Someone requested I enable comments on these posts. I had to create a separate TG group for that to work, so here it is: https://t.iss.one/AndroidNerdPlayground

Google previously said that the traditional OTA update mechanism (ie. non-A/B) will be deprecated starting in Android 13. A Googler now confirms that non-A/B update support will be removed from releasetools and recovery in AOSP.

Devices launching with Android 13 MUST ship with virtual A/B partitions or they'll fail VTS.

Virtual A/B (with compression) is the next-gen OTA update mechanism enabling seamless updates without sacrificing storage space.

Haven't seen this reported anywhere yet, but the Tensor G2 in the Pixel 7 series introduced a custom DSP.

A Googler on the Google Taiwan silicon team says that image processing has been improved with their new DSP, and that it'll continue to improve with future Pixel Feature Drops.

The custom DSP seems to be code-named "Aurora". It's also referred to as a "GXP" device in some places, though I don't know what GXP stands for.

When Google originally launched Google Play Games for PC, the system image they shipped was based on Android 11. After the beta went live in the US and other countries a few days back, I noticed they updated the system image to be based on Android 12L.

(Google Play Games for PC builds declare the com.google.android.play.feature.HPE_EXPERIENCE feature, which is how you can distinguish between it from other devices.)

A recently disclosed vulnerability gives any attacker with physical access to your Pixel phone the ability to unlock it. All they need is a SIM card with a PIN and the SIM's PUK code.

The vulnerability is tracked with CVE-2022-20465, and patches are available for AOSP 10-13. This bug has been fixed with the 2022-11-01 SPL.

Here's a video from the author showcasing the lockscreen bypass on a Pixel 6.

It looks like the new MediaTek Dimensity 9200 is NOT a 64-bit only SoC, despite initial reporting otherwise. MediaTek confirmed to Android Authority that only the performance cores are 64-bit only. Buried in the Dimensity 9200's product page, you'll see it says the chipset "provides the first 64-bit exclusive Armv9 Performance Cores for smartphones..." but under "CPU Bit" it says "64-bit Exclusive" without clarifying further.

(Compare this with the page for the Dimensity 9000, which has just "64-bit" under the "CPU Bit" part of the specifications table.)

The D9200 has 1x X3, 3x A715, and 4x A510 cores. The X3 and A715 only support AArch64. The original A510 also only supports AArch64, but the refresh (A510r1) can optionally support AArch32. Given the clarification given to Android Authority, we can assume the A510 cores are A510r1.

Google recently announced that the Pixel 7 is the first 64-bit only Android phone. All CPU cores in Tensor G2, however, do actually support AArch32. It's just that Google built their Android image with a 64-bit only Zygote, so 32-bit apps won't run. Theoretically, I guess you could compile a custom ROM for the Pixel 7 that supports both 64-bit and 32-bit Zygote spawning, re-enabling 32-bit app support on the Pixel 7. That won't work when future chipsets feature CPUs that don't support AArch32 instructions in the first place.

One solution to this might be to integrate a 32-bit to 64-bit Arm binary translator, like Tango. Tango can be integrated into builds as a kernel module compatible with the GKI. A reference image based on GrapheneOS is available for the Pixel 6 if you want to try Tango out. (Tango isn't really necessary for the Pixel 6 or Pixel 7, but it'll be neat to see how this works on devices with next-gen Armv9 chipsets in the future).

Next week, Qualcomm is launching the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. According to @nullby, its 3x A510 cores are the R1 variant with 32-bit support enabled. This isn't confirmed yet of course, but if true, the new Snapdragon will also support running 32-bit apps (on those 3 cores).

Devices that launch with Android 14 and which feature Armv9 CPUs may be required to not support 32-bit apps, though. So whatever MTK and QCOM's next flagships are, they may not support 32-bit apps (unless this requirement gets punted which can happen).

According to @nullby, the Android 13-based build available in the Dimensity 9200's BSP ships with 32-bit libraries and zygote by default. Same as with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. So 32-bit support is still here for another generation.