That day has come. Android 14 begins its journey. The first build for developers was released last night so that the latest Google Pixels owners can try the latest iteration of Android. The server was able to install the ROM on a Pixel 6.

I know it’s the first version. I know this is a developer ROM. But I also know that for several years, IChanges in Android are trivial It’s time to start thinking about whether it makes sense for us to do nothing but inflate the operating system’s version list.

Don’t expect big changes at the interface level

There may be a screenshot of Android 12. But this is Android 14.

With Android 12 came Android’s new design language: Material You. The evolution of this language material designand it came with significant changes to status bar, widgets, system settings, menus and more. Manufacturers are implementing this to a greater or lesser extent (less) and there are no major changes in both Android 13 and Android 14.

Again, this is the first beta for developers and there is scope for changes to be implemented, but the final version is usually not a radical change from the Developer Preview. I had to go to system settings to check if Android 14 UpsideDownCake is installed as everything is the same as the previous version.

There are minimal changes, such as the battery menu now showing screen time more visibly. In the same menu, we can now access the extreme savings mode more easily. The smallest changes to the customization layers in the Stock menu will have no less effect.

In the “Security and Privacy” section, we no longer work with drop-down menus. Each of the list items now opens a new page. The next Developer Previews will certainly bring some weird aesthetic change, but there will be brushstrokes to polish what’s already there.

It’s not that easy to see the new features of this Developer Preview with the naked eye. Google provides a version that will “rationalize battery consumption in the background” to have a better ultimate experience.

As for concrete news, they are minimal. There are improvements in accessibility (to further expand on-screen text), improvements to language APIs, and the only thing more striking is the ability for apps to restrict access to certain photos in the gallery. not the whole gallery.

More versions, more fragmentation

More than six months have passed since the release of Android 13. Not even available on 6% of phones. The diversity of Android devices inevitably pushes it to be a fragmented system, but it’s worth thinking about the need to release new versions that increase this fragmentation beyond providing real value and prevent the market from settling.

Few users can distinguish between a cell phone with Android 13 and a cell phone with Android 12. (actually, the server will have to go through the documentation to remember minor changes to Android 13) and something similar will happen in version 14. The new Developer Previews will feed the news system, but I still remember when to. set up a beta for developers It had access to a whole new system, very green but full of new features.

The road is now the opposite. The new betas already seem to be fully established systems. They only strengthen the foundation of previous good work. If so, it’s worth asking if it’s more appropriate to group major changes and change the speed of releases.