Android 10: Cheat sheet

Android 10's features will transform some phones into more user-friendly, customizable, and secure environments. Here's what developers, businesses, and users need to know about Google's Android 10.0.

Android is still the most widely-used platform around the globe. With a market share that hasn't shifted much since the last iteration (approximately 81.7% around the release of Android Pie), Google has a strong grip on the mobile sector. With the release of Android 10 (formerly known as Android Q), users get a good blend of new features and a polishing of previously released features. Some of Android 10's new features are eye-opening and should go a long way to cement the platform at the top of the mobile space.

Read this Android 10 cheat sheet to get up to speed on Google's latest OS. We'll update this resource periodically when there is new information about Android 10.

SEE: How to build a successful developer career (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

What is Android 10?

Android 10 is the official name of the latest iteration of Android OS. Since the initial release of Android, Google has used names of various desserts for the platform. Here is a listing of previous names:

Android 1.5: Android Cupcake
Android 1.6: Android Donut
Android 2.0 - 2.1: Android Eclair
Android 2.2 - 2.2.3: Android Froyo
Android 2.3 - 2.3.7: Android Gingerbread
Android 3.0 - 3.2.6: Android Honeycomb
Android 4.0 - 4.0.4: Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Android 4.1 - 4.3.1: Android Jelly Bean
Android 4.4 - 4.4.4: Android KitKat
Android 5.0 - 5.1.1: Android Lollipop
Android 6.0 - 6.0.1: Android Marshmallow
Android 7.0 - 7.1.2: Android Nougat
Android: 8.0 - 8.1: Android Oreo
Android: 9.0: Android Pie

However, with the 10th iteration of Android, Google is simply sticking with the numerical nomenclature… hence Android 10.

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What new features come with Android 10?

Android 10 has a number of exciting features. Some of the new features go a long way to setting Android apart from all other platforms, while others finally bring the operating system up to par with others.

Fully Gestural Navigation

The biggest change to the operating system is the navigation control, which is far more efficient than previous methods, especially when using a device with one hand. Gesture navigation was introduced in Android Pie, though what was brought to the table seemed like a bridge to something even better. That something better is Fully Gestural Navigation. This opt-in feature (users can choose to go the old-school three-button method, the two-button method in Android Pie, or the new "no-button" method in Android 10) relies strictly on gestures for navigating the interface. The new navigation includes the following:

Removal of the Home and Back buttons.
Swipe up from where the Home button was to go back to the home screen.
Swipe up from mid-screen to open the app drawer.
Swipe down to open the Notification Screen.
Short swipe from either the left or right edge of the screen to go back.
Short swipe up (from the search bar) and release to open the app list.
Slight swipe in to display the "peeking in" feature for app sidebars.

Along with the "peeking in" feature, for those who have found the back gesture to interfere with the opening of app sidebars, a new Sensitivity configuration (Figure A) has been added to help alleviate this problem (as of Beta 6). This option is found in Settings | System | Gestures | System Navigation. Tap the associated gear icon to then adjust the sensitivity (from low to high) to avoid confusion between opening an app sidebar and initiating the back gesture.

Figure A

Chances are, you are not one of the ~3-7% of users who swipe to open sidebars (according to Android user interface product managers Allen Huang and Rohan Shah); instead, you use the "Hamburger menu" to gain access to that feature, so the back swipe shouldn't be a problem.

SEE: All of TechRepublic's cheat sheets and smart person's guides (TechRepublic)

New notification control feature

Notification control (Figure B) has a new feature. With the long press of an app alert in the Notification Shade, you can select Interruptive Reminders or Gentle Reminders.

Interruptive Reminders: Alerts will appear in the Notification Shade and the Lock Screen.
Gentle Reminders: Alerts will only appear in the Notification Shade.

Figure B

Long pressing an alert allows you to configure how it will behave.

So, if you're worried about the sensitive information of alerts from certain apps making it to the Lock Screen, you now have control over which apps can display said data instead of the feature being On or Off.

Dark Theme

From the office of "What took you so long" comes the highly-anticipated Dark Theme. When enabled, the entire Android interface will take on a darker color (Figure C).

Figure C

Why is this important? Two reasons: Battery life and eye strain.

Battery life: With the dark interface, your display will have a less taxing effect on your battery.
Eye strain: With the dark interface enabled, you can work with your device for longer periods, without suffering from eye strain, especially when using the device in dark or dimmer environments.

Live Caption

Another new feature found in Android 10 is Live Caption, which automatically adds subtitles to videos, podcasts, and audio messages. These captions are in real time and system-wide so they aren't limited to specific applications. The Live Caption text box can be resized and moved around the screen. Live Caption will not only be helpful for users who find themselves in situations where audio isn't an option, but what's even more important is Live Caption will be a boon to the hearing impaired.

5G compatible

Android 10 will be 5G compatible. That means as soon as the infrastructure is rolled out, Android 10 will be ready to make use of the new technology.

Project Mainline

Google is introducing Project Mainline. With this new feature, security patches will be automatically pushed to phones through the Google Play Store (in the same way apps are updated). Updates are run in the background and loaded during the next time a device is rebooted.

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What enhancements are in Android 10?

Expansion of Smart Reply

One Android feature that's getting some much-needed polish by way of expansion is Smart Reply, which uses machine learning to anticipate what you might say in reply to a message. Although the feature was available in Android P, it was limited to Google-only apps. With the release of Android 10, Smart Reply is now built into the notification system, so any messaging app can suggest replies in notifications. Smart Reply also uses AI to predict your next action. For example, if someone texts you an address, you can tap that address to open it in Google Maps.

Privacy features for Google Maps

Speaking of Google Maps, the app/service will be getting some privacy-specific features. One feature is Incognito Mode. This mode will enable users to search for and navigate to locations without data being saved to or linked back to a Google account.

Digital Wellbeing's Focus Mode

Google's Digital Wellbeing will get a new feature called Focus Mode that allows users to select certain apps they want to avoid during a period of time. During the chosen period, those apps will be grayed out and their notifications hidden from view.

Gender Inclusive emoji

For those who like to use emoji, Google will bring gender nonconforming emoji to Android 10. Called Gender Inclusive, there will be 53 such emojis added to the platform.

More user-friendly App Permissions

App Permissions now have a much more user-friendly approach. Instead of the app offering little more than ON/OFF sliders for each app within a service (such as body sensors, calendar, call logs, camera, etc.), the new layout makes it very clear what apps have permission for a specific service and retains the simplicity of allowing or denying an app permission to access any given service (Figure D).

Figure D

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What security features are in Android 10?

There are a few Android 10 features that focus primarily on security. The first feature is called Scoped Storage. In order to give users more control over their files, as well as limit file clutter, Android 10 changes how all apps access files found within external storage. To make this more secure, all apps on Android 10 are given a sandboxed view into the external storage space.

Android 10 also gives users more control over when apps are able to access device location information (Figure E).

Figure E

Users can define when an app has access to location information.

Users are now able to configure if an app has access to location information either while in use (foreground only) or all the time (foreground and background). In other words, if you opt for foreground only, when an app isn't in use, it won't have access to location information.

Interruptions have become fewer with Android 10, thanks to new restrictions to background activity starts. By restricting when an app can start activities, it will not only minimize interruptions for users, it will also allow users to control what's shown on the device display.

One new addition that should go a long way for device security is that Android 10 now transmits randomized MAC addresses by default. Along those same lines, an app must have READ_PRIVILEGED_PHONE_STATE privileged permissions in order to access a device's non-resettable identifiers (such as IMEI and serial number).

In order to protect user privacy, manual configuration of the Wi-Fi networks list will be restricted to system apps and device policy controllers. If an app doesn't fall into one of those two categories, configuration of Wi-Fi networks will not be allowed.

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How can developers start using Android 10?

If your device is supported, installing Android 10 is as simple as checking for (and running) a system update.

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When was Android 10 released?

Android 10 has officially been released. At the moment, it is only available to the supported Pixel devices. All other devices should receive the update soon after. By the end of Q4, 2019, all supporting devices should have received the update to Android 10.

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Editor's note: This article was originally published on May 30, 2019, and it was last updated on Sept. 4, 2019.

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Android 10: Cheat sheet

What is Android 10?