This week’s top stories: Early Android 11 Beta wallpaper that bricks phones OnePlus 7T revisited

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This week's top stories: Early Android 11 Beta, wallpaper that bricks phones, OnePlus 7T revisited

Kyle Bradshaw

- Jun. 6th 2020 10:00 am PT

@SkylledDev

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In this week's top stories: The Android 11 Beta arrives early for a few lucky people, a method has been discovered to brick some Android phones simply by changing the wallpaper, we revisit the OnePlus 7T, and more.

This week was originally set to mark the arrival of the Android 11 Beta, though this was postponed in light of the recent protests. But as fate would have it, a few lucky folks received the Android 11 Beta as an OTA update for their Pixel phones, and we've collected everything you need to know that's new in the update so far.

A similar situation has occurred in the past with "confidential Googlers-only OTA" builds. It last happened with a minor Android 9 Pie patch in 2018, while a more notable case was an updated version of Android 7.0 on the Nexus 6P before Nougat's official launch in 2016.

In an odd bit of Android news, it was shared this week by well-known Samsung leaker Ice Universe that it was possible to "soft brick" a phone by changing its wallpaper to one particular image file. Obviously, do not do this to your phone. Any affected devices can only be fixed in either safe mode or by performing a full software reset. Google has since claimed that a fix for the problem is underway.

Ice notes in a follow-up tweet that uploading the image to Weibo altered the colors slightly and, after that, it became harmless. Another user found that altering the image seemed to prevent issues as well. This somewhat backs up the idea it could be the metadata as uploading or altering images can sometimes strip it of metadata.

This week, our Damien Wilde took some time to revisit one of the most excellent smartphones of the last year, the OnePlus 7T. Originally released in October 2019, the OnePlus 7T is getting close to a year old, and yet it still manages to be an all around impressive Android phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvIazVYLHYE

The Google Camera app, responsible for the photography prowess of the Pixel phones, received an update this week to version 7.4, possibly in preparation for the upcoming Pixel 4a. For now, the only major change we've found in the app is a new 4K toggle for recording videos.

There's not a whole lot new on Google Camera 7.4 in terms of what you can see and use, but we'll be digging into the update soon to see what secrets may be lying under the hood. We previously dug into a leaked Google Camera 7.4 APK and found some details about 4K/60 and the Pixel 4a, but that was an older version of the app that was never properly released.

Finally, there was a bit of promotional confusion this week surrounding Google's recently updated Nest Aware subscription. Folks who signed up for a new subscription were shortly after sent a code for a free Nest Hub, though these codes did not work for a few days after being sent. Subsequently, Google ran a very similar promotion, offering a free Nest Hub to those who upgrade from the old Nest Aware plans to the new one, but instead customers received codes for the Nest Mini smart speaker.

In the fine print, there's absolutely no mention of a Nest Mini being used in exchange for the Hub, although Google does say that the promo is "while supplies last," but it doesn't seem like inventory is the problem here.

The rest of this week's top stories follow: Android |

Android Auto gains updated Material Theme icons when navigating in Google Maps

OxygenOS 10.5.8/10.5.10 for OnePlus 8/8 Pro brings May patch, display, camera tweaks, more

Android 11 Beta 1 build reveals app suggestions for Pixel Launcher dock

LG's Android 10 update has rolled out to 2 years of flagships

Android TV |

Forthcoming Google-made Android TV dongle & new UI leak in render

TCL brings Android TV lineup to the US, will be sold alongside Roku models

Android TV's redesigned homescreen has YouTube TV integration, new Google Assistant UI

Apps & Updates |

Google takes down 'Remove China Apps' from the Play Store

Google Home 2.23 enables smart home controls in Android 11's Power menu

Gmail for Android gets new compose button

[Update: Complete] Gmail dark theme for Android and iOS officially rolled out

YouTube Music preps Bluetooth setting from Play Music, audiobook label [APK Insight]

Android gets 'Bedtime' hub, tracking, and built-in Sunrise Alarm via Google Clock

Samsung Galaxy Buds/Buds+ gain new homescreen widgets for hands-free controls

Chrome / OS |

Google recommends Chrome when users sign in to Gmail from the new Microsoft Edge

Google restoring 'enter' password button on Chromebook login screen after user confusion

[Update: June 2020] Best Chromebooks you can buy today

Google Pixel |

June security patch rolling out to Google Pixel, factory images & OTAs live

June Pixel Feature Drop: Adaptive Battery & Recorder updates, new 'safety check'

June update fixes a slew of Google Pixel bugs for all generations

Google Pixel 4a pops up in compatibility list for 'StopCovid' contact-tracing app

June Pixel Feature Drop: Hands-on with all the new additions [Video]

Google Pixel 4a mentioned Verizon update changelog like it's already available

G Suite |

Classic Hangouts to Google Chat migration starts in earnest for G Suite

Google Currents for G Suite launching July 6, shutting down Google+ one last time

Videos |

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About the Author Kyle Bradshaw

@SkylledDev

9to5's resident Fuchsia fanatic. Got a tip or want to chat? Twitter or Email. Kyle@9to5mac.com

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We tried Android 11.