QPR2 Beta 2 of Android 14 has been released for the Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, and later models, and Android expert Mishaal Rahman, who contributes to Android Police, has been looking through the update and has He flagged some of the most interesting changes

A stable version of this update is expected next year, so you may have to wait a few months before you can try these out yourself But for beta users who want to play with the new toys and for those who want to know what to look forward to when the final update arrives, here are some of the new features

Scam App Scanning is a new feature on the Other Security and Privacy Options page that acts as a protection against apps trying to phish your data This feature will run privately on your device, but of course, if it detects anything suspicious, it will send a report to Google and hopefully prevent others from falling for the same scam

Private Space is under Security and Privacy settings and allows you to create a separate profile on your phone that allows you to keep certain apps separate from the rest of the phone You can lock these behind the same credentials you normally use to protect your phone, or lock another set, so in theory only you can find the apps - even if you pass the unlocked phone to someone else Notifications and other related settings for these apps are also hidden and thoroughly concealed, unless you open a private space

Locked areas for specific apps and files are already an option in some Android versions like Samsung's One UI and Xiaomi's HyperOS, but the addition of this feature to basic Android means that more phone manufacturers are use or easily add this feature However, according to Rahman, this could be a feature in early testing for Android 15 In other words, if Private Space does not make it into the stable version of Android 14 QPR2, we will know why

In the latest Android 14 beta, a tap-and-hold on the relevant Quick Settings tile brings up a new Bluetooth switching popup (via Rahman and AP) So not only does it provide a quick way to disable Bluetooth, but it is now equally quick to switch between paired devices, open Bluetooth settings to add new devices, and manage existing connections

Speaking of quick settings, there is a Wi-Fi shortcut sharing option (via 9to5Google) that can be added to the toolbar

Another major change to this part of the Android UI is the new notification panel layout that appears when the phone is held in landscape orientation Instead of wasting space with an enlarged version of the standard notification shade, the shade is now displayed along with the quick settings, making for a much smarter use of space when the phone is held in landscape orientation This would be invaluable for android tablets as well, since android tablets are primarily used in landscape orientation

Support for app archiving is something that Google Play Store apps have been able to offer for several months now, allowing partial uninstallation of apps to save storage on the device when needed Android 14 QPR2 beta adds this support has been added, allowing users to archive apps from the phone's own settings rather than doing so from the Play Store app

To keep you sane when group chats start popping off, QPR2 Beta adds a notification cooldown option for either conversations only or all apps Enabling this will prevent continuous notifications from pinging you every time, and on top of that, there is an option to turn off vibration when the phone is locked

Search circles via Google Lens is a fun-sounding addition that allows you to highlight something on the screen to search for by dragging your finger around the object on the screen, and if you have a sudden itch to know about something you're looking at, copy/paste Save However, given that this gesture is currently hidden in the developer menu, it may not be available in the full release of QPR2

Two more small changes from the currently discovered beta update: you can now change your address terminology as part of the Regional Settings menu, which refers to foreign words with different grammatical genders throughout all your apps You can set how foreign languages with different grammatical genders refer to you throughout all your apps There is also a dedicated option to disable keyboard haptics, which stops the phone from buzzing when you press a key

As mentioned above, without a beta version, you'll have to wait a few months for these changes to reach your phone, if the update for Android 15 is delayed or the phone manufacturer is a little slow to adapt the update to your phone, you may have to wait even longer But this is a strong crop of upgrades that will help make the best Android phones, especially Google Pixels, even better