After three developer previews and five beta builds, Google officially released Android 12 to AOSP a couple of weeks ago. Also, Google had then announced that Pixel phones, starting from the Pixel 3, will get the update in the next weeks. Well, that day is finally here. Alongside the launch of the Pixel 6 series, which is the first to run Android 12 out-of-the-box, the Mountain View giant is rolling out its latest Android update to compatible Pixel phones.
“Android 12, which starts rolling out on Pixel 3 and above today, delivers even more personal, safe and effortless experiences on your device,” says Dave Burke, VP of Engineering (Android) at Google, in an official blog post.
Android 12 Released: Best New Features
The blog post goes on to talk about some of the best new Android 12 features. The biggest highlight of Android 12 has to be its Material You wallpaper-based theming system. Behind the scenes, app developers at Google have been hard at work implementing Material You theming support across all popular Google apps, including Chrome. The company has also introduced a redesigned quick settings panel with bigger buttons in an attempt to improve one-hand usage.
Visual tweaks aside, the operating system improves upon Android’s existing privacy features with a privacy dashboard and privacy indicators. Now, you will see a green indicator whenever an app uses your camera or microphone. You can get also Privacy Dashboard and indicators on older Android phones, thanks to the efforts of a third-party developer. Google has also introduced a Private Compute Core sandbox to help unify data access to ML features.
A feature likely to be appealing to the gamers out there is the new Game Dashboard. With Game Dashboard, you can record the screen, go live and stream gameplay on YouTube, take screenshots, and view the FPS of the current game using the in-game overlay. The feature will first come to Samsung phones, with more phones expected later.
One practical improvement in this update is the addition of scrolling screenshots. You no longer have to rely on third-party screenshot apps for taking a long screenshot. Those interested in this nifty feature can go through our guide on how to take scrolling screenshots in Android 12. For more features, do not forget to take a look at our list of the best Android 12 features.
Android 12 Supported Phones
The update has started rolling to the Pixel 3 series and later models. That includes the Pixel 3/ 3XL, Pixel 3a/ 3a XL, Pixel 4, Pixel 4a/ 4a 5G, Pixel 5, and Pixel 5a. You can head over to “Settings -> System -> System update” and check for the latest update on your Pixel smartphone.
Also, as we mentioned above, the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro as the first devices to run Android 12 out of the box. Also, “Android 12 will be coming to Samsung Galaxy, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Tecno, Vivo, Xiaomi devices and more later this year,” says the blog post.
For phones from other Android phone makers, check our article on when your Android phone will get the Android 12 update. We also have a dedicated list of OnePlus and Oppo phones that will receive the OxygenOS 12 and ColorOS 12 update based on Google’s newest Android update, respectively.
