Technologies

Android 14: Every Big Feature Announced at Google I/O Last Week

You can expect Google’s Android 14 software update to arrive later this year.

AI may have taken center stage at last week’s Google I/O event, but Dave Burke, VP of engineering at Google, did touch on a few new customization options coming to the lock screen on Android 14.

Android 14 was first announced back in February, with the release of its first Android 14 developer preview. In April, Google released the first public beta version of Android 14, and the second shortly after Google I/O, which you can download right now (as long as you have a compatible phone, like the new Pixel 7A or Pixel Fold).

More from Google I/O

The public and beta versions of Android 14 so far have brought improvements to privacy and security, like the ability to disable PIN animations to make it safer when unlocking your phone in public, and new features to accessibility, with larger font sizes for the visually impaired and flash notifications for those that are hard of hearing.

While you’re here, check out the best Android devices of 2023.

More customization options for your lock screen

A few customization options to the lock screen are coming to Android 14 later this year, demoed at the Google I/O keynote.

You now have the ability to add your own personalized clock to the lock screen on Android 14, choosing the font, color, size and design. There are also new shortcuts, which allow you to quickly jump into your most frequent activities, like turning on your flashlight, opening your wallet for payment or launching your camera to scan a QR code — directly from your lock screen.

New lock screen customizations on Android 14 — You can customize the clocks and add shortcuts on your lock screen.

Google/Screenshot by CNET

Emoji and cinematic wallpapers

Android also has a couple new wallpaper options, including emoji and cinematic wallpapers, coming to Android, but not exclusive to Android 14.

The emoji wallpaper feature lets you choose up to fourteen different emoji, browse through various patterns and select a colors pattern to create a unique wallpaper for your home and lock screen. Emoji wallpapers are interactive, so the emoji will react any time you touch them.

With the cinematic wallpaper feature, you can turn any photo in your camera roll into a 3D image with motions effects to add as your backdrop. A sparkle icon button will give your photos a parallax effect as you tilt your device.

Man playing with phone, showing off emoji wallpaper — Both of these wallpaper features are coming first to Pixel devices in June.

Google/Screenshot by CNET

There are also generative AI wallpapers

Don’t have a wallpaper you’re happy with? Google has a new feature in Android that allows you to create a unique wallpaper with generative AI. To start, you choose a theme — for example classic art or mystical botanicals — and then a wallpaper is created. At the bottom of each wallpaper is a prompt that can be edited to further customize the existing wallpaper. Each prompt will also have several options you can swipe through.

Because of Material You, the system’s color palette is automatically adapted to match the wallpaper that was created.

Google/Screenshot by CNET

A major update to Find My Device

Google is taking a page out of Apple’s playbook by improving how you find your missing devices, leveraging the millions of Android devices out there. For example, if you leave your Google Pixel buds at the airport, you can use any nearby Android devices to help you better locate your Android-powered phone. And if you have any third-party trackers, like Tile, on other items you own, you’ll be able to track them via Find My Device as well. This feature isn’t unique to Android 14, but will come to Android around the same time as the latest mobile operating system.

Google IO presenter talking about Find My Device. — It’s now easier to find your lost or stolen items with Android’s Find My Device feature. Coming this summer.

Google/Screenshot by CNET

Unknown tracker alerts

Another feature coming to Android this summer is the ability to receive automatic notifications if your phone senses an unknown tracker following you. Apple and Google are working together to give people the information they need to quickly find out if they’re being possibly tracked by a stalker or thief — something that has been happening in the last few years. These unknown tracker alerts allow you to view a rogue tracker device, like an AirTag, on a map and force it to play a sound so that you can find it. You’ll even get instructions on how to disable the tracker completely, in case you’re concerned about your safety.

OGI Apple AirTag — Thieves use AirTags to track people and steal from them.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 4, #193

Three of the four categories are especially tough today. Here are hints and the answers, for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 193, for April 4.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

I only solved one of the four categories for today’s Connections: Sports Edition on my own, so if you need help, you’re not alone.

The yellow category was pretty simple, but after that I couldn’t make any connections. It might help if you know a lot about a certain NBA player’s resume. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Do better.

Green group hint: March Madness.

Blue group hint: Six-time all-star.

Purple group hint: Think Wimbledon.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Not meeting expectations.

Green group: Teams in the Women’s Final Four.

Blue group: Teams Kawhi Leonard has played for.

Purple group: Ends in a piece of tennis equipment.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is not meeting expectations. The four answers are bust, disappointment, dud and failure.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams in the Women’s Final Four. The four answers are Bruins, Gamecocks, Huskies and Longhorns.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams Kawhi Leonard has played for. The four answers are Aztecs, Clippers, Raptors and Spurs.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends in a piece of tennis equipment. The four answers are bracket, eyeball, horseshoes and internet.

Quick tips for Connections: Sports Edition

#1: Don’t grab for the easiest group. For each word, think about other sports categories it might fit in – is this a word that can be used in football, or to describe scoring options?

#2: Second meanings are important. The puzzle loves to use last names and even college names that mean other things, to fool you into thinking they are words, not names.

#3: And the opposite is also true. Words like HURTS might seem like a regular word, but it’s also the last name of at least one pro athlete.

Technologies

Skip Your iPhone’s Lockscreen: Here’s the Hidden Flashlight Trick You Need to Know

A couple of taps can really make a difference on your iPhone.

Not long ago, your iPhone’s lockscreen would only allow two app shortcuts that you couldn’t change: camera controls and a flashlight toggle. However, iOS 18.2 allows you to customize these shortcuts to almost anything you might want. This small but impactful change is one of many ways iOS 18 supercharges customization for iPhone and iPad users. But what if you still want an easy-to-access way to toggle your flashlight without unlocking your phone?

Apple introduced an accessibility feature in iOS 14 that, once enabled, allows you to perform actions by just tapping on the back of your phone. The feature is called Tap Back and it remains a sleeper feature that’s sneakily hidden away in your settings menu. Enabling Tap Back essentially allows you to create a button on the back of your iPhone to perform an action without needing to take up any space.

Once you have Tap Back enabled, it doesn’t take long to see how much of a game-changer it can be with its added convenience. Below, we’ll show you how to set it up so a couple of taps on the back of your iPhone will let you launch just about anything you want.

For more, check out what’s in the latest iOS 18.4 release.

How to set up Back Tap on iPhone

Whether you want to link Back Tap with your flashlight, camera or launch a different iPhone app, the path through your iPhone settings begins the same way.

On your compatible iPhone (iPhone 8 or later), launch the Settings application and go to Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. Now you have the option to launch your action (in this case, your flashlight) with either two or three taps. Although two taps is obviously faster, I would suggest three taps because if you fidget with your phone, it’s easy to accidentally trigger the accessibility feature.

Once you choose a tap option, select the Flashlight option — or a different action if you prefer. You’ll see over 30 options to choose from, including system options like Siri or taking a screenshot, to accessibility-specific functions like opening a magnifier or turning on real-time live captions. You can also set up Back Tap to open the Control Center, go back home, mute your audio, turn the volume up and down and run any shortcuts you’ve downloaded or created.

You’ll know you’ve successfully selected your choice when a blue checkmark appears to the right of the action. You could actually set up two shortcuts this way — one that’s triggered by two taps and one that’s triggered by three taps to the iPhone’s back cover.

Once you exit the Settings application, you can try out the newly enabled Back Tap feature by tapping the back of your iPhone — in my case, to turn on the flashlight. To turn off the flashlight, you can tap on the back of your iPhone as well, but you can also just turn it off from your lock screen if that’s easier.

For more great iPhone tips, here’s how to keep your iPhone screen from dimming all the time and canceling all those subscriptions you don’t want or need.

Technologies

All the Nintendo Games You Can Update to Switch 2 for Free

Bad news: Mario Kart World will cost $80. Good news: These classic games will get free revamped versions for Switch 2.

Nintendo’s Switch 2 launch event on Wednesday has upset some fans for one key reason: pricing. The new console will be released on June 5 at a starting price of $450, and it will have new games, like Mario Kart World, Kirby Air Riders and Donkey Kong Bananza. But those games could cost as much as $80 (and that’s before factoring in possible tariffs).

Fortunately, Nintendo has also announced that some Nintendo Switch games will get free updates to improve playability on the upcoming console.

«By connecting your Nintendo Switch 2 to the internet, you can download free updates that may improve performance or add support for features such as GameShare in select games,» the company posted.

Here are all the Nintendo Switch games that can get a free update for the Switch 2.

Nintendo also announced that other Switch games will have upgraded versions of the base game, called Switch 2 Editions. These games, which include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, may offer improved graphics, unique ways to play the game with the Switch 2 hardware, and other features.

You can buy a digital or physical copy of these games if you’re purchasing them for the first time. But Switch 2 Edition games are not free if you already own the Switch version of one of these games, so you’ll have to buy an upgrade pack to play the updated version.

It’s unclear how much Switch 2 Editions of games and upgrade packs will cost, and it’s also unclear how upgrade packs will work with physical versions of Switch games.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will also be backward compatible with certain games. While we don’t know all the Switch games that will be playable on the Switch 2, we know some Switch games have startup (PDF) or in-game (PDF) compatibility issues with the upcoming console.

For more on the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, here’s what we know about the upcoming console and what to know about games like Mario Kart World and Duskbloods.