Android 12 is slated to arrive probably this month as a developer preview followed by its launch later this year. Even before its arrival, there are reports teasing the various features and more about the Android 12 and this one is a biggie. The folks at XDA Developers got the hold of an alleged early draft of a document where Google has summarized all the cosmetic and other changes made with Android 12 and it is blowing up on the internet like anything.
Talking about the UI changes on-board Android 12, the screenshots show that Android 12 will have a new notifications panel UI. It will be opaque with a light beige colored background that goes in-line with the system color. The screenshots show a separate section for “conversations” apart from the rest of the notifications as you can see below.
The screenshot shows that the new notifications panel UI has 4 Quick Settings tiles instead of * as seen in Android 11. This goes without saying that Google is trying to refine the panel to showcase what’s important and the rest all can be accessed with a double swipe down. Users get their hands-on Wi-Fi, Airplane Mode, Battery Saver, and Dark Mode as the four tiles. Perhaps, these tiles can be customized.
As seen, there’s a new privacy indicator on the top-right corner that shows if a microphone and/or cameras are being used or not. With that being said, Android 12 will alert users whenever an app is using either microphone or camera, or both. This feature is under testing for almost 2 years now and it seems like Google will finally introduce it with Android 12. According to the document, Google will mandate the use of mic and camera indicators in Android 12 and will be visible always whenever an app is using either of the services. It is unclear what other changes Google made mandatory with Android 12. More information about it will be available once the full Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) is available.
Widgets on Android 11 were a huge hit since iOS 14 added widgets too. Google has gone a step further giving widgets on Android 12 an overhaul. Instead of those chunky and out of shape widgets, the new widgets for Android 12 are neatly designed huge pill-shaped structures that allow interacting with an app without opening it. Moreover, Android 12 appears to be going big on “Conversations” widgets showcasing missed calls, recent messages, and whatnot.
Privacy is also strengthened with Android 12. Here, users can choose whether to disable the camera and the microphone entirely or not. There’s also a toggle for location access which is a big thing companies track to showcase ads and whatnot. There’s also an option to disable all the sensors on Android 12. Enabling Developer Options on Android 12 unlocks a “sensors off” tile on the Quick Settings menu.
As XDA Developers put it, there’s no way of authenticating these alleged documents and the adjoining screenshots. It is yet to be seen what other features, upgrades, changes the Android 12 will bring on-board.
We already know that the upcoming Android 12 will arrive with an app hibernation feature along with Wi-Fi password sharing via Nearby Share, App Pairs for multitasking, updates via Google Play Store in lieu with Project Mainline among others.
Talking about its rollout, Android 12 is likely to commence rolling out as a Developer Preview on Pixel devices this month. Google will release several DPs each every month and will release beta candidates (3 or 4) before the stable Android 12 is finally introduced at Google I/O Conference later this year probably in August or September 2021 although the dates are still unknown.
