Google is releasing a version of Android for big screens, but is a split-screen mode and built-in dock enough to make Android tablets worth buying?
The Android tablet will soon get good, or at least it seems like Google is hoping it will with Android 12L. This new version of Android is designed for tablet-sized screens and anything above 600dp, and is available for developers today. For everyone else, Android 12L should arrive early next year—just in time for the “next wave of Android 12 tablets and foldables,” writes Google in a blog post. The full release should arrive sometime in Q2 2022. Android 12L looks and feels like Android 12 on a smartphone, but it’s been optimized for larger screens under the hood. The notification shade, lock screen, and other parts of the system utilize a two-column layout so that no part of the screen remains unused. Android 12L includes a new taskbar at the bottom of the interface, akin to the one available in Chrome OS. You can pin frequently used apps and access them as you move between windows.
