Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
- Google hid most of the major changes to the Android 12 interface, but some code investigations XDA Developers discovered a little bit.
- The lock screen, notification panel and display designs that are always active can be very different.
- Keep in mind, however, that Google has hidden these changes for a reason. There is no guarantee that they will actually be shipped.
Before we saw the first Android 12 developer preview yesterday, we saw a leak of some potential changes from the user interface to the operating system. However, when we installed Android 12, we found that it looked a lot like Android 11. What happened to all those big design changes?
See too: Android 12 features: all confirmed and commented so far
It turns out that the UI of Android 12 can be very different from Android 11. Is that Google hid most of the changes in this first preview from the developer. Thank you, XDA Developers rummaged through the code and found a way to “link” some of the new design elements.
We detail XDAis finding below. Before you start salivating with the new changes to the Android 12 interface, remember that Google has purposely hidden these features. Until they are easily accessible in a beta version, it is entirely plausible that they will not ship with Android 12.
Android 12 UI changes: lock screen, AoD and notifications
First, let’s talk about the always-on screen. Instead of having most of the information in the middle, Google appears to be moving the information to the top of the screen. The clock has a more modern look and the date / weather widget is smaller and shifted to the right. Below that widget, you’ll see notification icons as they arrive.
When you exit AoD for the lock screen, the clock widget design continues. However, it now appears to be a thicker and much larger font, occupying about a third of the entire screen. However, if you have notifications, the widget will revert to the same size as it was in AoD to make room for your notification cards.
Finally, the notification drawer looks very different. The quick setting blocks have a lot more space around them, as they are now in a 3 × 3 grid. The background is much more opaque than what we saw in the DP1 Android 12 user interface (for which we are grateful). The brightness bar takes up a lot more space and the notification cards look a little different.
Again, there are no guarantees that these changes will actually reach Android 12. This would not be the first time that Google has included code in an Android developer preview that has never been released. However, it is good to see that Google is at least playing around with some major design changes this year, as Android has been similar to the same in recent cycles.