14 DAY TRIAL // Android 4.2, said to be the next flavor of Google’s mobile operating system, which should make an official appearance before the end of this month, will arrive on devices with a nice range of new features packed inside.
A leaked Android 4.2 ROM coming from LG’s Nexus 4 smartphone has already provided info on some of these, such as the fact that there would be some sort of Quick settings, two notification pulldowns, and a status bar visible even when the notifications panel is open.
However, it seems that more of them will be available for users when the platform arrives, and the guys over at Android Police took their time to analyze the aforementioned ROMs and report on them.
For example, Android 4.2 is expected to be released with improved security functionality, in an attempt to limit the user access to specific areas of the platform, thus also preventing malicious applications from gaining expanded control of the device.
Called SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux), it comes in the form of kernel add-ons and user-space tools that remove the concept of root users and only provide a minimum amount of privileges to applications and services.
This means that the damage a malicious program can cause to the device is minimum. However, the feature, which somehow kills the idea of root, might become available for enterprise users alone, and is not expected to make it inside end-user devices, Android Police notes.
Another appealing functionality included in Android 4.2 would be always-on VPN (Virtual Private Network), through a lockdown that will allow data to be sent and received only via the VPN connection.
This will certainly avoid any mobile data charges, something that could have occurred at the moment, when the phone automatically connects to mobile data, should the VPN server ended the connection when the phone was restarted.
One other feature meant to ensure that users won’t pay for what they don’t need is Premium SMS Confirmation, which said news site found in Android 4.2 as well.
Basically, if a malicious app tries to send a premium SMS message, which would charge money to user’s monthly bill, the new functionality would inform the user on the matter, letting them know what the application is doing and enabling them to report it.
Users will receive the following message in this event: “would like to send a text message to [number], which is a premium SMS short code. Sending a message to this destination will cause your mobile account to be billed for premium services. Do you want to allow this app to send the message?,” Android Police continues.