About the Android Bytes podcast
Android Bytes (powered by Esper.io) is the podcast that dives deep into the engineering and business decisions behind the world’s most popular OS.
Android powers over 3 billion devices worldwide and is the platform of choice for over a thousand companies. You’ll find Android on smartphones, tablets, watches, TV, cars, kiosks, and so much more. How does Google architect Android to run on so many form factors, and how do companies fork AOSP to make it run on even more devices? These are the kinds of questions the Android Bytes podcast considers each episode.
Join cohosts Mishaal Rahman and David Ruddock, two journalists with extensive knowledge covering the Android OS platform and ecosystem, as they speak to system architects, kernel engineers, app developers, and other distinguished experts in the Android space.
Get in touch with us at Esper.io if you’re looking to use Android for your product — we have the experience you need.
Where to listen
Ready to listen? You can listen to the Android Bytes podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, or RSS. Follow Android Bytes on Twitter for updates on the podcast.
Our music is “19” by HOME and is licensed under CC BY 3.0.
About the hosts
David is the Editor in Chief of Esper and cohosts Android Bytes. He spent over 10 years as the Editor in Chief of Android Police, where he reviewed more phones than he’d care to admit, broke dozens of exclusive mobile industry stories (and also, phones), and ran one of the web’s most vibrant Android communities.
Follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Mishaal is the Senior Technical Editor at Esper and a cohost of Android Bytes. While Editor in Chief at XDA-Developers, Mishaal was at the forefront of Android tech journalism, breaking story after story on new OS features and platform changes.
Follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Listen to the latest episode
Episode archive
| Episode # | Title | Topic(s) | Guest(s) | Publish date |
| 30 | What is a passkey and why should you care? | Passkeys, FIDO Alliance, WebAuthn, FIDO2 credential | Christiaan Brand, Product Manager on Identity and Security at Google Tim Cappalli, Identity Standards Architect at Microsoft | 12/19/2022 |
| 29 | The hidden challenges in porting AOSP | Device bring-up, Project Treble, Android on x86, Generic Kernel Image, AOSP | Jon West, Senior Android Framework Software Developer Engineer at Esper Nikhil Punathil, Innovation Labs Lead Engineer/Manager at Esper | 10/19/2022 |
| 28 | The hidden costs of building an Android phone | FCC certification, IP ratings, pre-production, VoLTE, carriers | Jason Keats, CEO of OSOM Privacy Gary Anderson, CPO of OSOM Privacy | 10/05/2022 |
| 27 | The mystery of Google Play Services: Android’s black box | Google Play Services, microG | Marvin Wißfeld, developer of microG | 10/04/2022 |
| 26 | How Play Protect secures GMS Android from harmful apps | Google Play Protect, App Defense Alliance, Potentially Harmful Application, Mobile Bundled Application | Brian Reed, Chief Mobility Officer at NowSecure | 09/08/2022 |
| 25 | The rise of Android gaming phones | Android gaming, game development, cooling, ROG Phone, Android Game Mode, Android Game Dashboard | Chih-hao Kung, Global Technical PR Director for ASUS | 08/30/2022 |
| 24 | How to distribute apps on Android without Google Play | GMS, Google Play Store, Google Play Services, Accrescent, APK, APK Signature Scheme, Android App Bundle | Logan Magee, developer of Accrescent | 08/01/2022 |
| 23 | How Scoped Storage changed Android file access | Internal storage, external storage, FUSE, SDCardFS, Scoped Storage, Storage Access Framework, MediaStore | Raymond Lai, developer on Team Amaze | 07/25/2022 |
| 22 | How Android updates have gotten easier (but are still hard) | BSP, Generic Kernel Image, Project Treble, Google Requirements Freeze, Solana Saga, Solana Mobile Stack | Jason Keats, CEO of OSOM Privacy Gary Anderson, CPO of OSOM Privacy | 07/18/2022 |
| 21 | The OSOM effort behind building an Android phone | OSOM, Solana Saga, CDD, MADA, xTS, 3PL | Jason Keats, CEO of OSOM Privacy Gary Anderson, CPO of OSOM Privacy | 07/11/2022 |
| 20 | A snapshot of Android’s camera problem | Camera2 API, CameraX API, Camera HAL 3 | Mohit Shetty, developer of Secure Camera | 07/05/2022 |
| 19 | The curious case of the removable eSIM | SIM cards, eSIM, UICC, OMAPI | Christos Omiridis, Executive Partner at TelcoVillage | 06/21/2022 |
| 18 | How Android could replace your driver’s license | Digital identity, mobile driver’s licenses, Identity Credential | David Kelts, director of product development at GET Group NA | 05/23/2022 |
| 17 | Why Android app development is easier (and harder) in 2022 | Android app development, Jetpack, AndroidX, Jetpack Compose, Google Play, GMS | Laurence Dawson, developer of Sync for Reddit | 05/09/2022 |
| 16 | How to optimize Android for low RAM hardware | RAM, virtual memory, Project Svelte, Android Go Edition | Nolen Johnson, security consultant at DirectDefense & developer at LineageOS Sean Hoyt, developer on OpenWatch and LineageOS | 05/03/2022 |
| 15 | How Wear OS brings Android to your wrist | Wear OS, Android Wear, AOSP | Sean Hoyt, developer on OpenWatch Greg Viczian, developer of Bubble Cloud Wear OS Launcher | 04/25/2022 |
| 14 | How does Esper build on Android with Foundation? | AOSP, Android Enterprise, MDM, GMS | Varun Chitre, engineering manager at Esper | 04/18/2022 |
| 13 | How to make Android (AOSP) without Google | CalyxOS, AOSP, GMS | Chirayu Desai, lead developer at CalyxOS | 04/11/2022 |
| 12 | Android Auto deep dive: Wireless, reverse engineering, and more | Android Auto, Android Automotive | Emil-Borconi Szedressy, co-creator of AAWireless and developer of Headunit Reloaded | 04/04/2022 |
| 11 | The secret world of Android SafetyNet | SafetyNet Attestation, bootloader, rooting, Magisk | Danny Lin, developer of Universal SafetyNet Fix Sergio Castell, mobile security analyst at Riscure | 03/28/2022 |
| 10 | Is it too late for Android on the desktop? | Desktop mode, DisplayPort, multitasking, docking, taskbar | Juan Carlos Bagnell, content creator at SomeGadgetGuy Braden Farmer, developer of Taskbar | 03/21/2022 |
| 9 | Building a more secure OS based on Android | GrapheneOS, bootloader, Verified Boot, GMS, AOSP, security | Gabe, security researcher at GrapheneOS | 03/14/2022 |
| 8 | The past, present, and future of Android tablets | Tablets, Android 12L, and Android 13 | JR Raphael, journalist at Android Intelligence | 03/11/2022 |
| 7 | Will Google’s latest attempt at fixing Android updates work? | Google Requirements Freeze, Project Treble | Rashed Abdel-Tawab, product manager at CIS Mobile & director at LineageOS | 03/01/2022 |
| 6 | The hidden world of Android permissions | Android’s permissions model, GMS, security | João Dias, developer of Tasker Ilya, developer on OpenGApps | 02/16/2022 |
| 5 | Android 13: First look and reactions | Android 13 | João Dias, developer of Tasker | 02/15/2022 |
| 4 | How Android “listens” to you with ultra low power sensors | Context Hub Runtime Environment (CHRE), nanoapps | Kieron Quinn, developer of Tap, Tap | 02/10/2022 |
| 3 | The Android launcher is much more powerful than you think | Launcher3 | Kevin Barry, developer of Nova Launcher | 02/04/2022 |
| 2 | The Android 13 Teaser Episode | Android 13 | 01/26/2022 | |
| 1 | Android on TVs without Android TV | Android TV, Google TV | Nolen Johnson, security consultant at DirectDefense & developer at LineageOS Janko Roettgers, journalist at Protocol | 01/20/2022 |
| Bonus | Your next car could run Android | Android Automotive | Al Sutton, CTO at Snapp Automotive Juhani Lehtimäki, CEO at Snapp Automotive | 01/18/2022 |