The first beta of Android 12 introduces the redesigned notification and Quick Settings shade. The latter experience is seeing a slew of changes, and one of them sees a new “Alarm” tile for Android 12.
When Quick Settings are fully expanded, your next alarm no longer appears in the top-left corner. You still get a status bar icon at the right, but the day and time is no longer quickly…
In the first developer previews for Android 12, we enabled and gave you a preview for a new native feature called “Game Mode.” It’s a feature that Google has yet to officially announce, but it’s live and accessible in the first Android 12 beta, though it’s nowhere…
When iOS 14.5 was introduced, Apple also made the new App Tracking Transparency feature available to the public, so that users can opt out of being tracked by third-party apps. However, several users had been complaining that the Tracking toggle was grayed out for unknown…
Android 12 Beta 1: Google’s design overhaul is here, but most of the features are missing
May 19, 2021
Years in the making, Android 12 is bringing a huge visual overhaul to the platform with the biggest impact since Material Design first debuted in Lollipop. “Material You” has some major potential and we’re seeing the first effects from it in the first Android 12 Beta release, but most of the good stuff is missing.
If you install Android 12 Beta 1 on a Google Pixel phone, you’ll be…
The Android 12 Beta launched today for Pixel phones, and in it, we’ve found model numbers for all of the Made by Google phones to release in 2021 including the Pixel 6 family and the reported foldable ‘Passport.’
This year’s lineup of Made by Google phones has been…
Android 12 Beta 1: Power menu is blocked by Assistant, but an upcoming button will fix that
May 19, 2021
In Android 12, the power button now acts a shortcut to Google Assistant. Google may have pitched this as a handy shortcut but, let’s be honest, this is just copying a trend Apple started. Regardless of how you feel about that, there’s a very unfortunate side effect. At…
Colors are going to be a big part of Android 12 when it reaches its final form and, while most aren’t live yet, Google is also adding more colors to the charging animations on Pixels with this update.
Whenever you provide power to a Pixel smartphone you’ll get a neat little animation along with it. A circular array of dots appear at the center of the display when using a wireless charger.
Widgets are already getting a big visual revamp as part of Material You and Android 12. Google is now bringing widgets to Assistant and considering driving-optimized ones for Android Auto.
Integrating widgets with Assistant allows for “one shot answers, quick updates…
Last year Google debuted a machine learning with its unique “Blob Opera” and, thanks to some incredible remakes posted to YouTube, they ended up going somewhat viral. Now, Google is sending the Blob Opera on “world tour” and it kicked off with a fun opening…
Sad as it is to say, people of color are often an afterthought when it comes to cameras and that includes even Google’s. This year, at I/O 2021, Google has announced an effort to create a more “accurate and inclusive” camera for Android smartphones.
Google says that it’s making adjustments to its computational photography algorithms to help take better photos of darker skin tones. This…
