Billions of people across the globe rely on Android apps daily. As a result, people’s expectations can rise just as fast. Keeping that in mind, a few days ago, Google rolled out the first developer preview of Android 12, the next version of Android, for testing and feedback.
The developer preview is an early build of the software update and is designed for app developers and testers. Though it’s not representative of the final update, it gives an idea of what to expect.
During the tests, developers and testers discovered that the 2021 update for Google’s Android operating system could have a new UI and lock screen. Android 12 will also be adding privacy protections and optimising performance to keep apps responsive. It could even get iOS-like stacked widgets.
Inserting content: It’s not always easy to insert or move rich content in apps. To make the process simple, a new unified API is being introduced, which lets developers accept content from any source — clipboard, keyboard, or by dragging and dropping.
Notification updates: Notification designs have been refreshed and will look more modern, will be easy to use and be more functional. Google is also optimising transitions and animations across the system to make them smooth. Also, the notifications will be faster and more responsive.
Haptic feedback: Apps will be able to provide audio-coupled haptic feedback through the phone’s vibrator. For example, a video-calling app could use custom ringtones to identify the caller, or developers could simulate rough terrain in a racing game.
Audio: There are many enhancements to audio. Android 12 adds support for MPEG-H playback in passthrough and offload mode. Also, audio mixers and effects have been optimised for up to 24 channels.
API improvements: The immersive mode has been simplified, to make gesture navigation easier, especially while watching videos, reading books or playing games.
AVIF image support: Android 12 introduces platform support for AV1 Image File Format (AVIF) to ensure that image quality is higher with more efficient compression. The quality of AVIF images are dramatically better when compared to older image formats, such as JPEG.
