After a series of developer-facing early previews, the public-facing Android 14 Beta 1 update is now available to a small pool of eligible Google Pixel handsets.
- Android 14 Developer Preview 1 hands-on: Top new features [Video]
- Android 14 Developer Preview 2 hands-on: Top new features [Video]
There have been an impressive number of changes in those aforementioned developer previews, which we highly recommend that you go and check out before diving directly into Beta 1. Many of the tweaks provide quality-of-life additions and refinements over Android 13. Although that does mean that if you were expecting major changes, you might be left a little disappointed after seeing just what Google has altered.
That said, we sure didn’t expect Google to reshuffle the deck after so many substantial alterations and UI overhauls in previous Android releases. Material You is slowly maturing and becoming even more cohesive and integral to the user interface. You may notice a few changes rolled back from the Developer Preview phase, but even so, here’s everything you need to know.
Table of contents
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Transparent navigation bar
A long-awaited function that finally arrives with Android 14 Beta 1 is the ability to turn the gesture navbar transparent. For years this has not always worked perfectly within certain applications, and you’d often get a black border around the gesture pill or on-screen buttons.
This function isn’t available by default. Instead, you’ll need to dive into the Developer options section and find the “Transparent navigation bar” toggle. Enable this, and even apps that don’t “officially” support transparent or see-through sections for gestures and on-screen buttons should be fully clear. Aesthetically this is a great new option for Pixel phones.
Flipped app shortcuts
Pulled directly from the recent Android 13 QPR3 Beta 2 release, you might notice after long-pressing an app icon that the “Pause” and “App info” shortcut icons flipped or switched around. This is super minor, but it might ruin your muscle memory when using the gesture in Android 14 Beta 1.
Enhanced PIN privacy
Another function that was added in Android 13 QPR3 Beta 2 is the “Enhanced PIN privacy” function. This is another layer of security for your PIN entry screen. Instead of showing animations when keys or buttons are pressed while entering your PIN, these remain static so that prying eyes can’t see what you are entering as easily.
Share sheet tuning
We’re waiting for more customization coming to the default Android Share sheet, but until then, there is an added toggle. Nearby Share is now back as one of the default actions when you do things such as share screenshots, screen recordings, or on-device files. We’re not sure just yet, but it might help increase usage of the AirDrop-like function when Android 14 does officially arrive.
Markup tool enhancements
The markup tool in Android 14 is getting some neat quality-of-life tweaks. The update here makes it easier to see just what color is selected for the pen and highlighter tools by default. Working just like a color pen lid in real life, you don’t need to dive into the tool to see what color your edits will apply.
It looks like this is set to blue by default. Even after changing the color of the pen and highlighter tools, they just revert back to blue when you edit another image or screenshot. Maybe this will change in future updates, and although minor, it’s a nice user interface touch that helps improve your daily experience when touching up or altering images and screenshots.
System language confirmation
When changing the default system language in Android 14 Beta 1, Google has added a neat step to help reduce accidental changes, as a dialog box pops up to confirm your choice. It’ll briefly explain that device settings and any associated regional preferences will change.
April 2023 security patch
This wouldn’t be the most recent Android update without the most up-to-date monthly security patch. Android 14 Beta 1 includes the April 2023 security patch so that it’s ready for daily usage by the foolhardy Pixel user. On top of that, the June 2023 Google Play system update is also bundled in, so safety is assured if you’re happy to test drive this beta software on your Pixel.
Developer Preview rollbacks
There are a few things that were added in Android 14 Developer Preview 1 and Developer Preview 2 that have been changed or reverted to the default setting in Beta 1. It might not make a huge difference, but they are notable nonetheless.
At a Glance lock screen
The single-line “At a Glance” widget that you likely spotted on the lock screen is now restored to the regular two-line style that has been used since Android 12. This doesn’t mean we won’t see more changes, but it’s nice to see consistency between the lockscreen and the homescreen once again.
While this has been reverted, there is a new toggle in Display > Lock screen which will let you disable the display of current weather conditions in the At a Glance widget. Sadly, it doesn’t work just yet, but it might be useful if you’d prefer to open or unlock your phone to check the current conditions in your area.
Wallpaper & style
A couple of things have been removed here, including the “Clock settings” function and the monochrome option in the “Basic colors” section. We’re expecting these to return in a future update as Google refines ahead of the stable release.
Contrast accessibility slider
Android Developer Preview 2 added a new “Contrast level” slider within the Color and Motion settings to enhance accessibility. It’s not clear why but this has been rolled back in Android 14 Beta 1. We believe it will come back in some form, but it’s gone for now.
Android 14 Beta 1: What is your favorite new feature?
That’s everything new in Android 14 Beta 1. When combined with the developer previews, there’s quite a lot new to unpack. However, this shortlist includes all of the top user-facing features that we’ve found thus far. Naturally, we expect to see more little things that might have slipped through the cracks over the coming days and weeks. We likely will have a deeper dive into every single thing that has been added, including some features that require a little work to get fully operational in our full overview, coming very soon.
What are your favorite new features? Let us know down in the comments section below!
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