{"id":653781,"date":"2026-10-22T12:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T12:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/653781\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T12:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T12:14:18","slug":"android-has-always-been-chaotic-in-the-best-ways-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/653781\/","title":{"rendered":"Android has always been chaotic in the best ways possible"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a reminder,\u00a0Inbox\u00a0is the tech newsletter that goes beyond the news cycle. We cover the most important 9to5Google stories from the last couple of days along with a few highlights from around the web. We publish every Tuesday and Thursday, and if you like what you read, please subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Inbox is written by Daniel Bader.\u00a0Read previous issues here<\/a>, and then catch up with Ben Schoon\u2019s excellent Weekender column<\/a> published every Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u2b50\ufe0f Starred<\/p>\n

The through-line in every iPhone Duo review yesterday was this: excellent hardware (though a bit too heavy) and a chaotic software experience. When Apple\u2019s foldable launches on Friday, it will remind early adopters of what Android used to feel like whenever a new form factor was introduced: exciting, janky, and slightly aggravating.<\/p>\n

I think 9to5Google readers understand that Android is for tweakers. It\u2019s why so many of you sign up for Android betas on daily-driver hardware; it\u2019s why there\u2019s a thriving community of indie developers filling gaps in the ecosystem. Android\u2019s freedom and flexibility (and cost) make it particularly well suited to the cavalcade of use cases and designs we see in the market today.<\/p>\n

That openness confers other, more nebulous benefits; it\u2019s far easier to emulate games on Android along with other legally grey activities that won\u2019t be mentioned here. If there\u2019s something you want to do on Android, chances are you can figure out a way to do it.<\/p>\n

It seems like the iPhone Duo\u2019s early adopters will be faced with a similar conundrum: the ability to do more on a device that is likely to frustrate and delight in equal measure. As Ben explains in his iPhone Duo review roundup<\/a>, \u201cthe app situation clearly seems to be running into the same early problems as Android foldables hit. Apps simply aren\u2019t optimized for a radically new form factor yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as with all things iPhone, app and software improvements are likely to come quickly and consistently over the next few months and years. Ben eloquently sums up the situation: \u201cApple has a vision for its foldable and, while it\u2019s tripped up on a few things on attempt #1, it\u2019s undeniably a good start.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2709\ufe0f Inbox<\/p>\n

Galaxy S27 might drop to 8GB of RAM; other Android phones could go back to 4GB<\/a>. Not sure I entirely believe this rumor, but it is true that Google has been making Android more memory-efficient, so maybe it is true?<\/p>\n

ModRetro\u2019s Chromatic is more transparent and cheaper than ever; how could I not love it?<\/a> This product feels like the physical manifestation of using X.<\/p>\n

Spotify podcast memberships let you support your favorite shows and get added perks<\/a>. I support this feature, but the continued fragmentation of the podcast subscription ecosystem is driving me crazy.<\/p>\n

Iron Man himself now officially endorses Snap\u2019s latest smart glasses<\/a>. Because he\u2019s the only person who can afford to buy them.<\/p>\n

Older Pixel phones appear to be getting Google\u2019s new 3D emoji<\/a>. Depending on who you ask, this is a good thing or a terrible thing.<\/p>\n

Google says Chrome\u2019s Safe Browsing Enhanced Protection mode makes users 10x safer<\/a>. Perfect timing with yesterday\u2019s PHP vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

You can cut your cell phone bill to $10\/month or get a Pixel 11 for $400 right now \u2013 here\u2019s how<\/a>. Some decent deals from Mint Mobile (#notsponsored).<\/p>\n

YouTube starts hiding the dislike button on normal videos<\/a>. This makes sense to me; dislike buttons used to be there to help shape your algorithm, but there are so many other ways to do that today that its existence feels unnecessary.<\/p>\n

Google upgrading Gemini for Android Auto with Personal Intelligence<\/a>. I can\u2019t wait to ask Gemini about that mole on my back while driving my in-laws around the city.<\/p>\n

Android 17 QPR3 Beta 2 for Pixel rolling out with 21 fixes<\/a>. (Almost) nothing to see here.<\/p>\n

Google rolling out minor Nest Hub update<\/a><\/p>\n

Samsung is rolling out Android 17 updates for some of its most popular Galaxy phones<\/a><\/p>\n

Google gives Pixel 9 another year of free Satellite SOS connectivity<\/a>. I have a feeling this isn\u2019t the last announcement of this kind we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

Google Pixel\u2019s solution to using Face Unlock in the dark seems to be just blinding you<\/a><\/p>\n

The wide folds are coming; foldable display shipments to increase by 44% in 2026, analysts say<\/a>. This has been a very good year for book-style foldables, and the momentum is slated to continue into 2027.<\/p>\n

Google reiterates missing Fitbit Air sleep breathing quality feature coming \u2018soon\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Google TV powers the RayNeo Pocket TV Pro glasses, and that\u2019s exactly the problem<\/a><\/p>\n

Google Wallet rolling out notifications feed, support for more digital passports<\/a><\/p>\n

OpenAI GPT models are coming to Google Antigravity \u2018soon,\u2019 Cloud \u2018in the coming weeks\u2019<\/a>. OpenAI and Microsoft continue their very public divorce.<\/p>\n

Xbox Cloud Gaming\u2019s added playtime costs start at around 40\u00a2 per hour<\/a>. Who is asking for this feature?<\/p>\n

Someone made a Walkman music player for the Galaxy Z Fold 8, and it works with YouTube Music<\/a>. The app may be an iOS clone, but I\u2019m happy it exists.<\/p>\n

Non-folding phones can still be interesting<\/p>\n

\u27a1\ufe0f FWD:<\/p>\n

This section has some of our favorite stuff from around the internet. Great videos, weird memes, fun reads, recommended apps, whatever. Send us your recommendations<\/a>!<\/p>\n

I was the guest on this week\u2019s Sideload episode<\/a>, and we talked about my favorite thing: AI. In particular, how we use AI in our daily lives.<\/p>\n

One thing we touched on that I\u2019m going to delve into in a future newsletter is whether Google is actually behind the competition with Gemini. With the recent release of Gemini 4 Argon, it\u2019s clear the company is close to the frontier, but the more important question to answer is whether Gemini is a good product. I make the argument that it is, especially because Google has its tendrils in every part of my life, from email to search to maps, and that makes Gemini\u2019s answers far more useful when I ask it questions of a personal nature. That it has a 25% market share<\/a> right now is almost accidental; so many people are forced to interact with Gemini in one way or another through Google\u2019s various products.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also bizarre that Google hasn\u2019t figured out a way to compete with Meta on the personal agent front. On its earnings call<\/a>, Meta said that Muse has been used by over 10 million people, and 25% of them use it every day. Google has Spark, but it\u2019s not in the same league in terms of functionality or mindshare.<\/p>\n

Google is unquestionably behind Anthropic and OpenAI where the money is made: in the enterprise. Antigravity is a subpar harness, and Argon is a capable but unspectacular coding agent.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Google has the money, the user base, and, most importantly, the incentive to keep going after the top labs. In an interview this week with Alex Kantrowitz<\/a>, CEO Sundar Pichai said that he is committed to the frontier at all costs, and that Google Cloud compute capacity is being reallocated in 2027 to train state-of-the-art models.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost Thanksgiving travel season, which means it\u2019s time to re-up one of the best Onion videos about the places our souls go to die: airports.<\/p>\n

As mentioned above, Supernatural is relaunching on the Quest as a new independent app with the original owners and much of the same crew. When Meta announced that it was laying off much of its Reality Labs division and shutting Supernatural down<\/a>, it didn\u2019t look good for the future of what I consider the best VR workout app ever made. But by the summer, it was announced that Meta had negotiated a sale of the brand and IP (but not the code), which allowed the formation of Supernatural Health.<\/p>\n

Launching this week in Early Access<\/a>, it\u2019s now double what it used to cost \u2014 $200 a year \u2014 but it\u2019s one of the few subscriptions I look forward to paying. If you\u2019re a Quest owner, I cannot recommend it highly enough.<\/p>\n

\u270d\ufe0f Signature<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Inbox<\/a> today and get it in your email every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Got feedback? Send us an email<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can also support us by becoming a 9to5Google Pro member<\/a>, starting at just $5\/month. You get bonus podcast episodes, access to our members-only Discord server, and lots more.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading, and have a great day. I\u2019ll talk to you on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

-Daniel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a reminder,\u00a0Inbox\u00a0is the tech newsletter that goes beyond the news cycle. We cover the most important 9to5Google…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[85,46,321,125],"class_list":["post-653781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}