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This week’s top stories: Google+ lawsuit settlement, likely Pixel 5 launch date, Android 11 for OnePlus

Kyle Bradshaw | Aug 8 2020 - 12:00 pm PT

In this week’s top stories: Google sends notices for a Google+ class action lawsuit settlement, the Pixel 5 may have gotten its launch date leaked, OnePlus teases Android 11 based HydrogenOS, and more.

In a week filled with hardware announcements from Samsung and Google, the story that captured most people’s interest this week is a suspicious-looking, yet legitimate notice from Google informing folks of a class-action lawsuit settlement. The $7.5 million settlement could give past Google Plus members as much as $12, depending on how few folks decide to file a claim.

Those who are part of the lawsuit’s class — the full definition is down below, but the short version is anyone with a Google+ account between January 1, 2015 and April 2, 2019 — should be able to go to the listed website and file their claim. If you’re included in that group, you have until October 8 to decide to claim, opt out of the settlement, or file an objection.

This week, Google finally took the wraps off of the Pixel 4a, over two months after we initially expected it to launch. In their announcement, Google calls the Pixel 4a the “helpful Google phone, at a helpful price,” and it’s hard to debate that claim judging from early reviews.

It is the second phone after the Pixel 4 to feature the new Google Assistant. On-device speech recognition and language understanding allow for faster commands. This in turn lets you navigate apps and perform certain actions hands-free. For example, you can search Google Photos and after finding the right image send it to a contact via voice. In addition to English, it now works in German, French, Spanish, and Italian.

While the formal unveiling of the Pixel 4a after its many delays is plenty exciting, our eyes, as always, are looking ahead to the next release. In the original version of Google France’s announcement of the Pixel 4a, it was spotted that the company included a date for when the Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5 should launch — October 8.

This October 8 event would most likely be a full-blown Made by Google hardware event, serving as an opportunity for Google to launch their upcoming Android TV dongle as well as the recently teased successor to the Google Home.

OnePlus fans got their first glimpse at Android 11 this week, as the company announced an upcoming update to their China-exclusive HydrogenOS. While full details of the update should be unveiled on August 10, OnePlus spent this week teasing new features in their Android 11 update like an improved dark mode.

OnePlus also shows several designs for its always-on display, another overdue feature that users have been requesting for years. As seen previously, there are some slick and unique designs here, but also some more traditional options that play off of analog and digital clockfaces.

On the flip side of OnePlus news, it’s now been revealed that the smartphone company has struck a deal with Facebook. Specifically, its phones, starting with the OnePlus 8, come with Facebook App Installer, Facebook Services, and Facebook App Manager pre-installed in such a way that they cannot be uninstalled, only disabled.

With those apps installed and active, you might notice that updates for Facebook apps may come through that service instead of the Play Store. You may also notice that those services eat up little bits of data even while not in use, which is a tad concerning considering you don’t know what data is being sent back to Facebook.