Although Android 13 officially came out of the oven recently, the community is already beginning to talk about its successor. The first developer previews of Android 14 are a few months away, but there are already some rumors of what could come .
That is precisely what we will talk about today, because we will comment on everything that is known (so far) about Android 14 “Upside Down Cake” . Could you expect a change as big as what happened in Android 12?
What news could be introduced in Android 14?
If there is a reality around Google’s operating system, it is that Android 12 was the biggest graphical leap since Android 5. The reason? The introduction of the Material You graphical interface, which ended up taking hold in Android 13.
At the time of writing this article, there were no official details about the news that will be introduced in Android 14. However, there are some rumors around it and logic also leads part of the way. Why do we say the latter? If Android 12 focused on graphics, Android 13 was a middle ground between graphics and internals, then it’s quite likely that Android 14 will focus on improving things internally . Among the rumors that we have managed to collect, is the following:
- The final goodbye to Android Beam in favor of Nearby Share : Despite being obsolete since Android 10, Beam was still available in AOSP. The app allowed you to easily connect two devices and transfer data between them, but has since been replaced by Nearby Share. In Android Gerrit it was discovered that it will eventually disappear altogether.
- Satellite support for emergencies : Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President of Android, recently admitted that Android will support satellite communications. In addition, he explained that the company is already working on this and will allow it “in the next version of Android”, which is none other than Android 14. Yes, your Android mobile will soon be compatible with a satellite connection for emergencies, such as the iPhone 14 of Manzana.
Beyond these two things, not much is known about what’s new in Android 14. It’s totally normal, since there are still no ROMs available that can be tested to reveal the rest of its secrets, for now.
When will Android 14 be released? Why will it be called “Upside Down Cake”?
If Google sticks to its policy of updating the Android version annually, then Android 14 should be officially released between August and October 2023 . However, this does not mean that you will not hear about this update before then. Remember that Google always releases several test versions several months before the stable version, so at that time the news will be known.
If the Android 13 calendar is followed (same as in previous years), the Android 14 calendar should look like this:
- Developer Preview 1 : February 2023.
- Developer Preview 2 : March 2023.
- Beta 1 : April 2023.
- Beta 2 : May 2023.
- Stable Beta 1 : June 2023.
- Stable Beta 2 : July 2023.
- Official launch : August – October 2023.
Now, let’s talk about what Android 14 will be called . Although Google abandoned public-facing dessert names since Android 10 with the rebranding, they are still used internally.
We know that Android 11 was called Red Velvet, Android 12 Snow Cone, and Android 13 is called Tiramisu. Keeping the string of letters, Android 14 gets a dessert that starts with the U. Thanks to Gerrit from AOSP, in July of last year it was discovered that the developers already had a name selected: Android 14 will be called Upside Down Cake ( upside down cake).
No, it has nothing to do with Stranger Things , but with the late classics that are baked directly with the topping and when they are served they have to be turned over so that they are presented correctly.
What phones could be compatible with Android 14?
Taking into account that we barely know the first details of Android 14 and that DP1 is months away, we can only guess. Even so, we can make a preliminary list of devices compatible with Android 14 if we follow the policies of various companies. Remember that it is not an official list, so we are not guaranteeing that they will reach these mobiles:
- The Google Pixel 5 and later versions : The Pixel 4 is the oldest generation compatible with Android 13, so the Pixel 5 should be on Android 14.
- The Samsung Galaxy S and Z from 2020 onwards : Samsung has said that its top of the range will update its version of Android up to 4 times. It would then correspond to the Galaxy S20, Z Fold2 and Z Flip onwards.
- The Xiaomi 11T, 12 and later versions : With the launch of the Xiaomi 11T, Xiaomi said that its top of the range would update its version of Android 3 times. The Xiaomi 11T arrived with Android 11, so they would have to receive Android 14.
- The OnePlus 9 and later versions : Like Xiaomi, OnePlus promises 3 operating system updates for its top of the range. The OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro were released with Android 11.
In the case of other brands such as OPPO, Vivo, Huawei, Honor, Motorola, Nokia and Realme, their top of the range compatible with Android 14 will surely be those that have come out with Android 12 (two years of support). In the case of the mid-range and others, almost all brands tend to update the Android version only once. Therefore, Android 14 should reach mid-range and low-end mobiles that come out with Android 13 .
