We eagerly await Google’s first Android 12 preview release, which is expected to be released in the next month. But while we haven’t seen it yet, a lot of details about the new release are public, in between leaks and Google’s own public plans. Right now, there are five big features we’re looking forward to – assuming Google isn’t pushing them back (again).
Privacy indicators
Early leaks indicate that Android 12 will finally release a feature that is in development yearsPrivacy indicators, just like the ones that debuted in iOS 14, are coming to Android. A series of colored icons and dots indicate when and if apps are using your microphone or camera, so you know when the software on your phone might be in violation of your privacy.
It’s a good step in itself, and besides, Google’s version appears to be better than apples, making it easy to see which apps open them, both when it happens and after, without having to go through piles of settings menus to dig.
It remains to be seen how Google will treat system-level access compared to third-party apps – for example, you can set the Google Assistant to always listen to the hotword – but it’s a step in the right direction for user privacy, and one we’ve been anticipating since Google started working on it in Android 10 two years ago.
Better theme
We’ve also known for a while that Android 12 will expand the theme options. While Android has some system-level support for themes – which Pixel owners should recognize since Android 10 – Android 12 will open that up properly.
Left: Normal Android 11 dark theme. Turn right: A mockup of what expanded color options could look like. Both images via 9to5Google.
Details are sparse, but we expect Android 12 to allow for themes via a defined primary color and accent color – presumably somehow user-selected, possibly with some presets. But even better, Android 12 will also pass that color data to third-party apps so they can pick up these signals too. If the slow rollout of system-level dark theme support is any indicator, it may not have made a difference for years, and many apps will never implement it, but it could be nice for those that do.
These images (probably mockups) can be affected by Android 12’s extended theme.
Some of the recent Android 12 mockups may also be themed, providing a possible example of what a sand color combination might look like in action. But whether what we’re getting now looks like the images we already have or something else, Android 12 is set to extend system-level theme support for more extensive customization – though perhaps not to the extent that substrate or substrate light could.
Scroll through screenshots
Google has struggled back and forth when it comes to scrolling screenshots. First, the company said it was “unattainable”. Then, during a Google I / O Q&A, Dave Burke ignored that decision and dictated that scrolling screenshots should be added in Android R. the feature was noticed in development but eventually pushed back and never made the final cut for Android R / 11 when it landed . Rather than resorting to what Google called a ‘quick hack’ that mimics finger gestures (like what Samsung and OnePlus do on their devices), Google decided it wanted to make the Cadillac version compatible with every kind of display and app without any unexpected behavior or whine.
Image via XDA Developers.
Well, it turns out that change in scope, predictably, meant a lot more work, which is why Google put the feature on hold. The current hope is that we will get it in Android 12.
App pairs
Whether it’s an enhancement meant to help with the emerging foldable item category, or just catch up with Google with Samsung, Android 12 is expected to support App Pairs. The feature treats two apps as one app when multitasking. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Samsung literally calls its version the same.
An app pair on the Z Fold2.
It’s not immediately clear if you can launch apps as a pair, but based on the details noted so far, we know that they can be managed together, and when you switch between apps, none of them get “stuck” while switching between apps with the others, they are treated as a single functional unit.
The dividing line between the apps also picks up some new features like the ability to double-tap on them to swap app positions, and I suspect Google may also pick up some of Samsung’s other multi-window / multitasking management tools from OneUI before everything is about.
Better RCS messages
The last big feature we’re looking forward to may not really be coming out, and we’ve been waiting for it for a while: better RCS support.
Right now, RCS messaging apps on Android basically communicate directly with their services. While text messages are handled by the system and passed to the app with access rights, RCS is all direct and remote from Android itself. There is no simple system API for RCS messages. But ideally that won’t be the case forever.
RCS in Google Messages.
In 2019, the first signs of system-level RCS support were noticed. More recently, we’ve seen some other details that indicate that RCS support could change in Android 12. Nothing outright says at this point that Android 12 will further extend RCS support to third-party apps (and it would be pretty damn complicated. are for Google too), but the company is clearly making changes to it, and that’s the hope.
There are plenty of other potentially big features to land in Android 12 (I’m pretty excited about Android Runtime becoming a Mainline module), and Google will almost certainly have a few more surprises before it releases. We will definitely cover everything as we find it once the first preview lands in the coming weeks.