Category: Systems and procedures

Apple releases fourth developer beta of iOS 13.3, more

After over two weeks of silence, Apple today has released the fourth developer of iOS 13.3 and iPadOS 13.3. Apple is also releasing the fourth public beta of iOS 13.3 today as well. tvOS 13.3 beta 4 is also now available, as is watchOS 6.1.1 beta 4.

iOS 13.3 includes a new option in Settings to disable the Memoji keyboard from always appearing alongside the emoji keyboard. Communication Limits are also now available through Screen Time, allowing you to set limits based on your contacts.

Meanwhile, tvOS 13.3 includes a new option to bring back the “Up Next” queue to the top shelf area for the TV app. To change the setting, update to tvOS 13.3. Then, go into the Settings app, select Apps, then select the TV app. With tvOS 13, the top shelf area started showing previews for movies and TV shows, but the “Up Next” queue is more useful for many people.

When do we expect these updates to be released to the public? They will likely come sooner rather than later given that we are on the fourth betas already. A public release before the end of 2019 certain seems likely, but it’s not guaranteed.

Airplane Mode may finally stop shutting down Bluetooth audio, starting with Android 11 R

Airplane mode is a feature that has been around in phones for a very long time. The name comes from the idea that the radios in phones can interfere with airplanes, so this allows you to turn them off without powering down the phone completely. Airplane mode has other uses, of course, but it’s not a terribly nuanced tool: one tap kills all radios. However, in Android 11 R, it may get a little smarter.

This blanket approach can be annoying if you want to quickly disable cellular and Wi-Fi, but you’re listening to music over Bluetooth. If you’re familiar with ADB, there’s already a method for customizing which radios are turned off with airplane mode. Of course, that’s not a consumer-facing feature and not something most people will bother with. A new commit in the AOSP Gerrit is titled “Context-aware Bluetooth airplane mode” and it sounds like a much-requested feature.

Do not automatically turn off Bluetooth when airplane mode is turned on and Bluetooth is in one of the following situations:

Bluetooth A2DP is connected.

Bluetooth Hearing Aid profile is connected.

Android will be smart enough to realize that if you’re currently using Bluetooth you probably don’t want to disable it when toggling airplane mode on. “A2DP” is the profile used for most Bluetooth earbuds and headsets for media streaming. The commit has not been merged yet, but we can expect to see it in Android 11 R, the next major version of the OS. This is a small thing but it can make a big difference if you use airplane mode and Bluetooth a lot.

Here is what’s next after Windows 10 version 1909

Microsoft released Windows 10 version 1909 in November 2019; the new major version of Windows 10 was just a minor update that did not introduce many new features or changes to the system.

Windows 10 devices that run older versions of the operating system can be upgraded to the new version. While there are some stopper bugs and devices that are held back, as usual, most devices are eligible for the update to Windows 10 version 1909.

Microsoft revealed earlier this month that it won’t release smaller updates like Windows 10 version 1909 anytime soon. The company revealed that it used the update to test the functionality but that it had no plans to make the 2009 update a minor update as well.

Another major change that happened recently was the termination of the Skip Ahead Insider Ring. Microsoft dropped it entirely from the program which meant that Fast, Slow and Release preview rings are all that is left.

Microsoft’s plans for 2020

What about 2020 then and Windows 10? Microsoft published a new Windows 10 Insider Preview version, build 19033, on November 26, 2019 and announced the release on the official Windows Experience blog.

Brandon LeBlanc, a Windows Insider Program Senior Program Manager, revealed the version of the next feature update for Windows 10 in the blog post.

Eagle-eyed Windows Insiders will notice that that as of this build, 20H1 officially shows it is version 2004. We have chosen to use 2004 as the version to eliminate confusion with any past product names (such as Windows Server 2003).

To avoid confusion with Windows Server 2003, Microsoft made the decision to make Windows 10 version 2004 the next feature update for the operating system. Obviously, that may still be confusing considering that users could interpret the version as year.

Still, the month may align better with the actual release date of the feature update considering that the last two, named Windows 10 version 1903 and Windows 10 version 1909, were released in May 2019 and November 2019 respectively.

Build 2004 has been pushed to the Fast and Slow ring. Fast ring systems will receive Windows 10 20H2 soon; the second feature update for Windows 10 of 2020 will then be tested by participants who run Fast Ring devices.

Closing Words

Microsoft plans to release two major feature updates for Windows 10 in 2020. Windows 10 2004 will be the first major release in 2020 and it will introduce new features and make changes to the operating system. Little is known about the second feature update of 2020 as public testing has not yet begun.

Android 10’s missing features: All the stuff that never made it into the final update

Android 10’s beta period was a wild ride, with new implementations of gesture navigation and tweaks to notifications happening on a monthly basis. The active development cycle also meant some previously-announced functionality has been removed, while other features have yet to show up at all. We expected at least a few of them to end up as Pixel-exclusive features, and while a few did end up that way (like a system theme picker), others never materialized at all. These are Android 10’s ‘lost’ features.

Screen recorder

Android still doesn’t have a built-in screen recorder. Not only does iOS actually have this feature, but its screen recorder can capture internal system audio, which isn’t possible through any screen recording apps on Android (without root, anyway). Android 10 looked like it might have addressed this problem, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

An experimental screen recorder appeared as a flag in the Android 10 betas, and it could be enabled from the Settings app. The feature basically didn’t work at all, but it showed Google was interested in the idea.

Sadly, the ability to access Android system flags vanished in the final Android 10 release, and the screen recorder never moved out of the mostly-not-working phase. Maybe next year…

Fast Share

Apple’s iOS has had a feature called ‘AirDrop’ for years, which allows people to send photos, websites, contacts, and other data to anyone else in close physical proximity — without exchanging contact information first. Android Beam offered similar functionality from Ice Cream Sandwich onwards, but it was painfully slow (due to NFC), required physical contact between devices (again, NFC), and was actually removed in Android 10.

During Android 10’s beta period, it was discovered that Google was developing an AirDrop-like feature called ‘Fast Share,’ which would locate nearby Android phones via Bluetooth and transfer files over a direct Wi-Fi connection. While the feature was found in Google Play Services, not Android 10 itself, it happened close enough in parallel to the Android 10 betas that it’s worth including here anyway (and the final version could end up requiring Android 10).

The good news is that Fast Share might not be lost for much longer. Mishaal Rahman of XDA Developers discovered recently that the feature is still in development, and has since received new icons and interface updates.

I hope Fast Share shows up in one form or another soon, because sending unsolicited memes to people around you sounds like a lot of fun.

Rules

Another feature that is missing-but-kind-of-not-missing is ‘Rules.’ In a similar fashion to Tasker and Bixby Actions, this allows you to set up simple automation tasks in Android. For example, you could set your phone to turn on Do Not Disturb mode when you connect to your work’s Wi-Fi network.

Rules was never publicly-accessible during the Android 10 betas. It was originally discovered inside a system APK, then the team at XDA Developers managed to activate it on Android 10 Beta 5. The feature was enabled on some Pixel 2 and 3 phones (perhaps accidentally) after Android 10 was released, but a wide rollout has yet to occur.

The feature can currently be activated on Pixel phones running Android 10, as long as the device is rooted. It’s not clear when this feature will become accessible to more people — perhaps a monthly security update could flip the switch.

Translate button in Recents

In the later stages of Android 10’s beta phase, Google was developing a translate feature for the Recents screen. Much like how you can select text from apps in the Recents screen on some devices, Android would add a Google Translate button to apps using a different language than the device default.

The feature appeared in a leaked build of Android 10, but was never present in any of the public betas, nor the final release. It’s not clear what became of the Translate button — maybe we’ll see it again in a future system update.

Automatic dark mode

Android 10 brought one of the most heavily-requested OS features in recent history: a system-wide dark theme. However, Google never fully implemented a dark mode that would automatically turn on and off depending on the time (or sunrise/sunset). Some manufacturers like Samsung have already added this to their flavors of Android, making the feature’s absence on stock Android even stranger.

An automatic dark mode was definitely in the works at one point, as you can temporarily enable it by running an ADB command. At least one app has been created that makes this hidden functionality a bit easier to use, but the switch should really be in Android 10 itself.

Adaptive Notifications

Android 10 had a whole lot of changes to how notifications work, with tweaks to sorting, more long-press actions, simpler alert options, and more. One of these changes was ‘Adaptive Notifications,’ a feature that showed up in Beta 4 and promptly vanished.

A new group for Adaptive Notifications appeared under the main Notifications settings, with two optional features. The first, ‘Automatic Prioritization,’ promised to not buzz your phone for what the OS deemed “lower-priority notifications,” sort of like email apps that try to avoid notifications for spam mail and other non-important messages. The second feature added “suggested actions and replies” to notifications.

Both options disappeared in subsequent betas, but an ‘Android Adaptive Notifications’ APK remains in the final Android 10 release, along with an option in the Developer Options for picking another handler app.

Honorable mentions

Some features originally planned for Android 10 ended up being Pixel-exclusive (even if only temporarily) or were delivered in post-launch updates. While not technically ‘missing features,’ they’re still worth mentioning since they aren’t on every Android 10 device.

Gestures with third-party launchers: A new gesture navigation system shipped in Android 10, but it couldn’t be activated when a third-party launcher was in use. Google eventually fixed it for the Pixel 4, but the patch is still missing on other Pixel devices (and some other phones updated to 10).

Pixel themes: If you were hoping Android 10’s system theme picker was going to make it to non-Pixel devices, sorry to disappoint. It’s a Pixel 4 exclusive.

Live Caption: One of the more interesting demos at Google I/O this year was for Live Caption, an Android feature that displays live transcripts of any audio coming from your phone. It seemed like it was heading to Android 10, but Google later said it would only work on flagship phones. Live Caption is currently a Pixel 4 exclusive, though the Pixel 3 and 3a should get it before the end of the year.

Swipe-down gesture in Pixel Launcher: A leaked APK a few months ago revealed that the Pixel Launcher might get a swipe-down gesture to open the notification panel. It ended up being exclusive to the Pixel 4, for whatever reason.

Interactive ‘dynamic email’ rolling out to Gmail for Android and iOS

Google wants the future of email to be less static and more interactive. Its solution based on Accelerated Mobile Pages has found industry support, and “dynamic email” is now coming to Gmail for Android and iOS.

Instead of clicking links that open in a browser, dynamic emails let you interact with calendar invites, respond to questionnaires, and browse catalogs right from a message. One particularly interesting use case is commenting in a Google Docs thread right from the email notification already in your inbox.

This saves you from having to open the full app and lets you quickly return to triaging messages instead of getting distracted. Another part of dynamic email is making messages more current. For example, you could have up-to-date order statuses or the latest job listings every time you check.

After rolling out in July to Gmail on the web, Google is adding support to the Android and iOS apps. Starting today, it will begin rolling out to free consumer accounts and G Suite customers. It will be widely available over the next two weeks.

Yahoo Mail, Outlook.com, and Mail.Ru have also announced support. Besides Google Docs, other senders that support the interactive format include Booking.com, Despegar, Doodle, Ecwid, Freshworks, Nexxt, OYO Rooms, Pinterest, and redBus. Google reviews who can send dynamic emails through a registration program.

It first rolled out to Gmail on the web in March and came to G Suite accounts in July. End-users will have the option to disable in settings and stick with static email.

If You Can’t Update Windows 10, Blame Your Realtek Drivers

Here’s the good news: If you haven’t updated your Realtek Bluetooth drivers in some time, or don’t even know that’s a thing, you can finally update to Windows 10 version 1909—the latest and greatest iteration of the operating system as of when we published this article.

According to Bleeping Computer, Microsoft has removed a block that prevented you from upgrading to this, or even Windows 10 versions 1903 and 1809, as a result of your older Realtek drivers causing issues with device connections on newer versions of the OS.

Whatever that problem was, it has since been fixed with a newer version of Realtek’s drivers. In theory, you should be able to update to the latest version of these via Windows Update itself—version 1.5.1012 or later, that is. You can check to see what you’re running by opening up Device Manager, expanding the Bluetooth section, right-clicking and selecting “Properties,” and clicking on the Driver tab:

If you’re running an older driver, and no update is available via Windows Update, you can try installing Realtek’s Bluetooth drivers manually. It looks like an incredibly complicated process, but you’ll be fine. As Microsoft describes:

Download both of the Realtek Bluetooth radio drivers to your preferred folder: Driver 1, Driver 2. Note We recommend downloading them to your Documents folder.

Open File Explorer. If there is no file explorer icon in the task bar, select the search box and enter file explorer and select it.

Within File Explorer, go the the Documents folder or the folder you downloaded the drivers to.

Find and double click or double tap on the file named 068de0d6-6ac2-473a-8cbd-bd449cd5c97c_942eec5828662eecc6b98cc2706658bf2433717c.cab

Select CTRL+a on the keyboard. This should select all of the files

Right click or long press on any of the files and select Extract.

Select the New folder button and rename it Realtek Bluetooth.

Select the Extract button.

In File Explorer, select the back button to go to the location you downloaded the drivers into.

Find and double click or double tap on the file named f2748416-7753-49c6-9185-56f4986f490b_e98e0d664b7e874011b8e3752046ca61f3475295.cab

Select CTRL+a on the keyboard. This should select all of the files

Right click or long press on any of the files and select Extract.

If you are in the folder named Realtek Bluetooth, then select the New folder button and type Realtek Bluetooth 2.

Select the Extract button.

In the search box on the taskbar, enter device manager, then select Device Manager.

Find Bluetooth and expand it.

Find the Realtek device and right-click or long press on it.

Select Update Driver from the context menu.

Select the Browse my computer for driver software button.

It should default to your Documents folder, if this is where you saved the drivers then just select the Next button. If you did not save the drivers to your Documents folder, select the Browse button and find the folder you downloaded the drivers to and select OK.

It should now find the updated drivers and install them. Wait for this to complete and select Close.

Once you’ve done that, feel free to ponder a refreshing beverage while you wait for Windows 10 to update to the latest version, too. However, I wouldn’t start pouring it until you have confirmation that the update is ready to download and install; Microsoft says it could take up to 48 hours or so after you’ve updated your Bluetooth drivers for the Windows update to become available.

Windows 10 2020 Arrives for the Slow Ring Tonight!

As promised, the next Windows 10 feature update is now live for Insiders in the Slow ring. Microsoft has this month released the November 2019 Update for the public, internally finalized Windows 10 20H1 and now released its Preview Builds to the Slow ring. Quite a happening month.

The build arriving today is Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19025.1051 from the 20H1 branch, which was released on November 15 to the Fast ring. Since then Microsoft has delivered another update to Insiders in the Fast ring.

Here is the changelog of Windows 10 20H1 build 19025 – which isn’t everything that is new with 20H1, just the changes coming with that particular build as Slow ring will be getting A LOT more!

Improving Windows Search

As Insiders know, over the releases, we’ve been continuing to work on improving search results based on your feedback. Including adding Enhanced search mode (adding an easy option to expand search across all folders and drivers) in 19H1, as well integrating Windows Search into File Explorer, to ensure more consistent results regardless of where you start your search.

In 19H1, we asked Insiders why they were turning off the search indexer. Your feedback helped us make improvements then and helped us focus on three key areas of improvement in 20H1: excessive disk and CPU usage, general performance issues, and low perceived value of the indexer.

Based on this, we’re introducing an algorithm that detects high disk usage and activity, so it can better identify peak usage times and manage the indexer accordingly. We’re also making changes for developers to prevent searches of certain repositories and project folders to improve disk usage.

Learn more about these features that we’ve been working on throughout 20H1 and get helpful tips and troubleshooting info to help you make the most of Windows Search in our Supercharging Windows Search article.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

We fixed an issue from the previous flight preventing Sandbox and WDAG from working.

We fixed an issue resulting in certain fingerprint readers no longer working as of Build 19013.

We fixed an issue that could result in VPN Settings hanging after upgrade.

We’ve done some work to help address an issue that could result in certain modern UI components (including notifications and the network flyout), scaling either too large or too small after attaching an external monitor or remoting into the machine from a monitor with a different DPI.

We fixed an issue impacted login performance for some users in recent builds.

We fixed an issue resulting in Windows Hello authentication not working with certain apps in recent builds.

We fixed an issue that could result in the mouse pointer not displaying when logging in to a PC locally after remoting in.

We fixed an issue where, when using the touch keyboard docked on a large screen, the keys would stretch out to span the width of the monitor, rather than staying an optimal width for touch interaction.

We fixed an issue that could result in ctfmon.exe crashing when using reconversion with the Japanese IME in certain text fields.

We fixed an issue that could result in web activities in Timeline not opening if you had new Edge installed.

We fixed an issue where a high number of app deployment failures in a short period of time could result in an unexpectedly large volume of disk space being used by evtx files saved under %windir%\temp.

We fixed an issue resulting in some apps failing to update with error 0x8007000A.

We fixed an issue resulting in jitters when using Magnifier in certain multi-monitor configurations.

We fixed an issue where the mouse pointer did not start from where the Magnifier viewport was if it had moved from typing.

We fixed an issue impacting Narrator performance reading aloud in Outlook after switching focus from an email back to the list of emails in your inbox.

We fixed a memory leak in EoAExperiences.exe after using the text cursor indicator for prolonged periods of time.

Windows 10 20H1 19025: Knowns issues

BattlEye and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues due to changes in the operating system between some Insider Preview builds and certain versions of BattlEye anti-cheat software. To safeguard Insiders who might have these versions installed on their PC, we have applied a compatibility hold on these devices from being offered affected builds of Windows Insider Preview. See this article for details.

We’ve heard that Settings still isn’t available outside of launching via the URI (ms-settings:) for some Insiders and are investigating.

Some Insiders are reporting that after successfully installing printer drivers from the Optional Updates section, the same driver is still showing as available for install. We’re looking into the issue.

We’re looking into reports where, when certain external USB 3.0 drives are attached, they stop responding with Start Code 10 or 38.

You can also clean install Windows 10 20H1 as Microsoft recently released ISO images for Insiders.

Tip: Download the Windows 10 Version 1909 ISO

In the wake of the release of Windows 10 version 1909, Microsoft has made the Setup ISO available for download.

You get it as you did with past releases: Visit the Download Windows 10 website, select the “Download tool now” button under Create Windows 10 installation media, and then download and run the Windows 10 Setup tool. Then, following the steps in the wizard, choose “Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC,” the correct language, edition, and architecture, and then “ISO file.”

I’ve verified that the ISO you download this way is for version 1909 (as opposed to the previous version, 1903), but if you’re worried about it, you can ensure you get a 1909 ISO by using a bizarre method I’ve seen publicized on Bleeping Computer and elsewhere: Basically, you use the Chrome or new Edge developer tools to fake the site into thinking you’re using an iPhone so that it will skip the wizard download and just deliver you the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the Windows 10 version 1909 ISO.

Either way, you should be good to go.

Apple releases iOS and iPadOS 13.2.3

It has only been 11 days since Apple released iOS 13.2.2, but once again we’re seeing evidence of a greatly increased update cadence. Today sees the release of iOS and iPadOS 13.2.3.

This latest release is mostly a bug fix update—of course, that was apparent from the version number. Traditionally, Apple numbers its updates to signify their importance. Top-level updates like iOS 12 or iOS 13 are annualized major releases that start a new update cycle. One decimal point down (like iOS 13.2) denotes an update that adds major new features. One further point down (like this one, iOS 13.2.1) usually indicates that it is a bug fix update.

The update this week fixes problems users have encountered with search in the Mail, Files, and Notes apps. It also addresses a bug with attachments in Messages, an issue that stopped apps from downloading properly, and another with Exchange accounts under Mail that has frustrated many users.

Here are Apple’s update notes for both iOS 13.2.3 and iPadOS 13.2.3:

iOS 13.2.3 includes bug fixes and improvements for your iPhone. This update:

Fixes an issue where system search and search within Mail, Files, and Notes might not work

Addresses an issue where photos, links, and other attachments might not display in the Messages details view

Fixes an issue that could prevent apps from downloading content in the background

Resolves issues that may prevent Mail from fetching new messages, and fail to include and quote original message content in Exchange accounts

The update should roll out to all devices supported by iOS or iPadOS 13 today. Users can check for it in their devices’ Settings apps.

Apple is also working on a major feature release, iOS and iPadOS 13.3. That update is currently in beta with developers. Its biggest feature at present is the ability to set messaging and communication limits in Screen Time. It also allows users to disable the appearance of Animoji and Memoji stickers in the system’s emoji keyboard.

Microsoft Windows 10 Has A Reliable Advantage Over MacOS Catalina

Alongside the announcement of the Surface Duo, Microsoft announced a new version of Windows – Windows 10X – that would power the upcoming dual-screen device. It’s going to look very familiar to Windows 10, but with some tweaks to improve the UI for dual screened devices.

Windows 10X is part of Microsoft’s push towards a modular version of Windows 10, so 10X should be regarded as a branch of Windows 10 for dual screened devices, just as there are versions of Windows 10 that branch out to support HoloLens, Surface Hub, and Xbox.

This weekend saw reports of a leaked internal design document around Windows 10X and a number of key areas where 10X will take a different path to the vanilla Windows 10. It also suggested that some of the options in 10X could make their way to the more traditional laptop formats with single screen setups.

We’re clearly in ’assuming Taniyama-Shimura’ territory here, but the suggested features of 10X feel very much in tune with the slow iterative progress that Microsoft is making with Windows 10… Improvements to Windows Hello and the facial recognition system will benefit the entire platform. The inclusion of a more touch friendly ‘modern’ file explorer to fit the UI seen in other UWP apps coded by Microsoft and others is a logical progression.

And we can already see with the limited amount of public time that the Surface Duo has had that the classic Start Menu is becoming more like a smartphone launcher, so the suggested additions of improved local search and recommended content should not come as a surprise.

This is where Microsoft is playing a better game than Apple. As witnessed by the recent changes to MacOS with Catalina, Apple is working on an annual tempo of releases and new things need to happen ‘on schedule’ for the preview at WWDC in June and the public availability of the next version of in September. That puts a huge amount of pressure on the development team to keep coming up with something new for marketing for the limited pool of MacOS powered machines. With Catalina needing an almost immediate hot fix because of installation issues you have to ask if this is the right approach.

Microsoft has moved away from this tempo to a more ‘continual’ update cycle for Windows 10, releasing when the code is ready. Although issues can still arise when the code is rolled out to the almost infinite combinations of hardware around the world, Microsoft’s steady pattern of releases offers more reassurance to customers that things will not rapidly change.