Android 10 for Moto Z4 and Z3 Play : Release Date and Features

Android 10 for Moto Z4 and Moto Z3 Play : Release Date and Features

Moto Z4 is an upper mid-range flagship, hit the shelves in June, 2019 and runs on stock Android 9 Pie. Moto Z3 Play is last year’s mid-ranger from Motorola and arrived in June, 2018. The mid-ranger runs on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box and received the Android 9 Pie update recently. The next major update for both the devices is Android 10.

Google released the Android 10 Q Beta 6 or last beta on August 7th and released the official edition of Android on September 3rd. In a blog post prior to the rollout, the search giant revealed that the Android 10 will have no code name unlike its predecessors and called with version number only. The update is came with September month’s security patch and rollout completed for Pixel series devices.

Android 10 Release Dates for Moto Z4 and Z3 Play

Last year, Motorola didn’t do very well with the Android Pie rollout. The development got prolonged, so even flagship users had to wait until July 2019 to taste Pie. But things may go better with Android 10 because of Project Treble came with Android 9. Motorola didn’t participate in the Android 10 Q Beta program, so the users couldn’t get the early beta.

So we expect that the early soak test of Android 10 for Moto Z4 might begin in Q4 of 2019, most likely in late-December. The full rollout for Android 10 may begin in February 2020. Moto Z3 Play users have to wait atleast until the end of March, 2020 to get the Android 10 update. Most probably in April, the unlocked Z3 Play devices in the US and India will receive the update in late-March or early-April. Later, carrier locked devices might get updated in May and June 2020. We will post the official rollout dates here as soon as Moto has announced them.

Also Read : Moto G9 Plus Exclusive Features, Release date and Rumour Roundup

Update on 02/4/2020 :

Finally, the Android 10 update hits Moto Z4 users on Verizon. The users reported on Reddit that they are receiving the update notifications. The update support pages haven’t been changed but Verizon may update them very soon.

The Version number of the update is QDF30.130-42 and also comes with March Security patch. The changelog shows that all the standard features of Android 10 are coming with the update.

Update on 24/3/2020 :

The Lenovo owned company starts the rollout for Moto Z series in the US with Z4 flagship. The Z4 retail users posted on Reddit that they have been received the Android 10 update Notifications. Major carriers like AT&T, Sprint rolled out the update for thier consumers, Verizon is yet to begin the rollout.

The build number of the update is QPF30.130-15-7 and includes all the standard goodies of Android 10 like Dark mode, smart reply, Bubbles and so on. The update comes with January month’s security patch.

There is no news about the update for Moto Z3 Play, but we hope Motorola will announce the rollout soon.

Android 10 : Notable Features

The tenth anniversary edition of Android came with many exciting features and refinements to the features introduced with Android 9.

Some of the prime new features coming with the Android 10 update are System-wide Dark theme, Bubbles, Smart Reply, Location permissions, Project Mainline, Live captions, Native support for 5G and Desktop mode and so on. The improvements are Full Gesture navigation, Focus mode and Parental Controls for Digital Wellbeing and fixes for security bugs of moderate severity.

Android 10 Dark mode

Full system-wide dark mode is one of the most requested features and now coming with Android 10. Google perfected the dark mode after extensive beta testing and it looks gorgeous. On the devices sporting OLED display like Z3 Play and Z4 it appears more gorgeous.

Moto Z3 Play and Z4 users can turn-on dark mode by simply enabling the Battery saver or going into Settings> Display> Theme. There is no need to enable dark mode separately in third party apps, Android will automatically enable if the app got dark theme or change colors using AI. Using dark mode extensively decreases load battery and reduces eye strain. So eyes won’t become red or dry in night time after the Android 10 update.

Support for TLS 1.3 and Storage encryption

The latest update from Google is coming with native support for TLS 1.3 which is the latest security protocol for web finalized in August 2018. So all Android apps will open webpages using TLS 1.3 protocol. The protocol is improved over its predecessor both in terms of Security and speed. So user will experience decreased latency due to reduced round trips.

Storage encryption is another mandatory feature of Android 10. New devices coming with Android 10 pre-loaded will feature Storage encryption as default. The feature doesn’t require any sophisticated hardware, thanks to Google’s Adiantum project. So devices running on Android 9 may also get Storage encryption after updating to Android 10. More details will be revealed in coming days.

Battery Saver Schedule

The Android 10 update features many battery saving refinements and AI powered Battery Saver Schedule is one of them. By using the Schedule feature, user can totally forget about Battery saver as it manages itself automatically.

To enable the Schedule feature, after receiving the Android 10 update Moto Z4 and Z3 Play users go into Settings > Battery > Battery Saver > Battery Saver Schedule and tap on Based on your Routine. Then, the feature starts analyzing the user’s phone usage and charging patterns and enables the saver accordingly to maximize both the battery life and user experience.

Smart Reply

Google introduced Quick Replies and Actions in previous android versions to improve user experience. Now the Tenth anniversary edition came with the Smart Reply feature which uses AI to better user experience. The feature uses on-device machine learning, so there is no fear of transimitting data to Google servers and so no privacy issues.

The Smart reply feature now works with Maps, so when a user sent message with address to a location, a quick action to launch Maps app will appear below the message in notifications. So, Moto Z4 and Z3 Play users can navigate to the location with just a single tap, after upgrading to Android 10. Smart reply also show emojis in its suggested replies in notifications and ofcourse, it gets better and adapts to user’s behaviour because of machine learning.

Dirty USB Notifications



Android 10 will notify users about the USB port health and any dust on it. So Moto Z4 and Z3 Play users will be shown notifications, if their USB port gets overheated or any dust or moisture accumulated. The Android will automatically disable the port after notification and resumes only after the user cleaned the port or manually enables it. So it helps to prevent any damage to the USB port and maintains the charging efficiency.

Bubbles

Android 10 update brings the Bubbles features which is a new method of multi-tasking with messenger apps. The feature works basically in the way of Facebook’s chat heads. When a message arrives in the messenger apps like Signal and Whatsapp, the message appears in the bubble like small window over the app icon.

So Moto Z4 users can browse web or watch a video in the remaining screen real estate while giving replies through Bubbles in messenger apps. Moto G7 and Moto One series devices received the feature with the Tenth anniversary update, so the Z3 Play and Z4 devices may also get it.

Live Captions

The Android 10 update sports live-captions feature which uses AI and shows real-time transcripts on the screen. The feature works well even with video calling apps like Google Duo and Skype in recent tests. Albeit the feature is more helpful to challenged people, it also helps normal users.

The on-screen transcripts can be moved throughout the screen and increased or decreased in size, but they can’t be saved and disappears after the video or video call ends. However, the feature may not come to Moto Z3 Play and Z4 devices, since it requires enormous processing power to work properly and currently limited to Pixel lineup only.

Full Gesture navigation

Google introduced Gesture navigation in Android 9 Pie and refined it in the Android 10 update. Using Full Gesture navigation option in Settings users can navigate fully using Gestures only throughout the system. So the navigation bar disappears and only a small bar shaped home button appears, giving more screen real estate.

Users can adjust Back gesture sensitivity by tapping on Gear icon against Gesture navigation option. A slider will appear with four levels through which Moto Z4 and Z3 Play users can adjust back sensitivity. In coming days, more refinements may come to Gesture navigation.

Update on 17/1/2020 :

It seems that this time, Motorola decided to start the Android 10 rollout with its Motorola One series rather than the Z or G series devices. In December, 2019, the Lenovo owned company began the rollout with Motorola One Power and now the rollout spreads to Motorola One Action on January 8th. The tech giant announced in a blog post that all the Motorola One Action devices will receive the update by February 8th.

So, most likely the next devices to receive the update are Motorola One Vision and Motorola One mid-rangers and later the Z series. Most probably, somewhere in February 2020, Motorola may begin the rollout for Moto Z4 devices in select regions.

Update on 27/11/2019 :

The Lenovo-owned-Moto is getting ready to rollout the Android 10 update for Moto Z4 mid-ranger. The Wi-Fi alliance certification with Android 10 spotted in the wild few days ago. So it is very clear that the rollout is near for Moto Z4 devices, as Wi-Fi alliance certifications usually sighted a month or two before the actual rollout. However, only unlocked devices of Z4 will receive the update first and later carrier locked devices will follow.

Still, there is no sight of any signs of the upcoming rollout for Moto Z3 Play. We hole Motorola will make everything clear about the Android 10 rollout in coming days.

Update on 7/2/2020 :

Android 10 update is currently rolling out for Moto G7 Plus devices, according to the reports from users Worldwide. Motorola started the rollout of Android 10 with Moto One series in December, 2019. Now the rollout has spread to G series. The official Android 10 update for G7 Plus includes all the standard goodies of Android 10 including full Dark mode, Smart Reply, Full Gestures and so on.

However, there is still no sign of Android 10 update for Moto Z series devices. Most likely the Lenovo-owned tech giant will begin the rollout for Z series soon after G7 series, in Q1 of 2020.

We will update this post soon with more details about Android 10 for Moto Z4 and Z3 Play.