Android 12 brings a redesigned experience

Google has shown off the new look of its mobile operating system with the upcoming Android 12 update. It's the first major revamp for the platform in years, with changes to the overall experience, colours, motion, and lights.

Android gets a new Material You design language that integrates the hardware and software further. Starting with Pixel devices, Google introduces Custom Colour Palette, allowing you to personalize your handset's look completely. But if you don't know where to start, Android will pull colours from your wallpaper and apply complementary shades throughout the operating system. You'll see it in the notification shade, the lock screen, the volume controls, new widgets, and more.

Android 12 promises smoother motion and animations. An example is when you dismiss notifications on the lock screen, the clock will appear more prominent. It lets you know you've caught up with what you've missed.

It's supposed to be faster and more power-efficient, allowing you to go through long periods without charging.

Perhaps, the most significant change to Android 12 is in the notification shade and quick settings area. There are larger buttons paired with an at-a-glance view of your notifications and quick settings that let you control almost the entire OS with a swipe or tap.

Google brings Google Pay and Home Controls into the quick settings. There are also options where you can disable cameras or microphones across the device, even on apps you've allowed accessing these features before.

You can now also long-press on the power button to call up Google Assistant.

Essential additions to Android 12 are new privacy- and transparency-related features so you have more control over the private information that apps can access. There's a new Privacy Dashboard where you get a single view of your permissions settings and what data is being accessed, how often, and by which apps. You can easily revoke app permissions from this dashboard.

You'll also be alerted at the top right of the status bar when an app is accessing your microphone or camera. And when it comes to locations, you can decide to give apps approximate location permissions instead of giving them a precise one.

Google is also introducing Android Private Compute Core, a sandbox where Google can introduce new technologies deemed "private by design." That means you keep your information safe, private, and local to your device. It enables features like Live Caption and Smart Reply, where all the audio and language processing happens on your device and is isolated from the network.

Google has made the protections in Private Compute Core open source and fully inspectable and verifiable by the security community. 

If you want to check out the new features, you can check this page for eligible devices compatible with Android 12 Beta.

Source: Google

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