantage of it.

Still, this makes the update process much easier for everyone. According to Google, numerous manufacturers have promised to deliver Android 10 on a few of their devices by the end of this year.

Namely, we're talking about ASUS, LG, Motorola, OPPO, Realme, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Transsion, and Vivo. And that's only about the names that Google mentioned!

Overall, the future for Android updates is looking bright indeed.

Samsung

Galaxy S10 and Note 10

In case you haven't heard about it, both the Galaxy S10 and the Note 10 appear to have some weird bug which allows pretty much everyone to get past the fingerprint scanner by covering the screen with something.

At first, Samsung claimed that this happens due to 3rd party screen protectors - which is still kind of unacceptable. But, many people noticed that they can actually bypass the scanner by using any transparent item.

Samsung has now addressed this issue by releasing a new update that should fix the bug. According to our sources and a few comments from users, it's currently rolling out to both Korean and global variants of the S10 and Note 10.

But, whether it really fixes this issue or not is something that's left to be seen. That being said, if you got the update, do let us know if it fixes the issue or not. The patch should mention that it's a software update for fingerprint recognition.

Do keep in mind that it's probably rolling out in waves. So, some of you may have to wait for a while before receiving it.

According to our sources, if you don't have any fingerprints set up, then you won't ever receive the update in the first place. Not sure why that is.

And by the way, we'd highly recommend removing your screen protector and re-capturing

Note 10 and Note 10+

Android 10 beta is finally ready for the Note 10 and Note 10+! So far, it has only been sighted in Germany. However, we expect that it'll soon be globally available.

Apart from Android 10, it also brings Samsung's brand new One UI 2.0 with it and November's security patch. That's right! This isn't a typo. The November security patch is already out - even though we're still in October.

Unlike the original One UI, One UI 2.0 doesn't include a visual overhaul. Instead, you're getting a few new features and improvements from both Android 10 and One UI.

Arguably, some of the biggest new features to look forward to are Google's new gesture-based navigation system and all the privacy control improvements.

Other than that, there are also a few changes to the Camera UI. But, you'll get used to them.

Furthermore, there is also a built-in screen recorder, Focus Mode, and a few smaller things like a shortcut for the one-handed more, the Night Mode which is now called Dark Mode, a few animations, and stuff like that.

Now, it goes without saying that as time goes on, we may end up seeing even more features and improvements coming in. But, for now, that's about it.

Do keep in mind that the update comes at a rather hefty size of 1.7 gigs (Almost 1.8). So, do definitely connect to a Wi-Fi network before downloading it.

Sony

Numerous Devices

Just a few days ago, a Japanese carrier named DoCoMo published a list of Sony devices that are set to get Android 10. Of course, that's currently only for Japan. So, the global variants may or may not be different.

At the moment, it looks like any device from 2018 and after is going to get the latest version of Android. To be more specific:

1. Sony Xperia XZ2
2. Xperia XZ2 Compact
3. XZ2 Premium
4. XZ3
5. Xperia 1
6. Xperia 5
7. Sony Xperia Ace (Known as XZ4 out of Japan)

It looks like the XZ1 and XZ1 compact aren't going to get the latest version of Android. But, let's not forget that this is not the list for the global variants. So, things could be slightly different here for us.

Also, the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus are not available on DoCoMo. So, just because they are not on this list, this does not mean that the global variants are not going to get Android 10.

With all that being said, the only way to know which global variants are going to get Android 10 is to wait for the official listing. When that time comes, we'll make sure to tell you all about it. So, stay tuned!

Closure

Feel like we forgot to mention something important? Got anything wrong? Then let us and everyone else know about them in the comments section down below!

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SOURCES: GSM ARENA 1, 2, SAM MOBILE 1, 2 ANDROID DEVELOPERS, PHONE ARENA