In 2019 Google launched Android 10 and - despite it being into its second year now - it’s still the software launching on a lot of phones. WhileAndroid 11has since superceded the software, there’s a good chance your phone is still running Android 10 if you’ve bought it anytime in the past 12-18 months.
Some devices, including older ones, may not even receive it. We’re keeping a running list of when Android 10 will arrive foryour phone right here.
There was a time when major Android updates had dessert-themed names, in alphabetical order. However, months before they release, they have codenames. For instance,Android Pie was Android P,and before that,Android Oreowas Android O.
In the case of Android 10 we had Android Q. Luckily, Google didn’t give us Android Quiche. Instead, it ditched the sweet names and decided to use numbers, starting with Android 10.
On the surface, Android 10 didn’t change a lot visually and seemed very much like Android Pie, the version that came before it.
Android 10 features
Here are some of the biggest features included in Android 10. It’s worth noting, any settings menus and processes may be a little different depending which manufacturer’s phone you have. Some like to add their own spin on things, but they should be largely similar. If in doubt, just search for the feature at the top of the main Settings screen.
Android 10 users can enable a dark mode to darken everything from notifications to the settings. Unlike previous dark themes built into the stock Android experience, however, it applies to all apps that support it, too.
Here’s how to turn it on:
If you look in your quick settings menu (swipe down from the top), you can also access a dark mode switch there. You may need to click on the pencil icon in the lower-left corner of the quick settings drop-down to find the new setting.
Focus Mode
Android 10 comes with tools designed to help you disconnect. The biggest of these is Focus Mode. Here’s how it to turn it on:
Live Caption
With Live Captions, Google Assistant can process speech on-device at near-zero latency, serving up transcriptions in real-time, even when you have no network connection. Think of these as real-time captions for just about everything on your phone, and it all happens locally on the device. Closed captions are crucial for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. You’ll be able to turn on this feature under accessibility settings.
New gestures
The back button, a classic navigation feature in Android, was ditched in Android 10. Alternatively, the update includes a full set of gestures so that Android users can move beyond buttons, virtual or otherwise. So, instead of the three icons at the bottom of your screen, you will see a black strip with a white dash in the centre (or white strip with a black background, depending on the page’s background colour).
Google has made gestures optional, however. Hereâs how to enable them:
You can click the settings cog to the right of âGesture navigation" to set the sensitivity of the screen when you back-swipe.
Location Permissions
In Android 10, you can set permissions so that an app can only track your location while it is in use. To find which of your apps have permission to track your location, and to change that, follow these steps:
Privacy in Settings
There is a Privacy Settings menu. It’s where you can find things like your notification controls for your lock screen plus an autofill manager for forms, and several other privacy features.
Notification controls
In Android 10, you get more notification control options. When you swipe away a notification, you’ll be able to either mark notifications from that app as “silent” (to stop them) or “alert” (so you get a ping). If you don’t like either, you can press the “turn off notifications” option.
This is Googleâs solution for better multitasking on a phone. It reminds us of Facebook Messengerâs Chat Heads, but this Android 10 implementation will be system-wide. In anAndroid Developers blog post, Googleprovided guidelinesfor developers to implement the feature in their apps.
Bubbles work like this: When an alert is received from an app that uses Bubbles, a tiny circular notification will appear on your screen for you to tap. For a messaging app, for instance, you’d tap the bubble notification to perhaps view a conversation thread or reply without having to launch the entire app. Google suggested developers could also use Bubbles for notes, arrival times, and calls.
Miscellaneous
How to get Android 10
If the Android 10 update is available for your specific phone, it will appear and take several minutes to install. If the update isn’t yet available, you’ll need to wait longer for it. Depending on your phone and its manufacturer, it may take several weeks or months to receive the update, if it does arrive at all. For more about which phones will be able to update to Android 10,check out our separate guide.
