Andrew Hoyle / CNET
Google unveiled the latest version of its Android operating system last month, Android 12. Available now as a developer preview, Android 12 appears to be quite similar to Android 11, with some new features and performance fixes designed to help your phone run more smoothly.
If you’re looking forward to trying the new operating system, you can download and install the Android 12 developer preview now. But be warned that, as the developer’s first preview, it’s probably full of bugs and not meant to be tested by an ordinary person at this point – especially on your primary device. We expect Google to launch a public beta version in May and the final version in August or September.
Here are three of the biggest new features we’ve seen in Android 12 so far, compared to Android 11.
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Our first look at Android 12
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Application privacy features
Google is adding several new privacy features to applications to give users more transparency and control, according to a post on the Android Developers blog. One update provides more information about how cookies can be used on websites, while another changes how applications export information to prevent them from accidentally exporting activities, services and receivers.
It’s important to note that these policies are less strict than those in the recent release of Apple’s iOS software, which includes a new “nutrition labels“which tells people what personal data their apps are collecting, and an impending change that requires developers to ask people for permission to collect data and track it across apps and websites.
Redesigned notifications
With Android 12, Google is changing the design of notifications to make them more modern and functional. When you tap on a notification, it takes you directly to the app or action you want to perform, instead of going through an intermediary service to initiate that action. This should make everything run faster, according to the blog post.
As noted by the technology site XDA Developers, Android 12 also receives a new button that allows you to suspend unimportant notifications and choose for how long. You can also enable adaptive notification rating to allow Android to rearrange your notifications based on how you work with different apps and reset the rating if you don’t like it.
One-hand mode
Android 12 appears to include some design changes that make it easier to operate Android phones with one hand and thumb. The XDA developers noted that the updated settings user interface moves the search bar to the bottom of the screen for easy one-handed access. He also discovered a new feature called “silky house”, which makes the entire interface more suitable for use with one hand.
For more information, check how to download Android 12 developer preview, and the best Android phones to buy for 2021.