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Google's March Pixel Drop update for Android 16 introduces Desktop Mode, a feature that lets Pixel 8 and newer phones connect to an external monitor to run a PC-like interface. The feature had been in beta testing for several months before this official release.
Android Authority's Stephen Radochia has published a comparison review of Google's Pixel 11 Pro XL against the Pixel 8 Pro after a week of testing. He reports that the new phone feels lighter and more refined, with a matte black finish and color-matched aluminum frame, while gaming performance remains a weaker point. He now says it's harder to recommend holding onto the Pixel 8 Pro than in previous years.
An Android Authority reviewer highlights Face Unlock on the Pixel 11 Pro, noting it can authenticate not just the lock screen but also sensitive apps and mobile payments, thanks to security processing on Google's Tensor chip. This capability has existed since the Pixel 8 series in 2023 and remains largely unchanged, while competitors like Samsung and Motorola limit face unlock to lock-screen access only.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple is testing a smart home display, internally coded J490/J491, in employee homes ahead of a possible launch as soon as next month. The device reportedly combines elements of iOS, tvOS, and watchOS, with its own home screen, widgets, and clock faces, and leans heavily on an upgraded Siri to handle tasks across apps like Notes and Reminders.
Security researchers found that Android's public NAT-T socket-keepalive API allows ordinary apps to send UDP packets directly to a router, bypassing Always-on VPN and 'Block connections without VPN' protections. Tests on a Pixel 8 Pro, Samsung SM-F966B, and Nothing A059, all running Android 16, confirmed that keepalive packets reached the physical gateway outside the VPN tunnel, with one device sustaining a leak for over 24 hours. The root cause traces to changes in Android's startNattKeepaliveWithFd function, where validation checks tying the socket to the caller's VPN policy were added and later removed.
Google has dropped the infrared temperature sensor first introduced on the Pixel 8 Pro, leaving it out of the newly launched Pixel 11 series. In its place, the company added a new notification light feature called HiLight, shifting the phone's differentiating hardware trick from a thermometer to a lighting cue.
Multiple Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro XL users say their videos contain repeated bursts of static noise, appearing roughly every five seconds when Video Boost is active. The glitch seems tied to the Audio Zoom feature, and some affected users say clearing the camera app's cache and turning off Audio Zoom stops the noise. Google has not yet issued an official response to the reports.