Android 14 may bring satellite connectivity feature, Google hints

Tech giant Google said that the upcoming Android 14 will "support our partners in enabling all of this" after SpaceX and T-Mobile unveiled plans to deliver direct satellite connectivity to smartphones.

On Twitter, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President of Platforms and Ecosystems at Google, described how it "was a stretch to get 3G + Wifi working" on the first shipping Android phone (HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1) in 2008, reports 9To5Google.

"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," Lockheimer tweeted.

"Now we are designing satellites. Cool! Excited to support our partners in enabling all of this in the next version of Android."

The Android team is now "designing for satellites", and this support is planned for the "next version of Android", which the tech giant has confirmed as Android 14.

The OS release is likely to arrive in mid-to-late-2023, the report said.

According to Lockheimer, compared to standard LTE and 5G connections, "user experiences for phones that can connect to satellites" will be different.

Satellite connectivity on phones is primarily aimed at emergency situations and getting rid of cellular dead zones, the report said.