Android 12 launched
The tech giant Google has announced Android 12, which is promoting an updated UI and many other new features. However, the update is expected to be ready only by the end of the year in its final version.
Some users can download the Android 12 beta now, including anyone with a Pixel 3 or later, as well as owners of the Xiaomi Mi 11, OnePlus 9, and some other similar models.
If you have another Android phone, you'll likely have to wait a bit longer, as Android 12 needs to be adapted to the phone before it can run, but the wait will be worth it!
What's New in Android 12
Android 12 is the 2021 update to Google's Android operating system, based on Android 11 released in 2020. Google describes this update as the biggest design change in Android's history.
Updated UI
Google has announced a new Material Design language for Android 12, called Material You, which is a revamp of the entire UI across the operating system. The current beta brings more rounded buttons, more varied colors, smoother movements and animations, and much more.
The company calls this color extraction, where you can choose a wallpaper and the system will automatically apply the dominant, complementary, and best-looking colors to the rest of the UI, including the notification shade, lock screen, and volume controls.
Widgets have also been redesigned, looking much more rounded this time. Due to iOS 14 introducing widgets last year, it made sense for Android 12 to see a redesign in this area as well.
Privacy and Security
This year, Google has made it a point to ensure that privacy is at the heart of Android 12. The Android Private Compute Core is the engine behind Android 12's privacy features, ensuring that apps and the phone adhere to the privacy settings enabled by you.
The new privacy dashboard provides an overview of apps using the phone's location, camera, contacts, and more. A nice touch here is a simple overview in the form of a pie chart, showing what apps have accessed in the last 24 hours.
The notification center also has a quick toggle to disable all features of the phone that an app is using. For example, if Facebook is using the microphone while you're using another app, this part of the notification center will explicitly show that Facebook is using the microphone. Pressing this will disable its use in Facebook and other apps, if desired.
You can also choose to provide only an approximate location for some apps, like weather apps, which don't need to know exactly where you are.
And with features like Live Caption, Now Playing, and Smart Reply, all audio and language processing happens on your device, so the data isn't sent elsewhere.
There are also locked folders available in apps, allowing you to lock a specific folder with a fingerprint, and there's the ability to unlock a Chromebook using your phone.
New Features
When pressed, the power button now launches Google Assistant, a much easier method to call up the service for a query when needed.
A new integrated remote control is now also standard in Android 12, so if you have a TV that runs on Android, or just a Chromecast, you can use your phone to watch your favorite shows.
Compatibility
Google has confirmed that it will prepare Android 12 to be more flexible with third-party app stores and installers like the Amazon App Store, APKUpdater, and Samsung Galaxy Apps.
As for smartphone models, Android 12 will likely be released on most models from the past two years. However, it is guaranteed to arrive on all modern Pixel devices, likely starting from the Pixel 3, as these models support the beta.