Google unveiled an improved version of its mobile OS (Android 12), called Android 12L, on your annual Android Developer Summit. Android 12 came to a standstill recently when the company announced the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro and this is the next developer preview of the new OS. The update comes with minor changes and as Google mentioned it is a ‘feature drop’ for foldables, tablets and devices running ChromeOS. It will primarily be available on Andy as a part of Android Studio, with the preview coming to Pixel phones as a beta version later, possibly in December. Google says “Android 12L will be released to everyone early next year, which will be just in time for the next wave of Android 12 tablets and foldables”. You can also get it now at www.developer.android.com and download the 12L emulator.
Android 12L: What’s new in this update?
Google is focusing this update on large-screen devices like foldable phones and tablets, and it is working smoothly with them on Android 12L. Android 12L will introduce a taskbar where you will be able to switch between apps quickly like on a desktop computer. You’ll be able to drag an app from the taskbar to use it while in split-screen mode. Google mentioned that this mode will work though resizable apps.
Android 12L will optimize the layout of your device’s interface with a refined UI to make it more adaptable with larger screens. For example, it changes the location of the lock screen, home screen, quick settings, notifications, and other key aspects of the phone. Google announced that devices with 600 density-independent pixels (dp) and above will receive a new two-column layout that takes up the entire screen.
The new APIs in 12L will allow apps to show multiple activities at once via Activity Embedding. For example, this will allow you to open a Google Drive folder on the left and maybe a PDF preview on the right, or two Google Docs documents side by side. It is expected to be foldable, stacking and unstacking scenes smoothly when you open or close a device. Apps can also access APIs that make them “fold-aware,” allowing them to avoid content displayed on hinges or folds, or even take advantage of elements as natural separators.
Google is adding advanced letterboxing that will make apps appear better on the bigger screen. It won’t recreate the way you interact with your phone, but it will enhance its experience.
Google is also looking forward to encouraging app development on the big screen. There are new tools, APIs and guides that will help developers build adaptive apps to suit any display. Details about placing the navigation bar on all screens and adjusting the display to look good on any screen are explained in the Material Design Guidelines. Google is promoting a Tupan View aimed at foldables, as demonstrated in Google Messages above.
Google will alert users about apps that are not optimized for large screens in the Play Store (if they have a list of devices with large screens). There will be new criteria for assessing the app quality of each app against Google’s big screen app quality guidelines. In addition, there will be bigger screen-specific app ratings and these changes will be released in 2022.
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