Google is working on bringing satellite connections to Android

With Android 13 heading to Pixel devices and soon to be landing on other third-party manufacturer phones, we have some rather interesting news to bring you about the next iteration of Android that will likely come towards the end of 2023. It looks like Google is going to build satellite connection functionality into Android 14. Here is what you need to know.

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Rumors have been circulating for a while that Apple is working hard on making it possible to for iPhone’s to be able to connect to Space X’s Starlink satellite network, which offers internet connectivity that comes from space. Now, according to XDA Developers, Google does not want to be left behind in this race and so is also looking to implement this new satellite functionality into the next version of Android too.

All this news follows hot on the heels of a recent announcement from T-Mobile and Space X, detailing a new partnership that would see the telecommunications provider offering satellite connectivity from 2023.

The news about Google looking to ensure that its own smartphones would be able to take advantage of this historic partnership seems to be official as the Senior Vice President of Android, Hiroshi Lockmeyer, tweeted about the news himself. He said:

“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!”

This new satellite connectivity should help to remove mobile connection dead zones where users are unable to connect to their networks. It will be interesting to see if these deals with T-Mobile will also work abroad as although there are plenty of dead zones in the US, it has to be said that this technology will be much more useful in countries that don’t have access to the high level of mobile telecommunications technology available in the US.

If you’re still living in the present you may want to check out all the latest features shipping with Android 13 rather than thinking about Android 14.