Google’s next mobile operating system is almost here. The company announced Android 12 at Google I\/O. Here’s everything you need to know.<\/b>
\nAndroid 12 is finally here. The world\u2019s most-used operating system was finally shown off at Google I\/O in May, and gets a major refresh. Google has finally released Android 12 to AOSP, the Android Open Source Project \u2014 though you won\u2019t get it on a Pixel or other device just yet. Excited for Android 12? You should be. The new operating system brings a series of major updates to Android. Here\u2019s everything you need to know about Google\u2019s next operating system. Android 12 brings a series of great new features and refinements to the operating system. Here are all the best features in Android 12. Perhaps the biggest change to Android 12 comes in the form of a visual overhaul. Android 12 is getting a new theming system called Material You. The system allows users to influence the design of Android. For starters, the OS will pull colors for design elements from your wallpaper, making Android feel more cohesive as a whole. These colors will appear throughout Android, and even developers can hook into the theming. There are tons of other visual tweaks to Android. For example, there are new animations throughout the operating system. When you press the power button, an animation tears across the screen from that power button. Buttons, toggles, and so on, take up a little more room too, making them easier to tap. One of my personal favorite visual changes is the lock screen, which now shows a large clock by default, and a slightly smaller clock when there are notifications to show. It\u2019s a basic tweak but looks great. Quick Tiles have been redesigned too. Android 12\u2019s Quick Tiles are much larger than those on Android 11, and rectangular with rounded corners \u2014 instead of just circles. The much larger size makes them easier to tap, but it also means that you can\u2019t fit quite as many of them on the screen at once, which is important to keep in mind. Google is improving on privacy too. Notably, Android now has a new Privacy Dashboard, which can give users a more detailed view of how apps in Android access information. You\u2019ll see what apps have recently accessed things like location, the microphone, and more, and you\u2019ll be able to tweak those permissions quickly and easily. Android 12 offers better controls for location permissions too. Now, you can grant access to either precise location, or approximate location, which means that apps won\u2019t know exactly where you are. Of course, some will need to know your exact location \u2014 but any that don\u2019t now don\u2019t have to. As is tradition, the notifications system is getting a few changes. Now, the operating system\u2019s notification system looks better, is more logically grouped, and just works better. The update makes it much easier to share Wi-Fi passwords. In Android 12, you can share a Wi-Fi password simply by heading to the Wi-Fi settings and selecting to share through a QR code. It\u2019s very easy to use and works well. Next up is Android 12\u2019s new native one-handed mode. The feature is first activated in Settings, after which you can enable it by swiping down near the bottom of the screen. When you do that, the top of the screen will move down, allowing you to easily reach everything that\u2019s on the display. Google is getting rid of the Power Menu. After the update, holding the power button will activate Google Assistant \u2014 matching how users access Siri on an iPhone. The controls within the Power Menu are mostly moved to the quick settings. Android 12 includes a new feature that allows you to control your phone with your face. Android has long offered accessibility features, but Android 12 brings new \u201ccamera switches,\u201d which let you control aspects of the phone with facial movements. Yes. Now that Android 12 is out of its official beta, when it\u2019s available to download on your phone, you should download and install it. Eventually, dozens of phone models will support Android 12 \u2014 but during the beta program, only a select few devices will support the software. Other companies may hold their own beta programs. For example, Samsung has announced One UI 4.0, which is based on Android 12. One UI 4.0 will go through a beta of its own, eventually. Here\u2019s a list of phones that support the Android 12 beta. As mentioned, Android 12 has been released in the Android Open Source Project, which means a release for specific devices shouldn\u2019t be far off. We\u2019re not exactly sure when the update will come out on Pixel phones, but it shouldn\u2019t be long now. Interested in installing the Android 12 beta for yourself? It\u2019s not the easiest thing to to, but it\u2019s not overly difficult either. Here\u2019s an overview on how to install Android 12. For a full, more in-depth look for developers, head over to XDA-Developers.<\/p>\n