Google has released an initial developer version of Android 12, which is installable for users of Pixel 3, Pixel 4, and Pixel 5 phones. The first beta should become available in May. With the 12-upgrade, Android has, among other things, more responsive notifications.
With the Android 12 upgrade , Google is bringing some of the new features it wants to bring to the full version later. Android 12, for example, should eventually get a new notification design. Developers can get a taste of this in this first version, with changes to the drawer , controls and templates. Google wants notifications from different apps to look more alike, in order to monitor uniformity within the operating system.
The notifications should also look smoother through optimized transitions and animations. These notifications must also respond faster when a user clicks on them. Now notifications use a service to launch apps. Google wants when users press a notification, it immediately starts an activity within an app. For example, the notifications should work faster.
The upgrade also introduces a new hevc transcoder for apps that do not support hevc. When these apps have to work with hevc files for whatever reason, Android 12 transcodes the file to an avc file. Google says a Pixel 4 will take about nine seconds to transcribe a one-minute 1080p-30fps movie. Android 12 also adds support for avif, a container format that delivers better image quality than jpeg without using more storage.
With Android 12, apps can also use a phone’s vibration motor to link haptic feedback to audio. Google cites the examples of custom vibrations that are linked to a custom ringtone, or rough terrain that is simulated with the vibrating motor in a racing game.
To make it easier to copy photos, videos and other rich content between apps, Google is also introducing a new API with Android 12. This allows apps to receive copied rich content via the clipboard, keyboard or drag and drop . The Immersive API has also been modified on Android 12 to make navigating between apps while watching a video or playing games easier.
The update also gets many privacy and security features and other optimizations. Android 12 will be available on Thursday as a developer version for the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5. Google expects to have reached Platform Stability by August . Sometime after that will follow the Release Candidate and the full release of Android 12.
