{"id":16359,"date":"2022-09-02T11:08:37","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T11:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forum.sbenny.com\/blog\/technology\/smartphones\/smartphone-news\/android-14-will-add-satellite-connectivity-support-remove-android-beam\/"},"modified":"2022-09-02T11:08:37","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T11:08:37","slug":"android-14-will-add-satellite-connectivity-support-remove-android-beam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forum.sbenny.com\/blog\/technology\/smartphones\/smartphone-news\/android-14-will-add-satellite-connectivity-support-remove-android-beam\/","title":{"rendered":"Android 14 will add satellite connectivity support, remove Android Beam"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A week ago, T-Mobile and SpaceX announced a partnership that will allow smartphones to connect directly to satellites. This will be supported by upcoming Starlink V2 satellites, but will work with existing phones because it will use an existing band in the PCS spectrum.<\/p>\n

Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s senior vice president for platforms and ecosystems, announced on Twitter that the company is working to integrate satellite communications support into the next version of Android (v14). Although the existing radio hardware in the current phone will do the job, it is still unclear which software updates will be required (e.g. can Android 13 phones use the satellite network or will Android 14 be required?).<\/p>\n

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It is absurd to think about user experiences for phones that can connect to satellites. When we launched G1 in 2008, it was difficult to get 3G + Wifi to work. We are now planning for satellites. Freddo! Excited to support our partners in enabling this in the next version of Android!<\/p>\n

– Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) 1 September 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

T-Mobile and SpaceX are expected to begin beta testing the new satellite in late 2023, around the time Android 14 releases. Initially with coverage for the US, but the companies plan to expand the service to cover the whole world.<\/p>\n

It will be slow – 2 to 4 Mbps per cellular zone – but it’s enough for hundreds of thousands of text messages. And not just simple SMS, MMS will be supported and even “participant messaging apps”. Support for voice calls and also mobile data will be added later (usability for general internet browsing is unknown, but the service should have enough bandwidth for 1-2,000 voice calls, great in an emergency and in remote areas).<\/p>\n

\"Android<\/p>\n

In other connectivity news, Android 14 will finally do away with Android Beam. This was deprecated with Android 10, but the feature stayed for a few more years for Android makers who still wanted to use it. Version 14 will completely remove it from Android. Google is pushing its own Share nearby as a replacement.<\/p>\n

\"Android<\/p>\n

However, as it is not part of AOSP, there is no built-in incentive for Android makers to use it. In fact, the biggest Android brands have joined the Mutual Transfer Alliance which has designed an alternative local data transfer solution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n