Google releases beta version of Android 13 'Tiramisu'

Google on Tuesday released the first beta version of Android 13, the next iteration of its mobile operating system. Referred to internally as "Tiramisu," the beta release follows a Developer Preview that debuted in February. Android 13 features a new runtime permission for sending notifications from an app, a system photo …

[Anonymous Coward]

Going from 10 to 11, the permissions system made things awkward... Now the photo editor app asks *every* time for access to make changes. I appreciate the granularity gives some more control, but the timing of an update isn't down to a user... They might have shit going in in their life at that time, and might not give the new pop up options too much thought when they're just in the middle of doing something. Then they end up with with persisting permissions dialogues, just like Windows Vista all over again. Sure it can be fixed, but Samsung stamp their individuality on the settings menu, and really, I can't be arsed any more. By which I mean I doubt my cognitive abilities and ability to concentrate, so don't wish to waste what little brain matter I have on stuff that somebody else buggered up.

Heck, I haven't persevered with Elite Dangerous because an apparently mandatory Epic 'Launcher'* tries to be helpful by snaffling the joystick and preventing the game from remembering bindings. Which isn't helpful when the game requires more than the twenty-odd buttons your joystick has. Shit, I just want to shoot some plasma cannons for fun whilst cruising 1974s idea of what soacelabrs are. What isn't fun? Diagnosing bugs, consulting web forums for answers, setting stuff up, turning stuff off and on again. Thirty years ago, a Sega or a Nintendo knew its place - you turn it on, it works, no quibble, no updates, no IRQ clashes, no advertisements.

*Yeah, what the hell are these launcher things? They seem to sit between you and a game you've purchased, throw ads at you, and throw up whinges when you're not online even if the game you want to play is local. This be never used to happen back when games came on a dozen floppy discs.

Ah, I see I've gone off-topic here.

[The Dogs Meevonks]

Going from 10 to 11 left me with a fucking unremoveable date on the home page because google thinks it can dictate what I am allowed on my homescreen... I use a widget to show the time/weather/date and have done for years and sitting right above it, making me lose an entire row of screen space that could be better used for something relevant instead... But no... I am 'forced' to see the day/date in case at some point during a 24hr period I should forget that it's thursday.

Whoever thought that was a good idea is a complete cnut

[Dave 126]

And not only did I go from 10 to 11, I also had Samsung's OneUI update itself from 4.0 to 4.1. Most noticeable change is that Samsung have decided to prevent the phone from displaying the screen upside in portrait mode. Great, now I can't rest the phone on its 'top' end in order to plug the power cable in from above. (Obviously resting the phone on the cable is unstable and unhealthy for the phone's only USB socket.).

I didn't mention it before because I was ranting enough already *without* touching on the subject of Samsung software.

Samsung camera's compulsory image processing... Urgh!! Stop it stop it just. Breathe.

Samsung Kies. Arrrghhh!

[GioCiampa]

Other handset manufacturers are available...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Other handset manufacturers are available

Fewer and fewer though. If you would rather not buy from a Chinese manufacturer, then very few indeed. I'm not a fan of Sony's bizarre letterbox-format-taken-to-an-extreme approach, and I've been burned enough by Sony hardware in the past to avoid them anyway. Google's Pixel?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Other handset manufacturers are available

The last upgrade kill my Pixel, I had to buy a new one.

[Tessier-Ashpool]

Re: Other handset manufacturers are available

That would be Android Crème Brûlée, a thin brittle veneer over a sloppy mess.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

>Other handset manufacturers are available.

As are other OSs for those handsets

Typing on GrapheneOS

[SnOOpy168]

Had stopped using Samsung phones for ages now. No more "heat pad" and self-restarting bloatware machine since. Currently using an Oppo A9 2020 - and is still working fine. Just wished that the camera can better handle HDR type of high contrast photography.

[The Dogs Meevonks]

This is why I will only buy Motorola phones these days, Pixel devices are over priced and full of issues (often hardware based that will never be fixed), whilst every single other android based device suffers with bloat and manufacturer overlays... that make the experience far, far worse.

At least with Motorola, I get a decent device, nearly vanilla free and what 'branded' apps there are can easily be removed or disabled.

My current Motorola One Vision I bought from Amazon Warehouse deals about two and half years ago for about £210 (retail was close to £300 I think)... Brand new, opened box... everything mint, still had peel left on it.

about 30 months later, still rocking strong, added a 64GB mSD card to the 128GB onboard... rocking about 150GB of music on it for all occasions.

Was considering replacing it this year as I generally keep my phones for around 2-3yrs... They promised at least 2 OS upgrades and 3yrs of security updates... so still got around 6 months or more of updates to go.

Next phone... will likely be another Motorola, this is my 4th... with a Wileyfox Storm, between the MotoG2 and G5... only replaced the Wileyfox due to a bloated battery issue that I later fixed with a replacement.

[Alex Stuart]

> Thirty years ago, a Sega or a Nintendo knew its place - you turn it on, it works, no quibble, no updates, no IRQ clashes, no advertisements.

Consoles are still largely the same. Yes, they're now x86 PCs in a snazzy box, and they have updates, game patches and ads for their own services, but the games tend to just work. I haven't had a game crash on PS5 so far, and had *one* crash on PS4/PS4 Pro over the course of 8 years, and that's thousands of hours, probably into the tens of thousands of hours, gaming.

[The Dogs Meevonks]

Sure... sure... sure

Roughly 8700hrs a year over 8years, that's roughly 70,000hrs... and you claim to be spending tens of thousands of hrs gaming. That implies at least 30,000 hrs or more.

Which means you're spending at least 10hrs a day gaming on average

Or... were you just over exaggerating for effect?

[Pascal Monett]

Tiramisu

I absolutely love Tiramisu. It is by far the best dessert in existence (YMMV).

That said, I don't think I'll ever see it on my A3 (purchased in 2017).

It's frustrating how all these advances are stifled by operator inertia.

[MiguelC]

Re: Tiramisu

Yes, delicious Tiramisu, sprinkled with fairy (cocoa) dust and you mustn't leave it alone for too long or it'll leak (all the amaretto) - totally (not) unlike Android

[jmch]

Re: Tiramisu

And totally (not) unlike Android, is far better when using the minimum of ingredients instead of throwing in whatever takes the chef's (or manufacturer's - ugh!!) fancy.

[Barry Rueger]

What the article needed

Was a listing of features that will be disabled, removed, or ottherwise mangled. The stuff, like recording your own phone calls, that just disapears with no warning.

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Re: What the article needed

It noted that there are permissions for only audio, video, and still images rather than general file access. I read that as Google driving the last nail into Android's coffin because all but the boring apps will stop working. Android 11+ is really broken.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: What the article needed

"It noted that there are permissions for only audio, video, and still images rather than general file access. I read that as Google driving the last nail into Android's coffin because all but the boring apps will stop working. Android 11+ is really broken."

I think you are meant to assume that GRUgle will just continue to riffle through your textual files regardless anyway, without so much as a by your leave, because, umm "enhance your experience" or somesuch shite...

[Peter D]

Re: What the article needed

That was the EU that did that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: What the article needed

What?

[anothercynic]

Well now...

Well, Android 11 tried to get away from the 'Do not validate' mess in WPA2-Enterprise. Android 12 went further by tightening up the certificate requirements in WPA2-Enterprise. But no-one in Android-land thought that if you pulled the 'Do not validate' option, you should at least do what the competition does. At least in Android 13 they've woken up and done that, but slightly better. So thank God for it.

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I do wish Google would make my phones and tablet hardware useless at a much slower pace!