Android 14: A Deep Dive into its Customization, Control and Accessibility Features

• Android

Android releases are synonymous with progressive improvements. Last year, Android 13 was introduced, which came with features like Spatial Audio, cross-device copy/paste, a new media player, and more. Some of the large-screen features originally planned for Android 14 were also made available as updates to Android 13. These updates included a refined Taskbar, improved multitasking, and better support for foldable screens with larger and more efficient apps.

Today, Android 14 is here. This new update has features that help you customize your device experience, give you more control over your health and safety, and improve accessibility.

More ways to express yourself

Your smartphone is an extension of your personality. Android has always offered options for self-expression, from the wallpaper and color palette theme to buttons and backgrounds. Android 14 takes this further by introducing more ways to tailor your phone to your preferences.

The updated customization picker in Android 14 makes it easier to switch between wallpapers and decide what you want to see at a glance. You can set custom lock screen shortcuts, like a QR reader or the Google Home app, for quick, one-tap access to your most used controls directly from your Android lock screen.

Android 14 also provides options for new, curated lock screen templates for fonts, widgets, colors, and formats that best match your style. These templates utilize AI to adjust your screen based on your situation. For instance, if the weather is taking a turn for the worse, your lock screen weather widget will become more prominent.

More control over your health, security, and data

Apps have become essential for tracking fitness, health, and wellness levels. However, the data collected is often isolated within each specific app, limiting visibility and control over your data. Android 14 addresses this issue by integrating Health Connect into your settings as a central way to store all your data in one place and stay in control of your privacy. Your data is securely encrypted on your phone, ensuring that Google or anyone else can't use it for any other purpose.

With Android 14, you also gain more visibility into how your data is utilized by apps that request access to your data. When you’re asked to permit apps to access information like your location, you’ll be notified when an app shares location data with third parties, enabling you to decide whether to grant access.

More features for low-vision and hard-of-hearing users

Android 14 includes several vision- and hearing-inclusive features. For low-vision users, the improved magnifier on Android 14 is more intuitive, with the ability to pinch to zoom in and out from 100%. You can also change the magnifier size in a new Magnifier Settings panel or customize how much of the screen you'd like magnified.

For hard-of-hearing users, Android 14 has more intuitive ways to connect and interact with your hearing aids, such as a dedicated hearing-aid setup flow from Accessibility settings, an easy way to route audio to different outputs, and the ability to quickly access hearing aids controls from a shortcut.

Android 14 is starting to roll out to supported Pixel devices today, and later this year will be available on more of your favorite mobile devices from Samsung Galaxy,iQOO, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, and Xiaomi.