[ad_1]
Later this year, Google’s mobile operating system will get a massive visual overhaul and more privacy controls. The multi-month process for a consumer release begins today with the Android 12 Developer Preview.
This is the sixth year that Google has given the public a glimpse of where Android is heading. As in 2020, the preview begins in February rather than March to give developers more time to offer feedback and update apps.
With Android 12, Google is particularly focused on offering developers “new tools to create great user experiences.” It starts with notifications get a new design and layout that can display more information. Along with smoother transitions and animations in the operating system, alerts should also open faster, as Android 12 encourages developers to ditch an old notification implementation (“trampolines”).
It will be easier to paste pictures, videos, and other rich content thanks to a new unified API that allows applications to accept content from any source: clipboard, keyboard or drag and drop. On this front, this release adds the AV1 image file format (AVIF) supported for better media quality without the need for more space. Likewise, applications will work with HEVC even without developer support. When watching a video, playing a game, or using any other full screen experience, immersive mode will work better with gesture navigation and unique glides.
In terms of audio, Android 12 applications may have haptics correspond to audio playback. This makes custom vibrations possible by touching or simulating rough terrain in racing games. There are also audio enhancements that include spatial information with support for 24 channels, instead of 8.
Beyond letting application developers do more, privacy is an ongoing goal with more controls over identifiers, just like application compatibility. More parts of the operating system can be updated through Google Play (Project Mainline), with an Android Runtime (ART) module allowing Google to “quickly improve runtime performance and accuracy, manage memory more efficiently and accelerate Kotlin operations ”.
Google will have “a lot more to share as we go through the release,” with the focus right now on developer features. There will be seven developer previews and beta before the final consumer launch, while Google today released an Android 12 preview for Android TV.
Like last year, there is an Android Beta Feedback app for Pixel devices. Users can access it from the app drawer or through quick settings to report bugs in Google’s issue tracker. The Android Beta community is back on Reddit.
At launch, Android 12 Developer Preview system images are available for the Pixel 3 (XL), Pixel 3a (XL), Pixel 4 (XL), Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, and Pixel 5, as well as in the Android emulator.
DP1 (SPP1.210122.020.A3) is officially “For Developers Only and Not For Daily Or Consumer Use”. It’s available for manual download and flashing today, with Android beta released to the public later. If you need help, here’s our full guide on installing Android 12.
FTC: We use automatic income generating affiliate links. After.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:
[ad_2]
Source link