Android
46 post(s)
-
Firebase Android SDK (June 16, 2026): BoM 34.15.0, FCM token API deprecations, and new App Check reCAPTCHA
A credited summary of the June 16, 2026 Firebase Android release notes. Most of it is dependency churn, but there are a few things that can surprise app teams: Cloud Messaging token API deprecations, App Distribution auth upgrades, and a new App Check reCAPTCHA SDK.
-
DeepClick: Mobile attribution still works post-ATT, but you need to treat iOS as a different data product
A clear, nuts-and-bolts walkthrough of how attribution matches installs to ad clicks, why MMPs matter, and how ATT plus SKAdNetwork turned iOS into aggregated, delayed measurement that needs different expectations (and cleaner inputs).
-
RevenueCat’s Android Codegen plugin turns dashboard strings into compile-time safe entitlements and offerings
RevenueCat ships a Codegen Gradle plugin that fetches your project schema at build time and generates Kotlin accessors for entitlements, offerings, and packages. Fewer runtime nulls, more autocomplete, and less drift between dashboard config and app code.
-
Google Android release notes: Play Games Services v1 is effectively over (final ‘empty’ SDK release)
A credited summary of Google’s June 11, 2026 release note: the Play Games Services v1 SDK has a final, non-functional release intended to force a migration signal. If you still rely on PGS v1, this is your ‘stop punting it’ moment.
-
Deferred deep linking after Firebase Dynamic Links: what actually needs rebuilding
A credited summary of Messageflow’s guide on replacing Firebase Dynamic Links post-shutdown: use platform-native Universal Links/App Links as the foundation, add a branded routing layer, and measure deferred deep linking as a funnel (click → install → first open with context), not as a click count.
-
Android Developers: Android 17 will enforce app memory limits, so treat memory like a launch blocker
Android 17 will start enforcing per-app memory limits based on device RAM, and if you blow past them the system can kill your process without a stack trace. The practical play: shrink bytecode with R8, fix bitmap bloat, and add field signals so you can spot memory-limiter exits.
-
Google: June 2026 Android Drop (safety signals, faster sharing, and AI helpers in everyday surfaces)
A credited summary of Google’s June 2026 Android feature drop. The growth takeaway: platform-level safety and sharing features become funnel surfaces, they change user expectations and can quietly affect support load and reviews.
-
Vmobify: a push strategy is a retention system, but the permission moment is the real bottleneck
A detailed push notification strategy guide focused on two hard truths: opt-in is now a product flow (iOS plus Android 13+), and timing/segmentation discipline matters more than ‘send more’.
-
Android Studio I/O Edition: developer verification signals are moving into the editor
A credited summary of Google’s Android Studio I/O Edition update, with the growth-team takeaway: verification and distribution readiness are becoming build-time checks, not launch-day surprises (notably ahead of the September 2026 requirement for certified Android devices).
-
Google Play I/O 2026 updates: Play Shorts, Ask Play, Gemini placements, and the Engage SDK (what’s real vs hype)
A quick summary of Google Play’s I/O 2026 distribution updates, what new discovery surfaces imply for intent quality, and how to prepare your listing and onboarding.
-
Android at Google I/O 2026: the themes that matter for shipping, UX, and distribution
A credited summary of Android Developers’ ‘17 Things to know’ recap from Google I/O 2026, focused on what changes app shipping velocity, UI expectations, and platform surfaces (not just developer hype).
-
Google System Services (May 2026): the Play changes you feel before you can name them
A credited summary of Google’s May 2026 System Services release notes (Play services v26.19 + Play Store v51.5), focused on what app teams should watch: AppFunctions groundwork, credential manager expansion, and new Store discovery surfaces like Play Collections.
-
Google outlines Android’s 2026 security and privacy roadmap (banking scam calls, threat detection, theft protections)
Google’s Android Security and Privacy team previews 2026 platform protections: verified financial calls to stop spoofed bank scams, expanded on-device threat detection, tighter Advanced Protection, and stronger device theft defenses.
-
Google Play’s ‘safer apps’ push: more pre-checks, more guidance, and stronger signing
Google shared a 2026 look-ahead for making it easier to publish safer apps, including earlier policy issue detection and support for post-quantum cryptography in Play App Signing.
-
Google System updates (May 2026): Play Store v51.3 adds Sidekick access and expands community Q&A languages
May 2026 Google System release notes include Play Store v51.3 and Play services v26.17. The changes are small, but they touch areas that can leak into user trust, discovery, and support: notification drawer surfaces, in-store community content, and desktop sign-in warnings.
-
App Store Marketing Weekly – Week 18 (2026)
This week’s theme: the lock screen is a product surface. Push, permissions, and platform policy now change retention and conversion as much as creatives do, because they shape what users see (and what they fear) before they ever open the app.
-
Google System updates (April 2026): small Play Store changes that can quietly impact conversion
April 2026 Google System release notes include Play Store v51.2 and recent v51.0 tweaks: a large-screen badge, a new content-rating view, changes to inline install deep links, and the ability to give feedback on AI-generated review summaries. None are ‘big launches’, but they can change what users see (and do) on your store listing.
-
EU Commission (DMA): draft measures to force Android interoperability, with a clear focus on AI services
The European Commission has issued preliminary findings and draft measures telling Google what it should implement to ensure effective access and interoperability with key Android capabilities, explicitly framed around giving users more choice of AI services. There’s now a public consultation open until May 13, 2026.
-
Android Gradle plugin 9.2.0 (April 2026): unified reports + R8 rule changes
AGP 9.2.0 adds an experimental unified HTML dashboard for test and coverage reporting, and ships R8 rule changes that can quietly affect builds (stricter -keepattributes wildcard behavior, plus support for negated member name patterns).
-
EFF: push notifications can leak more than you think (lock screen, cloud routing, device databases)
EFF breaks down two privacy leak points for push notifications: what platforms can see in transit (content/metadata), and what can persist on-device (including recovered ‘deleted’ notifications). For app teams, the takeaway is simple: treat notifications as a public surface and design for minimised content.
-
App Store Marketing Weekly – Week 17 (2026)
This week’s theme: workflow and permissions are quietly converging. Toolchain gates (TestFlight/Xcode) and platform hardening (local network, background audio, CT defaults) are now part of conversion and retention, because they change what ships and what breaks.
-
Android 17 Beta 4: the ‘boring’ changes that become support tickets
Android 17 Beta 4 is the last scheduled beta, and the headline for app teams is not one feature, it is a bundle of default-tightening changes: local network access blocked by default (new ACCESS_LOCAL_NETWORK permission), background audio hardening, certificate transparency on by default, plus new memory limits and profiling triggers for anomalies.
-
EFF: Push notifications can betray your privacy (and what to do about it)
EFF’s practical point is simple: notifications leak in two places, in transit (Apple/Google push infrastructure) and at rest (what your OS stores locally). Their advice is to reduce preview content, tighten per-app and OS-wide settings, and treat notification copy like sensitive data.
-
Android Developers: Play is pushing contact picker, location button, and a real account transfer flow
Google’s Android Developers blog frames the April 2026 Play policy changes as ‘clearer choice’ plus business protection. The practical bits: move invites/sharing off READ_CONTACTS and onto Contact Picker/Sharesheet, use the location button for one-off precise location, and plan for an official account ownership transfer workflow with a cooldown.
-
Play policies are turning into product work (contacts picker, location button, and account transfers)
A credited summary of the Android Developers Blog post on updated Play policies, focused on the concrete implementation changes that reduce review risk and user friction.
-
Google Play policy announcement (Apr 15, 2026): Contacts access, account transfer, and tighter location expectations
A quick summary of Google Play’s April 15 policy announcement, including a new Contacts Permissions policy, a new Account Transfer policy, and updated guidance around location permissions and the Android location button.
-
App Store Marketing Weekly – Week 15 (2026)
This week’s theme: distribution is getting stricter. Treat developer verification and policy shifts like release engineering, not ‘admin’, because they can break installs and updates overnight.
-
Android developer verification is rolling out to all developers (Play Console + the new Android Developer Console)
Google is expanding developer verification and app registration ahead of user-facing install protections later this year. Here’s what changes, when, and what to do now if you ship outside Play.
-
Android developer verification is becoming an on-device install check (via ‘Android Developer Verifier’)
Google’s new ‘Android Developer Verifier’ system service will check whether apps are registered to verified developers, with end-user protections starting in select countries in late 2026.
-
Location SDK panic is usually a configuration story, not a magic data leak
OneSignal clarifies how location works in its mobile SDK: it is off by default, requires explicit developer enablement, and still depends on OS-level user permission. Useful framing for privacy reviews and stakeholder questions.
-
Android 17 is making location permissions more ‘in-the-moment’ (and harder to over-collect by accident)
Android 17 introduces a new ‘location button’ for one-time precise location, stronger transparency indicators, improved coarse location in low-density areas, and a redesigned runtime permission dialog. This is privacy work, but it also reduces friction in the moments where users actually want location to work.
-
Android 17 Beta 3: photo picker customization and privacy defaults that will show up as UX friction (if you ignore them)
Android 17 reaches platform stability in Beta 3. Buried in the release is a practical UX change: you can now customize the photo picker’s layout to match your app, while keeping the privacy-preserving picker model. At the same time, defaults like certificate transparency and local network protections keep tightening.
-
RevenueCat: Android subscription conversion is mostly a ‘trial start’ problem, not a ‘trial to paid’ problem
RevenueCat’s dataset suggests Android and iOS trial-to-paid conversion is basically identical. The gap is that far fewer Android users ever start a trial. Fix the first-session funnel entrance and Play offer configuration before you touch trial length.
-
App Store Marketing Weekly – Week 13 (2026)
Verification and review rules are becoming growth levers. This week: Android’s ‘advanced flow’ for unverified sideloading, and App Review guideline clarifications that can break launches if you miss them.
-
Android 17’s Contact Picker: a privacy-first replacement for broad contacts permission
Android’s new Contact Picker lets apps request only the specific contact fields a user selects, helping teams avoid READ_CONTACTS for common invite/share flows.
-
Moburst: Mobile attribution in 2026 (what marketers actually need to know)
A practical snapshot of the 2026 measurement reality: iOS attribution is now AdAttributionKit-first with volume thresholds, Android still has deterministic signal (for now), and the only stable answer is a layered stack (platform postbacks + MMP SSOT + first-party + incrementality).
-
Android’s new ‘advanced flow’ for installing unverified apps: the 24-hour wait is the point
Google detailed an ‘advanced flow’ that lets power users sideload apps from unverified developers, but adds friction (developer mode, restart, re-auth, and a one-day waiting period) to break coercive scam patterns.
-
Push in 2026 is still the fastest way to lose trust, or win back users
OneSignal’s 2026 push best-practices guide focuses on the fundamentals that actually move retention: permission priming on iOS, careful timing and frequency, deep linking, and measuring downstream conversion, not just delivery.
-
App Store Marketing Weekly – Week 12 (2026)
This week: Android’s ‘desktop mode’ just became real, Google Play is smoothing the path for paid games and trials, and store distribution is quietly becoming cross-device by default.
-
Android desktop experience guidance + Design Gallery: the ‘bigger screens’ checklist just got real
Android published new Desktop Experience design guidance and launched an Android Design Gallery, pushing teams to treat keyboard/mouse + windowed layouts as first-class UX states.
-
Room 3.0 goes Kotlin Multiplatform: what changes (and why it matters for shipping quality apps faster)
A credited summary of Android’s Room 3.0 alpha: KMP-first APIs, KSP-only processing, coroutine-first DAOs, a new groupId/package, and early support for JS/WASM via SQLite driver work.
-
Coda: Google Play fee changes after Epic settlement, link-outs, and a Registered App Stores program (rolling out from June 30, 2026)
A vendor-written but useful cheat sheet on Google’s announced Play fee structure changes: tiered service fees, a separate billing fee in some regions, link-out rules (24h window), and an easier install flow for approved third-party app stores.
-
Connected displays are GA on Android 16, and ‘desktop mode’ is now a real UX surface
Android 16 QPR3 ships general-availability connected display support with a desktop windowing environment, plus guidance on adaptive layouts, large/XL window size classes, and keyboard/mouse compatibility.
-
Google’s upcoming Android developer verification: why it matters for distribution
A credited summary of AdGuard’s explainer on Google’s planned developer verification scheme, and what it could change for independent distribution, alternative stores, and friction in the Android install path.
-
Android push notifications: the practical setup checklist (FCM, channels, permission)
A clear, end-to-end guide to Android push notifications: Firebase Cloud Messaging basics, Android 13 permission, notification channels, and common delivery pitfalls.
-
Mobile app performance testing is growth work (not just QA)
Phiture’s practical case for treating app performance as a growth lever: crash-free sessions, ANR thresholds, real-device coverage, and continuous monitoring to protect ratings, retention, and store visibility.