Android 14: typed services, selected photos

Android 14 is the release that made apps say why they run. Every foreground service in an app targeting API 34 needs a declared type and a matching permission, and users can hand an app a few photos instead of the whole library. On every device, apps that target an API level below 23 can no longer be installed.

At a glance

Google announced Android 14 with Developer Preview 1 on 8 February 2023. Beta 1 opened the Android Beta program on 12 April, and Beta 3 reached platform stability on 7 June, with the APIs and app-facing behaviours final. The two developer previews and the five betas are the parts that follow this overview.

Google released Android 14 and pushed its source to AOSP on 4 October 2023. The first Pixel build (UP1A.231005.007) covered the Pixel 4a (5G) through the Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet. Google’s post named Samsung, iQOO, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo and Xiaomi for later in the year. Pixel 8 and 8 Pro were announced the same day, and AOSP lists Android 14 builds made for them.

Google kept the dessert name inside the code. A change posted to AOSP in April 2022 named the release Upside Down Cake, and Build.java defines UPSIDE_DOWN_CAKE = 34 with the comment “Upside Down Cake.”. Build IDs start with U. Google’s announcements only ever say Android 14.

What it brought

• Lock screen. A rebuilt customization picker, lock screen templates for clocks, widgets and colors, custom lock screen shortcuts, and a monochromatic theme. Generative AI wallpapers came first to the Pixel 8.
• Accessibility. Font size goes up to 200%, on a non-linear curve so large text grows more slowly than small text. Google’s launch post says the Pixel maximum was 130% before. Users also got “Flash notifications” and a hearing-aid setup flow.
• Ultra HDR. 10-bit HDR photos in a format that stays readable as a normal JPEG. An app opts in to HDR display per window.
• Health Connect in the platform. The health data store moves from a Play Store app into the system, updated through Google Play system updates, and sits in Settings. It added exercise routes, and another app can read a route only after the user allows that route.
• Credential Manager. One platform API (android.credentials) for passwords, passkeys and federated sign-in. The Jetpack library brings it back to Android 4.4 through Google Play services.
• Regional preferences. Users pick temperature units, the first day of the week and the numbering system in “Regional preferences”. Apps read them with calls such as getTemperatureUnit() and getFirstDayOfWeek().
• Languages. The Grammatical Inflection API addresses the user in their grammatical gender. Per-app languages gained setOverrideLocaleConfig(), and AGP 8.1 generates the LocaleConfig file.
• Screenshot detection. An activity registers an Activity.ScreenCaptureCallback and learns that a screenshot was taken while it was visible. The app never gets the image, and the system tells the user the app noticed.
• Predictive back. Cross-activity and cross-task animations join the back-to-home animation from Android 13, with new callbacks for in-app transitions. The system animations stayed behind a developer option.
• Developer APIs. Custom sharesheet actions, PathIterator and Path.interpolate(), custom meshes with AGSL shaders, HardwareBufferRenderer, lossless USB audio, and about 300 java.base classes updated to OpenJDK 17.
• App stores. Installers can ask for approval before downloading, claim update ownership with setRequestUpdateOwnership(), and wait until the app is not in use to update it.

The launch post also reported performance numbers from the beta population. Cached processes used up to 50% fewer CPU cycles than on Android 13, cold app starts fell 20% on 8 GB devices and over 30% on 12 GB devices, and ART code size shrank by 9.3% on average.

Security and privacy

On every Android 14 device:

• Minimum installable target. An app with targetSdkVersion below 23 fails to install with INSTALL_FAILED_DEPRECATED_SDK_VERSION. Google said malware targets 22 to dodge the runtime permissions of Android 6.0. Apps already installed before the upgrade stay, and adb install --bypass-low-target-sdk-block installs one for testing.
• Accessibility services. A view can call setAccessibilityDataSensitive() so only services that declare isAccessibilityTool can read it or act on it. Malware often abuses accessibility services.
• Media owners. MediaStore redacts OWNER_PACKAGE_NAME, unless the owner app is always visible or the caller holds QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES.
• PIN. Android 14 encourages a six-digit PIN and unlocks without “Enter” once a correct six-digit or longer PIN is typed.
• Cellular. IT admins can stop managed devices from falling back to 2G, and a new toggle, where the manufacturer enables it, rejects null-ciphered connections so voice and SMS stay encrypted.
• Platform. AES-HCTR2 is the preferred filename encryption on devices with crypto instructions, and key attestation supports two IMEIs.

For apps that target API 34:

• Implicit intents reach only exported components. A mutable PendingIntent built from an intent with no component or package throws an exception.
• Runtime receivers must pass RECEIVER_EXPORTED or RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED to registerReceiver(), except for receivers of system broadcasts only.
• Dynamic code loading. Every DEX, JAR or APK an app loads at runtime must be read-only, or the system throws.
• Zip path traversal. ZipFile(String) and ZipInputStream.getNextEntry() throw a ZipException for entry names that contain .. or start with /.
• Background activity starts. A PendingIntent sender or an app binding a service must opt in to share its right to start activities from the background.
• Screen capture. Each MediaProjection session needs fresh user consent; a cached consent intent or a second createVirtualDisplay() call throws.

Permissions

• Selected photos and videos. When an app targeting API 34 asks for READ_MEDIA_IMAGES or READ_MEDIA_VIDEO, the dialog offers “Select photos and videos”, “Allow all” and “Don’t allow”. The new READ_MEDIA_VISUAL_USER_SELECTED permission reports partial access and lets the app reopen the picker. An app that does not declare it runs in a compatibility mode the system controls. The media permissions themselves began in Android 13.
• Foreground service permissions. Each foreground service type has its own permission, such as FOREGROUND_SERVICE_CAMERA. They are normal permissions, granted at install; the user cannot revoke them.
• Exact alarms. SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM is no longer pre-granted to most new installs of apps targeting API 33 or higher. The user turns on “Alarms & reminders” in Settings. Calendar and alarm clock apps can use USE_EXACT_ALARM, which Play allows only for them. Apps that held the permission before the upgrade keep it.
• Full-screen intents. For apps targeting API 34, USE_FULL_SCREEN_INTENT is meant only for calling and alarm apps, and Google Play revokes it from other apps from 31 May 2024. canUseFullScreenIntent() checks it, and ACTION_MANAGE_APP_USE_FULL_SCREEN_INTENT opens its settings page.
• Data sharing in the location dialog. If an app declared in Play’s Data safety form that it shares location with third parties, the location dialog shows that. If an app starts sharing location with third parties or for ads, the user gets a notification within 30 days.
• Screenshot detection needs DETECT_SCREEN_CAPTURE, an install-time permission.

What changed for your app

All apps on Android 14

Apps targeting API 34

The security changes for this target are listed in Security and privacy.

The foreground service rule is the one most apps hit. A missing type throws MissingForegroundServiceTypeException; a missing type permission or runtime prerequisite throws SecurityException.

Android 14 adds five types: health, remoteMessaging, shortService, specialUse and systemExempted. A shortService runs for about 3 minutes and needs no extra permission. A specialUse service explains its use case in a manifest <property>, and Google Play reviews it. Google recommends WorkManager or user-initiated data transfer jobs for work that fits no type.

What lasted

• Minimum installable target kept rising: Android 15 blocks apps that target below 24.
• Foreground service types stayed mandatory. Android 15 added a mediaProcessing type and limits dataSync services to 6 hours in 24.
• Predictive back left the developer option in Android 15. System animations now play for every app that opted in.
• Selected photo access and READ_MEDIA_VISUAL_USER_SELECTED are still how a gallery app gets partial access.
• Health Connect and Credential Manager remain platform APIs.
• USB webcam. Android 14 enabled the UVC gadget driver in the Generic Kernel Image by default; using the device as a USB webcam came with the Android 14 QPR1 update, not the first release.

Worth knowing

• The Easter egg is a spaceflight game. Tap “Android version” in Settings three times, then long-press the logo. You steer a ship by dragging; the screen shows thrust, position and velocity, and LND: with the planet’s name when you land.
• Each game starts in a random star system with 1 to 10 planets, each named after the system plus a number.
• The starfield on the logo screen draws 34 stars. The constant reads NUM_STARS = 34; // Build.VERSION_CODES.UPSIDE_DOWN_CAKE.
• Its top speed is MAX_WARP = 10f, with the comment “after all these years”.