‘Android 14’ was mentioned once during the I/O 2023 keynote

Abner Li | May 12 2023 - 10:00 am PT

The only mention of Android 14 during the I/O 2023 keynote was how the upcoming OS release adds new lockscreen customization options.

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On the clock front, we saw at least six styles being scrolled through, with most just being different font options. More notable is a design that had the time in the top-left corner. The day and date were displayed vertically on the left edge next to the current weather condition, and the temperature was on the other side. We also saw Google Clock’s Numeral analog option.

Additionally, Google introduced support for customizable lockscreen shortcuts. Besides adding the option to remove them, there are new shortcut options for flashlight, Wallet, QR scanner, Google Home, and camera.

Meanwhile, Generative AI Wallpapers made with structured prompts and Google’s text-to-image diffusion models are “coming this fall,” which should be a veiled reference to Android 14. (Before that, Cinematic Wallpapers and Emoji Wallpapers are coming with the June Pixel Feature Drop.)

This was the only time “Android 14” was said on stage, in a stark departure from previous years where Google would highlight the tentpole features, and even have too many to discuss. There was even no mention of the latest Android 14 Beta on Google and partner devices.

Before that section, which was about “using AI to make things you love about Android even better,” Google just talked about Android in general, independent of an OS version.

The “continuing to connect you to the most complete ecosystem of devices” announcements included tablet optimizations, more Wear OS apps, the Find My expansion with Unknown Tracker Alerts, and the perfunctory RCS dig. The upside here is that these features are available for more devices as they don’t require Android 14.

The actual I/O 2023 sessions were more fruitful. Highlights include Ultra HDR still images, which would have been an obvious crowd pleaser in previous years given the importance of photos, as well as various privacy & security updates, like partial screen sharing. On the design front, there were monochrome and contrast themes, with the latter in beta today.

Historically, the I/O keynote serves as Google’s opportunity to reveal tentpole themes for the upcoming version of Android that have been held back from earlier developer previews/betas until an on-stage announcement. The company doesn’t really have another opportunity on the same scale. (Expect a blog post in the fall.)

2019 / Android 10:

Innovation: Foldable support, 5G, Live Caption, Smart Reply, dark theme
Security and privacy
Focus mode, Family Link

2021 / “Android 12 is one of our most ambitious releases ever.” – Google

Deeply personal: Material You, Dynamic Color
Private and secure: Privacy dashboard, camera/microphone toggles, Private Compute Core
Better together: ChromeOS Phone Hub Recent photos, Google TV Remote, Digital Car Key

2022 / Android 13

Phone at the center: Themed icons, media player redesign, multilingual support for apps, security/privacy features, Google Wallet, Emergency SOS, Wear OS, earthquake alerts
Extending beyond the phone: Wear OS, tablets
Better together: Chromebook app streaming, copy/paste across devices, Fast Pair + Matter updates

As for why, it could be that Android 14 isn’t a big release from a user-facing perspective. So far, the betas have pointed to just design refinements and smaller feature additions that are nice but not groundbreaking. Operating systems sometimes having a quiet year is par for the course, but Google still usually finds a handful of things to save/share at I/O as well as explicitly state as that year’s tentpoles.

It felt jarring, and I could not imagine Apple ever doing the same to iOS, which for reference got a 30-minute section last WWDC. In comparing to Apple, we do have to acknowledge how Android fundamentally operates differently these days thanks to major components being updated in the background via the Play Store. In that regard, end users are getting big updates starting next month (Emoji and Cinematic Wallpapers with Pixel Feature Drop) and into the summer (Find My). To Apple’s credit, one major annual release is great from a marketing perspective and training users to be excited for the big drop. If Android wants to do the opposite and embrace the anytime nature of new features, be it quarterly or whenever something is ready, Google should explicitly telegraph that rather than devaluing the Android 14 release.

Meanwhile, I thought XR was going to be discussed in-depth at the keynote and during sessions. Instead, all we got was:

Our partnership on Wear OS with Samsung has been amazing, and I’m excited about our new Android collaboration on immersive XR. We’ll share more later this year.

If Google detailed “Android XR” at I/O 2023, it would have preempted Apple’s rumored announcement at WWDC in June. This could suggest that there won’t be too many third-party experiences on day one for Samsung’s Android-powered headset. The initial wave could just be first-party functionality, or that Google is only allowing select partners to offer experiences and is not yet ready to open the platform up.