This article was published on May 18, 2021

Here are all the new features coming to Android 12

Coming later this year


Here are all the new features coming to Android 12

Google today detailed Android 12, the upcoming version of the mobile operating system at its virtual developer conference Google IO.

Here are the best features coming to your phones with this software upgrade:

  • A new design language called “Material You” to create your own combination of colors and shapes across the operating system. The changes you make will reflect how fonts, widgets, and icons will show up across the phone. This feature will appear in Google Pixel first this year, and to the web, Chrome OS, and wearables.
  • This will change the color palette of your interface based on the wallpaper you apply to your Pixel.
  • Android 12 will bring new animations for the lock screen, and an adjustable clock widget based on unread notifications.
  • Google said that the new version of the mobile OS will improve the battery life as it reduces CPU time used by core services by 22%.
  • The notification shade will have a tiled view with buttons for home control and Google Pay.
  • A new privacy dashboard under the settings to understand what data apps are using.
Android privacy dashboard
  • iOS-styled indicators for apps that are currently using camera and mic.
  • Ability to share approximate location instead of precise location with an app. This feature was rumored earlier in the year.
  • Killswitch for camera and mic sensors in the notification shade.
  • TV remote features for Android TV OS baked right into the phone — just like the Apple TV remote in the iOS Control Center.
  • The company also said that it’s improving color science to take better photos of people with darker skin tones and make machine learning algorithms for post-processing images more inclusive.

Google released the first developer beta of Android 12 in February, and the company is launching the first public beta today. According to the firm’s roadmap, the final version of Android 12 will release after August.

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