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February 2023 Update

· 3 min read
aryan
aryan
Core Member
Karan Parashar
Karan Parashar
Core Member

Welcome back to our latest update! We are excited to announce the release of our February 2023 update and share the changes and improvements we've been working on this past month. Our team has been hard at work, merging the latest February security patch along with some other under-the-hood changes that have been made.

PixelOS

The first change is the addition of an option to switch to an Immersive Navigation system, which brings a highly requested feature of hiding the space under the keyboard. Another much-requested feature that was missed after the QPR1 rebase was added: the ability to skip tracks with a long press of the volume button.

Moving on to the lockscreen, many enhancements have been made. The power menu can now be hidden when enabling the secure lockscreen feature. Another addition is the requirement of a password or biometric authentication to access sensitive Quick Settings tiles such as Wi-Fi and Airplane mode. Bottom keyguard shortcuts can now be picked, including a new addition of flashlight and camera shortcuts. A toggle to disable the screenshot shutter sound has also been added.

On the technical side, significant changes have been made to GMS and how we spoof devices. PropImitationHooks is now used to avoid spoofing all apps to Pixel devices, which was prone to causing issues. Instead, only the required Google apps are now spoofed to provide Pixel-exclusive features like the Google Photos and Google Search apps. GMS components are now updated from the Pixel 5 instead of the Pixel 7 Pro to avoid issues with the Pixel Launcher/ASI, and a fix to pass CTS/Play Integrity test again has been included (thanks to Dyneteve).

Lastly, we have switched to a new Network Traffic implementation, which offers more customization and fixes an issue faced by some people where the 4G+ indicator would cut out.

In summary, the February 2023 Update PixelOS includes the following updates:

  • The February patch has been merged
  • Switch to PropImitationHooks
  • Updated GMS components from the Pixel 5 (redfin)
  • CTS/Play Integrity pass again
  • Switched NetworkTraffic implementation
  • Switch to Immersive Navigation
  • Added Volume Long Press Skip Tracks
  • Allow hiding power menu on secure lockscreen
  • Require unlocking to use sensitive QS tiles
  • Allow disabling screenshot shutter sound
  • Introduce camera & flashlight keyguard affordance
  • Allow setting bottom keyguard shortcuts

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We hope these changes and improvements enhance your experience with PixelOS. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to hearing your feedback on the new update.