We’ve ranked all of the best new features that have been added to Google Pixel devices as part of the Android 12 Developer Preview 1.
The next major installment of the world’s No.1 smartphone operating system is here in its earliest guise. This means we’ve been delving deeper into “Android 12 Developer Preview 1” to figure out what might be the top new user-facing features of the 12th OS iteration. As we saw with the very first wave of Android 11 builds last year, there are some notable and highly requested features being added right off the bat, with preparation already in place for a flurry of upcoming features in potential future builds. Not all of the new software additions will work with every Pixel phone out there. And because of dropped support, the fan favorite Pixel 2 and 2 XL are not able to install the latest Android developer build. Despite some things that might not be fully compatible with all models, we’ve still done our deep dive into this first preview to give you an indication of some of the very best new features that are likely to come as part of Android 12. Subscribe to 9to5Google on YouTube for more videos Clearly one of the big areas that Google plans to improve upon with the next Android iteration is in the media department, as this first developer build includes a brand-new UI for the media player with some other associated enhancements. The new-look media player UI is easily one of top new features in the Android 12 Developer Preview 1, as it gives far greater prominence to the controls and associated album art. The player has changed on both the lockscreen and when using the Quick Settings/Notification panel, with a larger overall size and easier-to-manage controls. When tapping the playback locator, there is also a new pop-up to quickly connect or pair to a new Bluetooth device, therefore, streamlining the process to get a pair of earbuds or speaker connected to your device. The animations and accent color remain the same as the previous version. You can also now prevent apps from appearing in the notification shade as part of the Media Resumption controls. If you switch apps a ton and only want selected players to be active or resumed after a while, then this is a really neat option to keep things organized.
