Google has just dropped the Android 14 Developer Preview 2 update to eligible Pixel phones, with features both enticing and needed by the community.
One of which includes the new visual notification feature that can inform users about an incoming notification through a camera flash or by lightning up the display. Users can customize the lights they want to see (only on display notification) and be better informed.
Android 14’s Helping Accessibility Features
To improve the accessibility of Android 14, Google released the second iteration of Android 14’s Developer Preview today, which has a bunch of new features and improvements to the existing ones.
One among them is a new Visual Notification feature in the Accessibility Menu – where users can get notified about new app notifications through “Camera flash notifications,” “Screen flash notifications,” or both.
You can now access "Navigation mode" settings directly from Settings > Display or Settings > System. pic.twitter.com/A59Gawh9Z2
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) March 8, 2023
The Camera Flash Notifications is about your flashlight lightening up whenever a notification has arrived, giving users a hint to checkup their phone. This feature also enables the flashlight icon in quick settings, giving users another visual cue to recognize notifications.
Another, the Screen Flash Notifications are when the device’s display lights up on the arrival of new notifications. What’s interesting here is the ability to set any of the 12 colors available, distinguishing the illumination between general notifications and other popups.
While plenty of apps can do this – and even Samsung devices have a similar feature built-in, having this support natively on any Android device is much appreciated. Other accessibility features include the fonts getting even larger and a Regional Preferences option – that will let users set temperature units, the first day of the week, and a numbering system based on their region.
Interested users can download the Android 14 Developer Preview 2 to their devices – available to Pixel 4a 5G and later – with caution, as it’s recommended only for app developers to test. Waiting for a month longer will get us to the first Beta update anyway, so why risk now?
