Android Police - Operating Systems

The overlooked Pixel lock screen tweaks that saved me hours of daily frustration

Parth Shah — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 23:00:10 GMT

We customize our Google Pixel wallpapers, widgets, and home screens, yet we ignore the two most visible UI elements: the default lock screen shortcuts.

Pixel 11 users can now grab Android 17 QPR 2 Beta 6.1

Timi Cantisano — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 22:14:16 GMT

Just last week, Google dropped its Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6 update. However, folks quickly noticed that the Pixel 11 series wasn't on the list of supported devices. That's now remedied. Google has finally announced and released Android 17 QPR Beta 6.1 for the Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL, and 11 Pro Fold.

5 tricks to make your Galaxy home screen less boring

Haroun Adamu — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 21:00:10 GMT

My Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has had the same home screen for months: the stock wallpaper I chose when I bought it, the weather and clock widget at the top, the Google search bar in the middle, and two rows of carefully selected apps.

Google Assistant is officially gone, and people aren't happy about it

Mark Jansen — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:29:55 GMT

Google Assistant is now gone for a lot of people, as the final phase of Google's shutdown takes effect.

Pixel's new Pause Point convinced me to ditch my old and useless Digital Wellbeing limits

Ali Salman Zia — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 20:00:10 GMT

I set up app times on Instagram and YouTube years ago, when Digital Wellbeing first became a real settings menu on Android. More apps made the cut later on, Threads for instance, after it was launched in 2023.

Android Auto's Gemini has a major problem when it comes to calling 911

Chandra Steele — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 19:55:59 GMT

Gemini in Android Auto is having yet another issue and this time it’s a real emergency.

With the release of the One UI 9 changelog, Samsung details everything coming to phones

Chandra Steele — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:05:26 GMT

We’ve been hearing about the rollout of Samsung One UI 9 for a while now, but the implementation has been slower than anticipated. While we’ve finally found out which Samsung phones are getting it and when, today we got the additional info of everything that is included with it.

Google's new Pixel VIPs widget does the one thing my Galaxy phone never could

Haroun Adamu — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 13:30:10 GMT

Samsung launched the Edge screen in 2014 and included the People Edge panel the next year. It aggregates up to 12 contacts and lets you speed dial or message them in a few taps.

The Pixel 11 convinced me to use all of Android's new screensavers

Rita El Khoury — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 10:30:10 GMT

With last year's Pixel 10, Google finally pushed the screen saver feature ahead and made it useful. A weather option was introduced as well as Google Photos support, on top of the existing clock and smart Google Home controls.

I use these 5 Samsung features every day, but most Galaxy owners ignore them

Parth Shah — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 15:15:10 GMT

Samsung packs Galaxy phones with so many features that it is easy to miss some of the genuinely useful ones.