Android Update Fixes Night Owls' Worst Enemy

The latest update to the Beta release of Android Q (yet-unnamed version of Android in testing on Pixel phones) revealed a simple-yet-fantastic new feature this week. Users of the Google Pixel 3a and the Google Pixel 3 XL found themselves with a new boot screen. It's nothing too revolutionary, really – it's just a fix for the eyes.

When you've accidentally allowed your phone to run completely out of battery and you plug in at night to charge, there's a big eye-blaster that awaits. When the phone eventually gathers enough energy to power on, it explodes into light. Or at least its OLED display seems to explode, as it catapults light at your eyeballs at FULL BLAST with its launch screen.

The Boot Animation, as it's called, is different for every smartphone. Many smartphones choose to make it simple, with either a set of blinking dots, a rotating circle of some sort, or nothing at all. Google takes their job there a bit more serious than most, in terms of aesthetics.

The latest boot animation, filmed here by XDA's own Mishaal Rahman, shows the bouncing pixels between the word GOOGLE and the newest Google "G" logo. This was similar to boot screens in the past, but is now far kinder on the eyes.

Instead of an all-white background, users can opt for an all-black background. This is akin to the standard background for the boot screen of Android TV devices. The NVIDIA SHIELD, for example, has similar bouncing dots and/or shapes between the moment the machine starts up and the moment it's ready to roll.

The way one operates this start screen action is to flip the system-wide dark mode toggle (to DARK). This toggle should appear in your Quick Settings menu, and there it shall stay until de-activated. Take a peek at our recent what's new in Android Q Beta 4 feature for more on this next-gen software.