Android 12: Anything To Everything

Android 12 is going to be the most revolutionary OS so far invented by Google. The look and feel of all applications are going to have a different look with bigger size. We can have our personal material palettes that make color science. Each one of us will become a designer with access to change and control every pixel of the phone. 

Here are the major features of Android 12 that are attractive to grab first.

Privacy Indicators:

Privacy dashboard is an overview screen contained in the Settings > Privacy which shows what information has been accessed by which apps. It shows a timeline of every time an app asks for location, for instance. This is also where apps can put explanations to why they need certain permissions.

Dedicated microphone toggles can enable/disable any app from accessing the microphones or cameras. In addition, one can see indicators in the status bar while an app is actively capturing audio or video.

Also, Android 12 has the new feature of sharing the location in 2 ways. Approximate location and Exact Location. Depending upon the usage of the application you can choose the device location to be Exact or approximate.

Information is protected from AI driven features like Smart Reply, Now Playing in Android 12 from the sensitive audio and language processing using the Private Compute Core feature.

“Material You” concept: 

Material can satisfy every need. Advanced UI engineering techniques are used to implement this major change. It allows users to customize the color, contrast and element size, line width and more, which makes the look and feel unique and beautiful.

Users can have an extensive customized color theme for all the apps by pulling color from the phone wallpaper. Lockscreen, notification panel, new widgets, quick settings, etc. can then use this color theme.

Notification History:

The new interesting feature is Notification History, which is available to pick up anytime when you are free to revisit. People usually quickly scroll past the notifications and clear them whenever involved in another tasks leading to missing important notifications. It’s an amazing feature of Android12 to revisit using the Notification History, so you may not miss out any important popups.

Clipboard pop-up notifications:

A notification will pop-up whenever an app copies or pastes information (to/from) your clipboard. Some apps pre-paste your copied information to anticipate the search text, but once this feature goes live, it will expose apps that are needlessly pulling data from clipboard.

New “Internet” screen in Settings:

A new Internet panel has replaced the old Wi-Fi controls. A single tap of the Internet quick toggle and will bring up all nearby Wi-Fi connections, including toggles for mobile data connections. A long-press will open the new Internet Setting screen which combines the Mobile Networks page with Wi-Fi.

Also tapping on the data connection will disconnect the device from Wi-Fi and temporarily disable auto-connect.

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Android 12 BETA

Beta Version preview is available since 18th Feb 2021 and is live now. The expected release date is in September, though Google has not yet committed the date. Also this time the beta version is available for not only Pixel devices but also for the following partner devices, where you can update them directly via Google Play.

ASUS, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Axon, Sharp, IQOO, TECNO, TCL, VIVO

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What’s new in Android 12 compared to 11?

Notification:

There is no separate tag for Conversations and Notifications widgets. They are just simply listed one after the other in the new version. Text inside the notification is moved towards right so the app’s icon is clearly visible, which has a circular clear background in the new version Android 12. Snooze button is added to each app’s right corner for the expanded notification for easier access. Also you can expand the app using the icon on the left or the arrow mark on the right. 

App Choice:

Media control is now available in the quick settings. So it is easier to change or choose the setting for whatever app you can have the media play in the background. Android 12 settings have the option to deselect/select any app for the Media. 

Color Extraction:

Any app in Android 12 in use matches the color of the system, which doesn’t popup awkward as in the old systems, which is a unique feature of User Interface in the new upgrade. Same goes for settings, swipe down notifications and the icon display. 

Icon Size:

The application icon size is symmetrical and perfect in the 4by4 grid. Icon size is increased, space between the icons is increased. Also in Android 12 you can access the application widgets easily and search them easily, which makes a huge user friendly access to the applications.

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Some Other Minor Changes:

• Settings, Storage, Battery, toggle list, etc are easily accessible now.
• The new Android 12 version has the one hand access. 
• You can swipe the video away from the screen temporarily. 
• The screenshots taken can also be hidden or edited from the active screen page. 
• Thicker volume bar.
• Changes to the Font size and shape.
• Double tap option for quick access. You can choose double tap to open Google Assistant, Take Screenshot, Play and Pause Media, See Recent Apps, Open Notifications.
• App Hibernation can be used to optimize the phone’s storage and usage instead of installing/uninstalling them.
• Virtual Car Key feature introduced in Android 12.
• TV remote control can be done in Android 12.

These many features would sound performance degrade but Android 12 will allow the phone to take less time for processing in the background which has reduced the performance to 22.1% from 15.4%, which in turn saves battery.

Snow Cone is the internal code-base name for Android 12, though Google has stopped practicing the use of deserted themes. You will be surprised to use the vast new features of Android 12. 

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Android 12 Beta 2

Beta 2 is now rolling out to Google Pixel 3, 3 XL, 3a, 3a XL, 4, 4 XL, 4a, 4a 5G, and 5