We’ve ranked all of the best new features that have been added to Google Pixel devices as part of the Android 12 Developer Beta 3.<\/b>
\nThe stable Android 12 release has inched ever closer, with Android 12 Beta 3 dropping just a month after the second build. Following our other deep dives, we\u2019ve been spending time with Android 12 Beta 3 to find the best new features and changes that you can try right now. Android 12 is going to provide one of the biggest updates for years. Not only does it look very different from what has been available on many of our favorite devices, but there are also plenty of under-the-hood tweaks to contend with. Because we\u2019re now three builds into the public-facing beta phase, we are tantalizingly close to platform stability, but that doesn\u2019t mean that Google is holding back on new additions. The releases have been thick and fast, we\u2019re only just catching our breath from the first and second Android 12 Beta releases, and we have Beta 3 to get to grips with. If you have already enrolled, you should soon receive an OTA update that contains the latest July 2021 security patch, plus all of the new UI and system-level tweaks coming with this patch. If you haven\u2019t already tried the Android 12 Beta and want to sign up, we have a short little guide to help you get enrolled, but this process is very quick and easy. Basically, head to the Android 12 Beta sign-up page, and you can opt-in \u2014 or out \u2014 to try the latest pre-release OS build for yourself. That is, provided you have a Pixel 3\/3 XL or a newer Made by Google phone. Subscribe to 9to5Google on YouTube for more videos After what feels like an age, Google is finally adding the ability to take scrolling screenshots with Android 12 Beta 3. To say this feature is long overdue is an understatement, and we\u2019ve seen multiple OEMs simply adopt their own implementations to make up for the lack of options within the \u201ccore\u201d build of Android. It\u2019s a fairly standard tool that allows you to expand the regular screenshot option out of your display view. When initiating a screenshot, the floating menu introduced back in Android 11 will now including a \u201cCapture more\u201d toggle that will allow you to expand what else is captured. It\u2019s quite a different way of grabbing the entire fully expanded page view and then just letting you crop to what you want. There is a caveat, though. At least in Android 12 Beta 3, the scrolling screenshot feature doesn\u2019t appear to work with websites, which is a real bummer. We\u2019re sure that it will be tweaked and tuned ahead of the full Android 12 release in the coming months. Otherwise, it\u2019s not exactly the most useful outside of on-device apps. To help improve auto-rotation accuracy, you can toggle face detection so that when putting your device into portrait or landscape, it will react much faster. It\u2019s hard to say if this new option makes a huge difference, but while it might be the placebo effect in action, it does feel a little bit snappier than previously. The Wallpaper & style section has been on the receiving end of an overhaul with Android 12 Beta 3. It\u2019s easy to see right away that \u201cMaterial You\u201d is closer to completion in this release\u2019s latest build of Android 12, with support for choosing the palette of colors the OS picks from and very limited support for automatically themed icons. Themed icons work in much the same way an icon pack would work on a third-party launcher. Your icons are swapped out with supported applications with a line-based design and background to match the wallpaper or chosen accent color. We are yet to see a single supported third-party apps; almost all of Google\u2019s popular apps will adjust when toggled. With the removal of the awesome Active Edge in recent Pixel devices, the corner swipe activation gesture was seen as the replacement. In Android 12 Beta 3, you\u2019re now able to completely deactivate the Assistant corner swipe. For people that might not want to even access the Assistant, this might be the perfect solution as all other methods can be disabled at any time. For some reason, the corner swipe was persistent and could sometimes interfere with the gesture navigation method. Likely because of that, within the gesture navigation settings, you can toggle the activation method \u2014 as this does not affect the 3-button navbar. To enable or disable the Assistant corner, swipe ahead to Settings > Gestures > System navigation > Swipe to invoke the assistant. In a similar way to the addition of scrolling screenshots, the one-handed mode was a long-overdue addition in the previous Android 12 Beta updates. Beta 3 just adds another option to expand the notification shade by swiping down in the gesture bar. This might be useful for Pixel 4 owners without a fingerprint scanner or the upcoming Pixel 6, which is expected to come with an in-display fingerprint scanner. One of the more frustrating elements of Android 12 Beta 2 was the removal of the ability to toggle Wi-Fi on or off quickly within the introduction of the \u201cInternet\u201d notification button. Android 12 Beta 3 is sort of fixing that problem with a \u201cturn off Wi-Fi\u201d button as part of the Internet pop-up. No, this is not a proper solution to the problem, but it does save having to dive into the Settings menu just to turn off or turn on your device\u2019s Wi-Fi connection. When tapping the Internet toggle on Android 12 Beta 3, you\u2019ll get the same pop-up menu with all of your current device data connections, and in the bottom left, you can tap and turn off or turn on Wi-Fi. Google has moved some of the less prominent notification shade toggles around a little bit in Android 12 Beta 3. We\u2019re talking about the gear, pen, and power icons that allow you to enter Settings, edit the notification shade layout, and access the pop-up power menu. These toggles have simply been moved, but more importantly, the power option has been moved back to a central position, which is easier to remember for right-handed users. No more accidental presses of the power menu through muscle memory. When in the Recents app menu, you can very quickly share websites from Chrome with a new floating quick toggle which will pull the most recent webpage link you\u2019ve viewed and make it easier to directly share with your apps or contacts. When clicked, this button presents the URL that\u2019s currently open in Chrome along with options to share or copy the link. When you click on it, the bottom of the screen is populated with your recent contacts, so you can easily share that link without jumping into another app in Android 12. There\u2019s also a \u201cmore\u201d button to option the full share menu. Android 12 Beta 3: Chrome gets a slick new link-sharing option from multi-tasking page Google Camera 8.3 is bundled with the Android 12 Beta 3 update, and \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 it has some interesting changes. Most notably is the addition of Material You theming for vast portions of the UI, including the floating settings menu and associated toggles, plus the main control area. The settings page also does away with the dividing lines between sections, letting the colored text of each subheading act as a separator. Similarly, the text on this page \u2014 and the quick settings, but not the main camera interface \u2014 has been switched from the previous Roboto font to the newly launched Google Sans Text. The Pixel Launcher hasn\u2019t been left out in Android 12 Beta 3, with quite a few little refinements and alterations, including to the search bar. It\u2019s now thicker and more prominent, while the Assistant logo has been replaced with a microphone icon. When long-pressing an app shortcut menu, there is now a prominent link to the \u201cWidgets\u201d for that specific app too. Although not a big change by any stretch of the imagination, but the popular \u201cAt a Glance\u201d widget from the Pixel Launcher has been renamed \u201cLive Space.\u201d However, if you expand the settings for this homescreen widget, it\u2019s still hasn\u2019t been fully renamed. Not a big change but one to note if people mention Live Space and you\u2019re wondering just what the heck they\u2019re talking about. There is the most minor of minor tweaks to the font, too, that sees it get ever so slightly bolder and a little broader. Pop-up menus have had a more obvious tweak with Material You-themed colors that match your chosen settings or wallpaper. You may never have even launched the Pixel Tips app before, but it hasn\u2019t escaped the Google developer and design team in Beta 3. The app has seen some fairly fancy renovations with a new tiled layout that has icons for specific on-device sections \u2014 likely to make things easier to find or understand for newbies. Like any release prior, there is quite a lot to unpack in the Android 12 Beta 3 build. In essence, this makes our small selection likely just the tip of the software iceberg. With that said, these are the most prominent user-facing features that we\u2019ve found after delving in. We expect to see more little things that might slip through the cracks over the coming days and weeks. We have a deeper dive into everything that has been added, including some features that require a little work to get fully operational in our full overview. What is your favorite new feature, or do you have multiple features that you like? Let us know down in the comments section below! Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:<\/p>\n