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Android Authority found hidden code in Snapseed version 4.1.9 pointing to a new collage-creation interface, offering multiple aspect ratios, grid layouts, background customization, and slide management tools. The build also references a feature for sharing collage templates with other users via QR code or link.
Google Messages is widely rolling out a redesigned long-press menu to users on the stable app, moving action items like Reply, Forward, Copy, Star, Delete and Info into a floating list near the selected message instead of a top toolbar. The update also adds selective text copying, letting users drag selection handles to copy only part of a message rather than the whole thing. The feature had previously been available only to beta testers since August, and reports suggest it now appears on both Pixel and Samsung devices.
Users continue reporting that alarms on Google Pixel phones fail to sound, with the Clock app displaying a message that the alarm 'didn't fire for an unknown reason.' The problem has been documented since at least 2021, and though Google previously said it addressed the issue, new reports keep surfacing, including one case where an overheated device blocked the alarm and another where alarms fired silently despite the phone not being on silent mode.
Google has rolled out a Play services update that lets many Android 12+ phones show their IMEI number on the lock screen alongside emergency info like contacts and medical details. The feature is optional and can help prove ownership if a device is lost, especially as newer phones like the Pixel 11 series drop physical SIM trays that once displayed the number.
F-Droid, the open-source Android app store, has released version 2.0 with a rebuilt interface using Google's Material Design and a full rewrite of the codebase in Kotlin. The update reorganizes navigation into three sections—Discover, Search, and My Apps—and overhauls search to include app descriptions, tags, and translated terms rather than tracking user behavior.
Leaker Evan Blass posted new high-resolution images of an unreleased Lenovo Googlebook 2-in-1, showing a tablet-style design with a kickstand, detachable slim keyboard, a Bluetooth toggle switch, and a rear camera with the lineup's signature glow-bar. This device was reportedly among several Lenovo Googlebook models planned but not included when Google launched five Googlebook laptops earlier in the week.
Code inside version 17.61.19.sa.arm64 of the Google app shows Gemini building its own light/dark mode switch that would override the phone's system-wide setting, without affecting the rest of the Google app. The same teardown also reveals work on a new notification history screen for Gemini.
Throughout 2026, Google added several new features to Google Wallet beyond payment cards, including a full interface redesign. New additions include package order tracking (requiring Gmail tracking to be enabled) and a June partnership with the TSA making Wallet the first digital wallet compatible with PreCheck Touchless ID at 65 US airports. Android Authority has reported the app may also come to iOS soon.
Android Authority found code in Digital Wellbeing beta version 1.48.975819457 that builds out a flag-guessing trivia game, complete with a three-heart life system and a high-score tracker. The outlet also noted a smaller change letting users select apps for screen-time reminders more easily, alongside earlier signs that features like walk detection may be removed in a broader app overhaul.
Users report that Google Maps on desktop browsers returns a 'can't find restaurants' style error when searching broad, nonspecific terms, while specific searches like building names still work. The mobile app appears unaffected, and the issue is showing up across multiple browsers, not just Chrome. Google has not yet confirmed the cause.
Multiple users, including on Reddit and Android Authority's own test devices, report that the built-in camera in Google Messages either fires the LED flash too early, producing dark photos, or fails to trigger it at all. The bug appears across stable and beta versions of the app, on different phone models and carriers, and has reportedly been occurring for over a month. The flash works normally in other camera apps and outside the Messages interface, indicating the fault is specific to Google Messages' in-chat camera.
Code strings found in the latest Digital Wellbeing beta (v1.48.975819457.beta) reveal that Google is preparing to deprecate the 'Heads Up' feature, which warns users to watch where they're walking. The strings include an in-app alert telling users that 'walking detection is going away soon.' The opt-in feature, introduced in 2021, uses motion sensors and location data to detect walking with the screen unlocked and nudge users to look up.