Yesterday was the first day of a developer conference known as Google I / O. As in years past, there were many Google product announcements in the keynote, with Android 12 in the spotlight. This is not surprising, because this is the operating system, which, according to the latest data, is installed on 3 billion devices in the world. This makes it the most popular operating system in the world. It was all the more interesting to see what had changed in it, and there were a lot of changes. Which is why let’s put them all together and see what we will have to live with when it comes out of beta testing.
What’s new in Android 12
With a story about the new version of the operating system, Google confirmed what had been rumored for several months – the new product will have a completely different appearance. When users upgrade to the latest version of the OS, they will see a completely unique Android, unlike anything we’ve seen before. And that has already started with the release of the first beta, which anyone can install if they have a Google Pixel 3 or newer (or some other not-so-popular phones). The rest of the users will gradually start receiving updates depending on how smart the smartphone makers are. Some will have to wait until the end of the year, while others will have to wait even longer.
Google tried to make Android “more personal” and dedicated an entire talk to this. One of the things that really differentiates Android from iOS is the ability for users to customize the operating system to suit their needs. Android can look different on a dozen absolutely identical smartphones, and this is its indisputable plus.
However, this setup can be challenging for non-tech savvy people. This is where Android 12 comes in. The features it offers are so simple – and in many cases automatic – that anyone can get a unique phone.
This is even more than just customization of some basic things. Everything from the look of the icons to the new visual transitions makes the phone completely different. The result is an Android that feels completely new, yet incredibly familiar at the same time.
Automatic interface change in Android 12
You can change the color scheme of your phone. This includes things like buttons, widgets, notifications, and more. However, in Android 11, you need to change them yourself. But there will still be something that cannot be changed, and it will stand out strongly against the background of everything else.
In Android 12 these changes are made automatically. The system will analyze your phone’s wallpaper and perform a color extraction, identifying the dominant colors. Then the smartphone itself will apply these colors throughout the system.
This saves users from having to think for a long time about which colors are dominant and which will look good in the interface style. You can change the wallpaper at any time and the system will instantly change the colors of the widgets, buttons, background, icons, highlight, and more to suit them. With this new feature, your phone will be unique to you without any additional effort on the part of the user.
New Always On Display in Android 12
The Always On Display (AOD) in Android 12 looks new, with a huge clock in the middle of the display. You might think this huge widget looks odd, but it actually serves a practical purpose.
When you receive a notification, the watch will shrink and move to the upper left corner of the display to make room for it. This allows you to tell at a glance if you have notifications. Even from a distance of several meters, you will know that a notification awaits you if this huge clock widget is getting smaller.
Also added new transition animations for switching between lock screen and Always On Display . The system understands where the unlocking started and will adjust the animation accordingly. For example, if you go from AOD to the lock screen by pressing the power button, the transition animation will start from the power button. If you lift the phone off the table, the animation will start from the bottom. If you unlock your phone using the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, the transition starts from the center of the top of the display.
This way the phone will show that it senses you and will be much more enjoyable to use it. He will, as it were, react to your touch, and not just perform the task.
New notification curtain in Android 12
For the first time in years, the Android notification bar has been completely redesigned. Now its design has not only changed and become more attractive, but it has also become more user-friendly.
The first thing you’ll notice is the new Quick Tiles. Instead of round tile icons, they are now rectangles with rounded corners. So you can display more information in each of them, and they themselves have become more logical. Of course, this also changes the number of tiles you can see at the same time – four (instead of six) with the first reveal and eight with the second.
Many of those who are used to the old curtain may not appreciate these changes, but those who are switching from iOS or just recently using Android will have a lot of fun.
The notifications themselves and the playback control widget are getting a few tweaks to make them fit better with the new tiles. The brightness slider that appears after the second click also has a completely new look to match the tiles. There are also some new animations that match the changes to everything else.
Android 12 settings
When Samsung first released its Android skin known as One UI, there was a lot said about the ease of one-handed operation. This is one of the reasons why settings pages in One UI have huge headers. It’s just much more convenient to use because you don’t have to reach so far to the elements.
Google has realized the benefits of this solution and Android 12 now has similarly large titles on its settings pages, albeit more subdued than Samsung’s.
Additionally, each settings page now uses a color extraction profile to match the rest of the system. Even rounded rectangular shapes are highlighted very correctly when you select a specific radio button.
What else has changed in Android 12
Of course, these are not all changes to Android 12. There are others that are not important enough to pay attention to in a presentation. Very soon we will find out all of them and will be able to extract from the system what we were not told about, but for now, tell us what you liked the most about the new operating system and would you like to install its beta version?
