Android 12 Developer Preview is live — here’s the biggest new features

Android 12 Developer Preview is live — here's the biggest new features

(Image credit: Google)

It's that wonderful fourth dimension of twelvemonth again! Google has released Android 12 in preview form for developers. It'due south exciting because nosotros get to see some of the new stuff that the visitor has planned for users, and trust us, there'due south a lot coming in this preview.

We don't know what will make it to final release at this moment, but Google has plenty to share in the meantime. Unless you're a developer or the most hardcore Android fan, this Programmer Preview isn't meant for you. It won't be fully stable notwithstanding and might break otherwise normal functionality on your device. Nosotros and Google strongly encourage you to temper your excitement and await for future versions.

Android 12: Everything nosotros know and then far
The all-time Android phones

Equally such, this showtime release is targeted at developers and helping them go their apps ready. Almost of the additions hither are focused on that. But with that out of the way, let's dig into what's new with Android 12!

Android 12 new features

Android 12 developer preview — (Image credit: Photograph Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In Google'due south announcement blog mail service, the visitor's VP of Engineering science, Dave Burke, tackles what'southward new in Android 12. A lot of it is developer talk, so some of you might discover it a fleck boring to slog through. While nosotros tin can't quite go around that, nosotros've picked out a few things worth noting.

Compatible media transcoding: Android 12 will support automatic media transcoding to higher quality formats. For apps that don't or can't support the Loftier Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) codec that many modern camera apps apply, Android 12 will automatically transcode the video file into the more than common Advanced Video Coding (AVC) format. There might be a delay on the user'south cease while the device transcodes the file.

Support for AVIF images: When you take a photograph, your camera saves it in the popular JPEG format (the .jpg file extension). Notwithstanding, that format is a bit old, then Android 12 introduces support for the newer AV1 Image File Format (AVIF). This format sports high epitome quality yet with more efficient image compression. In some cases, it looks markedly better than a JPG analogue while having a similar, if non smaller, file size.

New notification UI: From some of the early leaks almost Android 12, we saw what could be a new UI centered effectually notifications and the notification shade. This is a critical function of Android, and then users will notice any visual changes right away. Right now, the Developer Preview includes updates to the transitions and animations to make them smoother, plus some tweaks to the controls and templates. Once more, this is interesting from a developer'southward perspective, but these changes will bear on users in time.

More than responsive notifications: Everyone wants faster notifications, right? When you tap that item in your shade, you lot expect to go to the app immediately. Except, that doesn't always happen. Google wants to alter this in Android 12 by making it so that apps that target the new platform open their target activities immediately upon a tap instead of relying on the intermediary "trampoline" services that run first. In brusque, for the terminate user, this volition theoretically mean faster, more than responsive notifications.

Better app compatibility testing: This one is specifically for developers and it'south unlikely that we the users will see this directly. Withal, information technology's important. Android 12 volition let developers toggle some of the new opt-in features to test compatibility with their apps. These toggles will allow developers to test what happens when they enable or disable a specific characteristic.

Platform Stability milestone: Last year, Google fabricated it easier for developers to have their apps ready for Android xi. This project timeline let them know when last SDK and internal APIs and organization behaviors would be ready. Android 12's evolution cycle will be much the same. Google plans to accept Android 12 stable by Baronial 2021 and developers will accept quite a bit of fourth dimension before the final release to make sure their apps are ready to become.

Android 12: How to install the developer preview

Google Pixel 5 review — (Epitome credit: Tom'southward Guide)

If you're a developer or are merely intent on ignoring the warnings that this isn't meant for consumers yet, these are the devices supported for the first Programmer Preview:

Pixel 3
Pixel 3 Forty
Pixel 3a
Pixel 4
Pixel four Forty
Pixel 4a
Pixel 4a 5G
Pixel 5

Since this is aimed at developers simply for the time being, Google is making the Android 12 Developer Preview ane a manual download only. You can then flash the image to your Pixel with an unlocked bootloader, or sideload the OTA file if you have a locked bootloader. From then on, y'all'll get new preview and beta updates over-the-air as they become available.

You lot can download the Android 12 Programmer Preview image for your device at the Android programmer site.

More: Android 12 might innovate a one-handed way

Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things phone-related. He's written about phones for over five years and plans to keep for a long while to come. He loves nil more than relaxing in his home with a book, game, or his latest personal writing projection. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Hashemite kingdom of jordan tends to lurk on social media, but you can all-time achieve him on Twitter.