We’ve already covered well over 200 changes in the public betas of Android Q, but many of those are smaller tweaks that aren’t quite important enough to be covered in dedicated posts. Following our coverage of Beta 1, 2, and 3, here are all the minor changes in Android Q Beta 4. New Wi-Fi icon The change in Beta 4 that we seemingly received the most emails about (not that we’re complaining!) is that the Wi-Fi icon now has an outline, in both the status bar and Quick Settings. It now matches the outlined battery icon, which made an appearance in Android Q Beta 2. Thanks: Jordi Gordillo, Nick Cipriani, and everyone else who sent this in Ambient Display weather with music The current weather has been on the Pixel’s Ambient Display for a while, but starting with Android Q Beta 4, it now even appears while you have music playing.
Colored notification icons in dark mode Just because it’s called dark mode doesn’t mean there can’t be any color at all. In Android Q Beta 4, notification icons now have their original colors, instead of being monochrome white like in previous betas. Left: Android Q Beta 3; Right: Android Q Beta 4 Thanks: Nick Cipriani, Indefinite Implosion, and everyone else who sent this in If you’ve been trying out Android Q’s hot new desktop mode, you might be happy to know that right-clicking an app icon now gives you the same options you would get by holding down on a phone: app info, uninstall, etc. Handy. Thanks: Daniel Blandford Volume panel in dark mode A system-wide dark mode is a massive undertaking, and there are still a few sections that haven’t been updated yet to respect the new setting. One of the last offenders, the volume panel, has now been given a dark theme in Beta 4. Left: Android Q Beta 3; Right: Android Q Beta 4 Turning off location on lock screen In Beta 4, turning off location access from the Quick Settings only works once you enter your password. Presumably, this is to prevent thieves from turning off location on stolen phones… except you can still toggle airplane mode, Wi-Fi, and cellular data without authentication. Perhaps that will come in the final Q release. Thanks: Armando Emergency info app When running the Beta 4 image in the official Android Emulator, an ‘Emergency info’ icon can be found in the Pixel Launcher that automatically takes you to the relevant page in the Settings app.
The icon isn’t present on actual devices with the Q Beta, so it could still be in development, or it could just be an option for OEMs to use (like the accent colors). Thanks: Kieron Quinn There you have it — all of the little changes in what might be the last public beta release of Android Q before the final version. If you’ve noticed something that we haven’t covered yet, send us a tip!
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