The Google Pixel 3 is in news with the upcoming device finding mention in Android Open Source Project. That happens to be in the form of an AOSP commit named “Cherrypick Add device config to decide which Auto Selection Network UI to use”.
To elaborate on that, all of it relates to a software block dedicated to a single functionality on Android. In case of the above, the code block refers to ‘Auto Selection Network UI which is believed to be exclusive to the Pixel 3 phone.
“This change added the config because the HAL V_1_2 only supports Pixel 3, and the new Auto Selection Network UI is based on HAL V_1_2. So we set the flag to decide which Auto Selection Network UI should be used based in the device type,” the accompanying description mentioned.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much that is known of the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) at the moment except that it likely refers to some radio-related features that perhaps will be available on the next gen Pixel 3 device.
Also, with the absence of any definite information, what is being speculated is that the above feature perhaps has something to do with more efficient network scan feature. With network scan having the biggest impact on the battery (apart from the display of course), any optimization here will no doubt be hugely welcome.
This again is expected to lead to better battery run times in the ideal scenario though these are presumptions at best. Also, with the full Android P source code yet to be released, there isn’t much to base our assumptions on at the moment. Maybe we will have better insight into this in the coming days.
Pixel 3 finding mention in the AOSP is also intriguing given how careful Google usually is with its future releases. It sure has been a chance slip though and is not expected to be repeated anytime soon.
Also, rest of the details of the Pixel 3 is missing at the moment. That again is least surprising considering that the Pixel happens to be the last flagship phone to launch in a calendar year as it debuts pretty late in the year. That makes for several months of waiting for the new device to emerge, or for that matter, even for the early leaks and rumors to pick up steam.
