Android 14 will offer satellite support in time for Google Pixel 8

• Android 14 should be available in the following year, as Android 13 has just begun to roll out.
• Satellite hook-ups could be employed in emergencies in locations where there is no cellular network service.
• The announcement will be made at the Google IO event in May.

We’ve heard rumours that Apple would include satellite capability in the iPhone 14 to keep consumers connected no matter where they go -and now it appears that Google has similar ambitions for its software and hardware in 2023.

According to Android’s senior vice president, Hiroshi Lockheimer (opens in new tab), his team is “designing for satellites” and will “enable all of this in the next version of Android,” which will be Android 14 (opens in new tab).

Wild to think about user experiences for phones that can connect to satellites. When we launched G1 in '08 it was a stretch to get 3G + Wifi working. Now we're designing for satellites. Cool! Excited to support our partners in enabling all of this in the next version of Android!

— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) September 1, 2022

Android 14 should be available in the following year, as Android 13 has just begun to roll out. If software exists to facilitate using satellite networks to access services, then presumably this is a functionality that may be added to Google 8 later on in 2023.

Initial phases

Lockheimer doesn’t go into much depth here, and this is definitely still in its early phases. According to Apple rumours, satellite hook-ups could be employed in emergencies in locations where there is no cellular network service.

Only twice have we heard anything regarding Android 14, which will probably be revealed during the Google IO event in May.

There was a previous rumour that the operating system had a codename, but that is all we currently know.

The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are anticipated to ship next month, so there haven’t been many leaks or rumours concerning the Pixel 8 either, the only information we have is that the development of the Tensor 3 chipset for the Pixel 8 is reportedly already underway.

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