More than half of the world’s smartphones are running the popular open-source operation system, Android. Google has been updating its Android OS with fresh iterations every year, with each update adding a new set of functionalities to the long list Android already possesses.
However, there haven’t been many design changes since the launch of Material UI in Android KitKat and Material UI 2.0 in Android Marshmallow. Until now, that is. Android 12 is the most significant update Google has released in a long time. Android 12 not only changes the UI dramatically but also introduces key new features left and right, making it the most significant release to date. But, among all of those features Android 12 is bringing to your nearest smartphone, these are the ones you should be keeping an eye on.
Material You
Stock Android has always had a sleek and simple design interface, which most users appreciated. However, there was always a need for a little more personalization. Material You was born because Google finally listened. Material You introduces a new dynamic theming feature into Android. This new dynamic theming feature changes the UI according to “You”-re preference and settings. This helps Material You UI change its dominant UI color according to either the wallpaper you are using or any color of your choice, which you can select manually. The change of color isn’t just limited to dominant colors in the settings or notification panel, these take effect throughout all the other system apps as well. The widget is one of the few things that Google has opted to revisit. Android’s widgets have been ignored for a long time. With this new version of Android, the widgets have been updated to seem much more modern and convenient, and it now adapts to your wallpaper utilizing the dynamic theming functionality. Boxier quick setting panels in the notification shade, a more subtle animation, a revamped volume panel, and a more modern and minimalist look are some of the other improvements in this new Material You UI.
Big on Privacy
Although privacy indications such as camera and microphone usage by apps have been accessible on custom Android OS ROMs for some time, Google has never officially included them. When Apple eventually released iOS 14 last year, these features became all the rage. This year, Google not only debuted them but also enhanced them. Users will not only be notified of any app that is using the smartphone’s camera or microphone, and they will be able to restrict access to both, the camera and microphone, apps until they re-enable manually. But that’s not all: the modern privacy dashboard menu also allows users to manage the permissions provided to apps with much more convenience, as well as check the permission usage of all apps.
Extra Tidbits
With the all-new Game Menu, Android 12 provides nothing but joy to dedicated gamers and streamers. The Game Menu in Android 12 puts a wide range of options at gamer’s fingertips natively, whereas previously users had to rely on third-party apps. The Game Menu not only optimizes the Android for gaming and displays the frame rate indicator, but it also allows the gamer to stream live on Youtube. But that’s not all; during their I/O event, Google said that Android 12 now utilizes 22% fewer system resources than the prior version, making the latest Android version even faster and smoother.
