MobileNews

Android 12 DP3: Pixel Launcher adds second 4×4 grid size with smaller app icons

The Pixel Launcher gained a 4×5 grid option with Developer Preview 1 in February and is now picking up a second 4×4 layout in Android 12 DP3 that notably shrinks the size of app icons. Android 11 today offers Default (5×5), 4×4, 3×3, and 2×2 grid sizes. Each drop in the number of total apps you can see greatly enlarges the icon size. While it’s definitely useful for some, the size might…
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MobileNews

Android 12 DP3: Widgets get revamped w/ new menu, recommendations, forced rounded corners

Following the recent popularity of homescreen widgets after their launch on iOS, Android 12 is giving some love to the OS’s long-existing widgets system, including a new menu, forced rounded corners, and more. With Android 12 Developer Preview 3, Google has made quite a few changes to the widgets system. The most noticeable change, affecting your existing widgets, is that Android homescreen…
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MobileNews

Google Pixel 5a 5G set to run on same Snapdragon 765 as Pixel 5

Earlier this month, Google confirmed that their next budget smartphone, the Pixel 5a 5G, would be releasing later this year. Thanks to the latest Android 12 Developer Preview, we can report that the Pixel 5a 5G will run on the same chip as the Google Pixel 5. In confirming…
MobileNews

Android 12 DP3: Dark mode finally extends to toast messages w/ design tweak

Dark mode was fully integrated into Android almost three years ago at this point, but some parts of the system have slipped through. In Android 12, Google is finally bringing a dark theme to toast messages. Toast messages, for those not versed with the admittedly somewhat obscure term, are those little pop-ups that appear at the bottom of the screen with messages. One of the easiest ways to see…
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MobileNews

New Gmail for web loses Google Material Theme compose button

Google is in the process of rolling out a new Gmail client online for free users that incorporates Chat and Rooms. As part of that, there were a number of small design tweaks, and the latest sees Gmail on the web get a new compose button. When the ability to enable Google Chat in “early access” rolled out this month, the majority of design tweaks involved the use of outline-style icons to…
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