Android 12 is finally out. After the preview Google showed at Google I/O this year and a couple of beta builds, Google has dropped the source code of Android 12 to the operating system to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). That means it will take a while to get Android 12 on your phone, tablet, or other devices. According to Google, over 225,000 people signed up for trying beta build, and they have reported more than 50,000 bugs so far.
Though Google has announced that Android 12 will roll out to Pixel devices in the next few weeks, it’s not readily available yet, nor an exact date of the rollout has been shared. The new Android 12 brings a lot of design changes and adds new privacy-focused features alongside an emphasis on performance. However, the biggest catchphrase is probably the Material You design language, but there are other changes and improvements as well.
Design Changes
Android 12 brings a new design language called Material You, which will help developers build more personalized apps. Material You makes it possible for developers to build an app or service that adapts to the user’s choice while improving accessibility features within the UI.
The app widget design has also found a new look that makes them less cluttery and more functional. The widgets now offer interactive controls and responsive layouts with dynamic colours.
There are changes to notification UI to make the UI look more modern, and the splash screens while launching an app can now be customized in various ways.
Privacy Features
A new Privacy Dashboard has been introduced under Settings which provides a streamlined view of apps accessing the microphone, camera, and location data. Users can now share approximate location with apps instead of their precise location, even if any app requests their precise location.
Android 12 finally brings microphone and camera indicators to let users know whenever an app is accessing the microphone or camera or both on the device. Users can now also disable app access to the microphone and camera quickly using Quick Settings. Users can now also be notified if an app reading clipboard data.
Performance Boost
Google has claimed to have reduced the CPU time used by core system services by 22% and big cores by 15% on Android 12. App startup times are also said to be improved. Android 12 also prevents apps from starting foreground services while in the background. Google also promises faster Machine Learning through the Neural Networks API.
These are the biggest highlights. However, Pixel users will taste Android 12 maybe by the end of this month, while non-Pixel owners may have to wait a bit more.
First devices getting Android 12
Unlike other years, this time, the rollout to even Pixel devices is slightly delayed. However, Google has stated that Pixel devices will get the update in the next few weeks, probably by the end of this month. Not all Pixel devices, however, are eligible for Android 12.
The OG Pixel won’t be getting the update, but other than that, all Pixel phones will get the update soon. Here’s the list of devices that will get the update first.
- Google Pixel 5
- Google Pixel 5a
- Google Pixel 4a and 4a 5G
- Google Pixel 4 and 4XL
- Google Pixel 3 and 3XL
- Google Pixel 3a
Google Pixel 2 and 2XL
As clearly visible from the information above, apart from the first-gen Pixel, all Pixel phones launched to date will get the update first, before anyone else. However, quite some old phones from OnePlus, Xiaomi and Realme, alongside Samsung and Oppo will be getting the update sooner than the rest. Google has invited developers to get their apps ready for the update.
