Google is engaged on a flashy new characteristic for Pixel telephones

As of late, Google has been all fingers on deck on the subject of Android improvement. The company recently released the steady model of Android 16 to the world, in addition to a June characteristic drop particularly for Pixel customers. The search large’s upcoming Quarterly Platform Launch (QPR) 1 replace, which is predicted to reach someday within the coming weeks, will introduce a dramatic Material 3 Expressive redesign and varied desktop mode enhancements to Android 16, as nicely.

Within the midst of all these thrilling software program developments, one small-yet-flashy Android characteristic seems to be within the works for Pixel homeowners, and it is one which I might describe as being lengthy overdue. As uncovered by Nail Sadykov on Telegram (via Android Authority), the newest Beta 2 launch of Android 16 QPR1 makes reference to a ‘Flashlight Energy’ characteristic inside its code base.

Whereas nothing has been formally confirmed by Google, it may be surmised that the corporate is engaged on bringing an LED-intensity slider UI to the Android OS at a system stage. That is nice information, as it could permit extra granular management over the depth of emitted gentle when utilizing a Pixel cellphone as a makeshift flashlight.

In the meanwhile, most Android cellphone makers already present an LED depth slider by their software program pores and skin. Till now, nonetheless, they’ve typically relied on customized implementations. If Google provides the characteristic to the ‘inventory’ model of the Android Open Supply Undertaking (AOSP), it will unify the performance throughout the whole ecosystem. It is shocking that the characteristic is not already obtainable out of the field for Pixel customers, contemplating its ubiquity throughout competing cellular working methods.

After all, the competitors is not sitting nonetheless: In final 12 months’s iOS 18 launch, Apple one-upped the competitors by introducing an even more adjustable LED flash adjustment software to the iPhone, with the power to not solely regulate depth, but additionally beam width. It is unclear whether or not Google’s implementation will find yourself being as strong as Apple’s, or if it will ship within the type of a easy multistep slider. Sadykov has managed to allow an early-stage beta UI for the characteristic, which seems to work by increasing a slider menu from the short settings pane.

The groundwork has already been laid

A user-facing flashlight slider for Android is inevitable

Pocket-lint / Google

Technically talking, Google laid the foundations for LED depth management all the best way again in 2022’s Android 13 launch. Since then, it has been doable for builders to faucet into the characteristic, making it all of the more unusual that it isn’t already a user-facing choice on trendy Pixel telephones.

The Google-published Magnifier app, which serves as an accessibility software, already gives its personal flashlight depth slider, however I have been counting on the third-party Lumolight app from the Play Retailer to fulfill my LED depth itch. This latter resolution works like a attraction on my Pixel 9 Professional, and it ought to work simply as reliably on any cellphone working Android 14 or newer. Better of all, it is crammed with further choices, and it makes nice use of Materials You theming.

After all, simply because a characteristic is referenced inside the code base of a beta software program construct, doesn’t suggest that it will essentially see the sunshine of day. I really feel assured {that a} flashlight depth slider for the Pixel is an inevitability, however it’s exhausting to say when the characteristic may really land on units in steady type. In the meanwhile, Lumolight continues to serve me nicely as a one-stop store for leveraging my Pixel’s rear LED module.

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