Google released Android 12 Developer Preview 2 ahead of the broad release of the software this fall. While we’ve already given an overview of what’s officially included in the developer’s latest preview, we’ll now take a closer look at the release and cover several other features that Google has not announced.
New dark theme
Google launched a system-wide dark theme on Android 10 that provided Pixel owners with a truly black look. The first Android 12 Developer Preview introduced a dark gray tone for the dark theme, and in Developer Preview 2, Google made it an even lighter shade of gray.
When you see the different themes side by side, the contrast is stark. However, the dark gray theme should still provide users with an eye-pleasing appearance and still save some battery life.
-
- Android 11 dark theme
-
- Android 12 DP2 dark theme
One-hand mode
As devices get bigger, they become more difficult to use with one hand. Google is addressing this on Android 12 with one-handed mode that will make using with one hand much easier.
In the Pixel Settings menu under Gestures, there is a one-hand mode option that moves the screen down so you can reach the top more easily; is similar to Apple’s Reachability feature on iOS. Once activated, you can switch to one-hand mode by sliding down towards the bottom of the screen, close to where the navigation bar is.
The feature offers a toggle that will exit One-Handed mode when switching applications, and there are also four different timeout options: never, 4 seconds, 8 seconds and 12 seconds.
New slide-down notification gesture
In the first Android 12 Developer Preview, we saw a new gesture called “swipe to notifications”. This gesture allows you to swipe down near the bottom of the screen to pull down the notification bar. Many startup apps – including Google’s own Pixel Launcher – allow you to swipe down anywhere on the home screen to pull down the notification tab. However, when this gesture is enabled in Settings> System> Gestures> Swipe for notifications, you can pull the notifications tab down on any screen.
I found another gesture – swipe down to see notifications. Do you know how Pixel Launcher allows you to swipe down on the home screen to pull down the notification tab? Yes, it does – but in any application. pic.twitter.com/VpmRESJkkM
– Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) February 19, 2021
Since the swipe gesture for notifications is triggered in the same way that one-handed mode is triggered, they are incompatible with each other. When you activate one, the other is deactivated. In addition, if you have a Pixel phone with a fingerprint reader mounted on the back, it appears that this gesture will not work because Google expects you to use the existing “slide fingerprint for notifications” gesture, which does the same thing .
New widget selector
One of the first changes we saw on Android 12 DP2 was a new widget selector in Pixel Launcher. Just like before, with a long press on the home screen, you can easily choose the widget of your choice. The new look is a little more compact and reduces the different options to facilitate scrolling.
“Unbridge” apps for specific notification listeners
In Android 12 Developer Preview 2, you now have the option to “unlink” apps from notification listeners. This is a confusing wording, but we think it means that you will be able to choose which applications a notification listener service can intercept. Notification listeners, for those who don’t know, are services that can read your notifications as they are posted, which is how the Wear OS app, for example, can read your notifications and synchronize them with your smartwatch.
Intelligent call forwarding
Android 12 Developer Preview 2 added a Smart Forwarding feature, which we found a long time ago in AOSP. The feature allows you to route calls between two provisioned SIMs on your device. The feature can be useful when one SIM is inaccessible, but the other is not.
Screen dimming settings
As we explained earlier, Android 12 is adding a “Reduce bright colors” feature (now called “Reduce brightness” in DP2). Now in DP2, this feature, as well as other preferences related to contrast, size and theme, have been brought together in a new configuration page “Dim the screen”. You can find this page in Settings> Accessibility> Text and screen.
Lockscreen adjusts for PIN and pattern locks
Android 12 Developer Preview 2 introduces some subtle changes in PIN views and pattern locking. The changes are not as dramatic as those seen in the redesign of the leaked lock screen that we showed you last month, but they are part of the changes that we describe in our article that covers the general changes to the “NEXT” material.
In the PIN and pattern display, the “Emergency call” button now has a rounded bubble that corresponds to the system’s accent theme. In the pattern view, the line that follows your finger as you insert the pattern is now much thicker than before.
The media player now matches the accent color
Depending on the theme set for your device, the media player now follows the accent color of the system. As a reminder, a media player was added to the notification panel on Android 11.
There are a few other changes included in the second Developer Preview, including several other hidden ones. If you are interested in reading about it, we have an article that covers all the hidden features that we have found so far in Android 12 DP2.