At its virtual I/O 2021 developer konferensi today, Google outlined initiatives in search, quantum computing, security, scary AI chat bots, and more. And while today's keynote did not include any hardware announcements, we did see some cool new stuff in Android 12, which is now available as a public beta.
The splashiest news for the mobile OS is Material You, which replaces Material Desain and gives the Android interface a bubbly redesign and new colour options. But there's plenty more, including new privasi options, ecosystem capabilities, and better performnce and baterai life.
You can download the new version by enrolling your eligible phone (the Piksel along with several other manufacturers are fair games, including Asus, OnePlus, Oppo, Sharp, and ZTE), but catatan that this is beta software and best for tech-savvy Android users.

Material You

Yes, this evolved version of Material Desain allows more individual and customizable colour palettes, but it also rethinks the shapes of interface elements and adds informative animations. Google's announcements about the new desain language emphasize that it's as much about emotion as it is about desain principles. Colour palettes expand beyond the traditional Android blue and extend to other apps (Google apps at first) as well as the OS interface.
Pemakai interfaces are based on wallpapers, which guide the rest of the palette. Part of the concept is that the desain has to work consistently in different devices with varying screen sizes—from a smartwatch to a TV—so they'll sport responsif layouts. Another konsentrasi is accessibility, with aspects like objek size and contrast being taken into akun. Many have pointed out that iOS 14's new widgets are more consistent than those in Android, so Material You aims to improve that. A "stretch overscroll" efek shows when you've gotten to the end of a scrollable tempat, and audio gets quieter if you navigate away from the app emitting the sound.
Material You will kiprah as a Piksel exclusive this coming fall.

All Your Life's Devices, Controlled by Android

Here's one case of Google following Apple in mobile OS fiturs—usually it's the other way around. Android 12 will offer a digital car key, similar to Apple CarKey. Just like the iPhone fitur, Android will let you unlock and start your car, or even sharing those capabilities with trusted friends. UWB technology will let you unlock the car by mere proximity, while NFC will let other users tap the phone on the car door (hopefully not leaving a mark on your new ride).
Other advances in in Android 12 include letting you more easily pair Bluetooth devices, use your phone as a TV remote kontrol (something I can already do with Fire TV), and see recent photos from your phone on a Chromebook (something I can already do on a Windows 10 PC with the Your Phone app).

New Privasi Options

New privasi fiturs in Android 12 include Privasi Dasbor, microphone and kamera indicators, and microphone and kamera toggles. The OS also puts apps you haven't used in ages to sleep, and automatically revokes their privasi permissions. Apps that need to akses Bluetooth will no longer require location informasi, and a new "approximate location" pilihan prevents apps from knowing your exact location.

Better Performnce, Better Baterai Life

Google has made an usaha to improve CPU usage—it's 22% more efficient for core sistem serviss and 15% for big-core usage in Android 12. Google is specifying performnce class for manufacturers so that they'll know what capabilities their devices will need in order to maksimally run permintaaning media apps. App developers can query the piranti about its tingkat and deliver better experiences on devices that pass muster.
About Michael Muchmore

Michael Muchmore

Michael Muchmore is PC Magazine's lead analyst for software and Situs applications. A native New Yorker, he has at various times headed up PC Magazine's coverage of Situs development, enterprise software, and display technologies. Michael cowrote one of the first overviews of Situs Serviss (pretty much the progenitor of Situs 2.0) for a general audiens. Before that he worked on PC Magazine's Solutions section, which in those days covered programming techniques as well as panduan on using populer office software. Most recently he covered Situs 2.0 and other software for ExtremeTech.com.
Michael got his start in computing as a lad, when he wrote a BASIC program for a Radio Shack …

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