What do you want to know
- Google recently launched the first developer preview for Android 14.
- A hidden menu found in the build allows users to locate apps installed in the background by carriers and OEMs.
- Stable Android 14 is expected to launch later this year, likely in August.
The Android 14 Developer Preview is officially underway, and while Google hasn’t highlighted any significant changes, some users have started to discover some interesting behind-the-scenes changes.
When diving in Android 14 Developer PreviewMishaal Rahman (via XDA Developers) discovered a settings menu hidden behind some developer flags. The new version of Settings is called “Spa” and provides access to a service called “Background Install Control”. Here, he found an “Apps installed in the background” feature that targets and tracks apps installed on your phone by OEMs and carriers.
Your device manufacturer may install apps on your device in the background or allow your carrier and other partners to do so. Not all apps listed here are necessary for your device to work normally. You can uninstall apps you don’t want.
This could be a major step to allow users to remove bloatware from their devices, a problem that is rampant Android phones for a while. Often apps are downloaded in the background without the user’s knowledge, despite carriers often giving users the option to include certain apps when setting up a new phone. These apps usually come in the form of random games or carrier/OEM copies of Google apps. Usually you can easily uninstall many of these apps, but other times you can only disable them from the app settings.
For Mishaal, the feature hasn’t created any apps on his device, but he notes that the feature apparently appeared in AOSP a few months ago.
Unfortunately, this won’t necessarily prevent bloatware from being installed, but it can help spot and remove it. That said, given the start of Android 14 dev testing, it’s unclear if this will make it to the final stable release, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
Android 14 Developer’s First Preview is available for download manually and install on Pixel smartphones from Pixel 4a 5G to Pixel 7 Pro. As this is an early developer release, we do not recommend installing it on your primary smartphone.
If you’re excited about Android 14, the Pixel 6a is probably the phone for you. Not only does it offer excellent performance and a very affordable price, but it will be among the first to receive the next major update when it is released.