The public beta version of Android 12 is now live. Google released Android 12 in its I/O 2021 keynote on Tuesday, May 18, which redesigned the user interface and enhanced privacy settings. Although the stable version of the new operating system will be available later this year, you can experience some of its key features by downloading the first public beta version of Android 12 (aka Android 12 Beta 1) on your smartphone. It has a new interface based on a design language called Material You. The first public beta also gives you a glimpse of the privacy settings Google brings to your smartphone.
How to install Android 12 Beta 1 on a smartphone
You can download Android 12 Beta 1 on Google Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3A, Pixel 3A XL, Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4A, Pixel 4A 5G and Pixel 5. For pixel phones, you initially need to register the device from the Android 12 beta website. Even if you have previously registered for the Android 11 Beta program, you will also need to register for the Android 12 Beta version.
After registering, you can download Android 12 Beta 1 on your phone.You can also manually check its availability through the following steps Set value > system > system update > Check for updates. The Beta version may take some time to reach your device.
If you don’t have a Pixel phone, Google will release Android 12 Beta 1 to list third-party smartphones that are part of the Android 12 developer preview program. These phones include Asus ZenFone 8, OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro, Oppo Find X3 Pro, TCL 20 Pro 5G, Tecno Camon 17, iQoo 7 Legend, Mi 11, Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11i, Mi 11X Pro, Realme GT and ZTE Axon 30 Ultra 5G. You can go to the manufacturing link on the Android developer website to check the process of installing the first public beta of Android 12 on any of these phones.
Google brought the first developer preview of Android 12 in February. At the time, it was limited to Google Pixel phones.
What’s new in Android 12
Android 12 has a new interface, you can use a custom color palette for personalization, and you can use greater flexibility to adjust the size of new widgets. Google provides a feature called “color extraction”, which allows the system to automatically determine “which colors dominate, which colors complement each other, and which colors look good” from the wallpaper (perhaps the image you click). And apply these colors to the entire wallpaper interface. This means elements such as notification shadows, lock screen, volume controls, and widgets-everything will be adjusted to complement your wallpaper.
Android 12 has a color extraction function, which can bring personalization to the interface
Image source: Google
The Android 12 interface now includes smooth motion and animation. When unlocking the screen, by tapping the screen or pressing the lock screen, you will be welcomed by the new therapy. The widgets have also been redesigned-allowing developers to provide interactive controls to their widgets, such as checkboxes, switches, and even radio buttons. The key interface-level change is based on Material You, which is an upgrade of the existing Material Design language, designed to bring a unified experience to all Google apps and services over time.
Users on Android 12 will also notice the system-wide “stretch” over-scrolling effect, which will appear once the scroll exceeds the end of the available content. It replaces the existing glow over scrolling available in earlier Android versions. In addition, smoother audio transitions can be used between applications to prevent them from playing to each other.
Android 12 also includes a redesigned system space, such as the notification bar, quick settings and power button. The notification bar becomes more intuitive, and the quick settings panel adds other controls that allow you to adjust system settings to a large extent. It also includes controls for Google Pay and family controls. On the other hand, the power button can already call the Google Assistant when it is long pressed. If you have recently used an iPhone running on iOS 14 or later, most of these changes may sound familiar.
Google said it optimized the overall user experience of Android 12 with higher power efficiency. It is said that these fundamental improvements can reduce the CPU time required for core system services by up to 22% and reduce the use of large cores by system servers by up to 15%. This helps bring about a faster and more responsive experience.
Google has also brought new privacy settings on Android 12, which are touted as “providing more transparency about your data that apps are accessing, and more controls so you can choose wisely how much apps can access private information”. There is a new “Privacy” dashboard that provides you with detailed information about permission settings and what data is being accessed, frequency of access, and applications. You can also revoke the permissions granted to the application directly from the dashboard.
Android 12 comes with a new privacy dashboard
Image source: Google
Similar to iOS 14, Google has added a new indicator that will be displayed in the upper right corner of the screen when any installed application is accessing the smartphone’s microphone or camera. There are also two new toggle buttons in the quick settings panel to delete the application’s access to the microphone and camera of the entire system.
Android 12 also has new approximate location permissions that allow you to decide whether you want to share an exact location or an approximate location with apps available on your phone. This is useful because applications such as applications that provide weather updates do not require precise locations. It is also similar to the approximate location settings available on iOS 14.
In addition to the new location settings, Android 12 also has an application sleep function, which essentially sleeps applications that have not been used for a long time. This will help enhance user security and optimize the storage and performance of the device. This feature builds on the automatic reset of permissions introduced by Google last year, and has helped reset permissions for more than 8.5 million unused applications in the past two weeks.
Google also introduced Android Private Compute Core as a built-in sandbox in Android 12 to keep user information private and store it locally. The new product will be used with functions such as “real-time subtitles”, “Now Playing” and “Smart Reply”.