Android 10, Digital Wellbeing, gesture navigation now required
The Android 10 is expected to roll out to more devices before the end of the year. By 2020, we’re hoping the majority of Android devices will get the new mobile OS. Some OEMs have already announced and presented their timeline including the Pixel line, Nokia, and Huawei. New features and improvements are also being mentioned left and right, leaving Android fans excited for Android 10 to drop. The challenge is for Google to ensure more devices will have the new Android version. The tech giant is also requiring new Android phones to have Android 10 especially if approved after the 31st of January next year.
Google said that phones on Android 9 Pie will only be approved before January 31, 2020. After that, only Android 10 devices will be approved. This is related to the company’s Digital Wellbeing requirements and Game Device Certification program that Google has set.
The company has been trying to streamline processes and schedules so roll out of Android 10 will improve compared to the previous years. It’s likely to happen because of a number of OEMs have joined the beta program. This means more devices have been run Android 10 early on, resulting in an earlier public release of Android 10.
Google must approve the Google Mobile Services of a device first. This will determine the presence of Google Play Services and the Google Play Store.
In line with this, Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls are now special requirements for Android. Other tech brands have also responded to the idea of wellness tools so this is another step.
The Digital Wellbeing app is no longer limited to Pixel. It’s also available to other Android devices. Simply put, Google requires that OEM’s and others install a Digital Wellbeing solution on their new devices with built-in parental controls.
Google also wants OEMs to hide their gesture navigation systems in favor of Android 10. The latter has its own gesture navigation system. Google whats it as a standard and so they are telling the other device makers to hide gesture navigation beginning from the setup wizard.
