Besides a slew of Material You additions and other enhancements, Android 12 Beta 5 today expands — as we’ve been expecting — Nearby Share with an “Everyone” visibility option, redesigned QS pane, and multi-device sharing.
When you tap the Nearby Share tile in Quick Settings on Android 12 Beta 5, you now get a shorter panel dedicated to controlling “Device visibility.” You also get a shortcut to open the modernized “Settings” page in the corner. Previously, on Android 11, you’d get a taller sheet to find nearby devices.
“Hidden” — where you’re “Not visible to anyone” — is unchanged from before. The new middle “Contacts” option replaces “All contacts,” while “Some contacts” as a dedicated state is gone. Rather, above the list of contacts, you get to toggle off “Visible to all contacts” and select people like before.
Android 11 vs. Android 12
Lastly, “Everyone” means “anyone can share with you when they are nearby.” There are two options to control permanence, with the Quick Settings tile enabling the first:
- Use everyone mode temporarily: For your privacy, visibility automatically switches back to your previous setting Hidden after a few minutes.
- Keep everyone mode on all time
You can now also simultaneously send to multiple devices. On the pane, you can “tap to share with more people.” Google is veering towards privacy and limitations with Nearby Share, thus avoiding the iOS AirDrop issue.
More about Android 12:
- Android 12 Beta 5: Smart home quick controls get a dedicated lockscreen shortcut
- ‘Device search’ now live in Pixel Launcher app drawer
- Material You clock widgets have arrived [Gallery]
- Android 12 Easter egg expands with Dynamic Color homescreen widget
Dylan Roussel contributed to this article
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
