Latest Android Update – How to, History & Everything You Need To Know

android-update

Throughout the years, Android OS has been getting better and better. Devs put their whole effort into bringing the OS with a sleek, simple, and minimal design. They just want to keep it bloatware free and run smoothly on every device.

Google is focusing on privacy, security, gaming, and battery for their latest Android updates. With every new update, there’s always something new in the UI and UX, which makes the people upgrade to it and have a flicker-free smartphone experience. Keep reading this blog, and we will tell you about the latest Android update.

Android 13:

Android 13 is the latest and newest Android update. It is the successor of Android 12. Some of the devices that were running Android 12 will be getting the Android 13 in the future, and most of the brands are currently working on rolling out their phones with Android 13 out of the box. Meanwhile, the Android 13 beta is already out. Beta testers and developers can download it and use it if they want to enjoy Android 13. Meanwhile, the public has to wait for the official release.

Furthermore, most of the phones will be getting Android 13 this year. Every phone from Asus, Lenovo, Nokia, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Tecno, Vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE. Android users can expect a full rollout of Android 13 this year.

Check iPhone 14 Pro Max Vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

We have a list of the Pixels phones that are all set to receive Android 13:

  • Google Pixel 4
  • Google Pixel 4 XL
  • Google Pixel 4A
  • Google Pixel 4A 5G
  • Google Pixel 5
  • Google Pixel 5A 5G
  • Google Pixel 6
  • Google Pixel 6 Pro
  • Google Pixel 6A

The list we have mentioned above is for Google Pixels. We will now mention the phones from different brands which will be receiving the Android 13 sooner. Most of these phones are flagships that came like a year ago or two. These phones are eligible for the beta version. Below is the list of these phones:

  • ASUS Zenfone 8
  • Lenovo P12 Pro
  • Nokia X20
  • OnePlus 10 Pro
  • Oppo Find X5 Pro
  • Realme GT 2 Pro
  • Tecno Camon 19 Pro 5G
  • Vivo X80 Pro
  • Xiaomi 12
  • Xiaomi 12 Pro
  • Xiaomi Pad 5
  • ZTE Axon 40 Ultra

Android 13’s Code-name:

Google has been practicing revealing its major Android update with a code name to the public for many years. The devs team of Android love to use dessert-themed code names for their operating system. They have been using the ABC order to name their OS.

Moreover, they have reached the letter ‘T,’ and Android 13 is all set to come out to the public in the coming future. Looks like Google is now on its way for the Italian dessert by code naming their new OS ‘Tiramisu,’ as it was confirmed by one of the top-notch first developers of OS.

Google has been labeling its OS with delicious desserts. You can check the list below to have a look at the OS timeline:

  • Android 1.5 = Cupcake
  • Android 1.6 = Donut
  • Android 2.0 = Éclair
  • Android 2.2 = Froyo
  • Android 2.3 = Gingerbread
  • Android 3.0 = Honeycomb
  • Android 4.0 = Ice Cream Sandwich
  • Android 4.1 = Jellybean
  • Android 4.4 = Kitkat
  • Android 5.0 = Lollipop
  • Android 6.0 = Marshmallow
  • Android 7.0 = Nougat
  • Android 8.0 = Oreo
  • Android 9.0 = Pie
  • Android 10 = Quince Tart
  • Android 11 = Red Velvet Cake
  • Android 12 = Snow Cone

Check How To Check AirPods Battery?

What are we getting in Android 13?

Android 12 came with the biggest shift for Android users, especially Pixel users. The ‘Material You’ feature came with a new design experience for Android users across the globe. The update came with new privacy and security controls, convenient extras, and scrollable screenshots to make it even easier for people with bigger phones, the one-handed mode.

The arrival of the very first dev preview of Android 13, it shed some light on what Android 13 will be offering to the public users. At the present stage of its development, it’s the job of the developers and enthusiasts to dig inside the OS and test it to its full potential. With this, they will be to improve and polish for the official rollout of Android’s big release in 2022.

Android 13 will be coming with tons of new features and also expected features. Let’s see what those new features will be:

Confirmed features in Dev preview 1:

Photo picker:

This new feature is the extended version of Android’s very own document picker. The photo picker will be serving as a standard and a very optimized way for the users to serve for both local photos from the phone and photos from the cloud in a more secure way.

In the document picket, users had to ask for permission from the user to access all the photos and videos on their devices in order to let the user access shared media. This feature should merge Android’s media sharing experience for devices from different companies.

In a post related to what will be included in developer preview 1, Android’s Vice President of engineering, Dave Burke, said that this feature would be rolling out for older Android devices. Users on Android 11 will be getting this feature.

Nearby device permissions for Wi-Fi:

Nearby device permissions for the Wi-Fi connection in this new Android feature will let apps easily discover nearby devices and connect with them. It won’t bug the user asking for location information. It will simplify the interconnectivity over Wi-Fi with devices near you. With this, it will make things easier for many app developers as well as users.

Quick Settings tiles:

The all-new APIs for the developers to make and design their own tiles to fit in the quick setting section window. Devs will be able to have their apps put quick setting tile with a tap.

Theme-related app icons:

The ‘Material You’ in Android 12 is used to give your phone’s UI a consistent color theme, but in Android 13, app icons will be taking benefit from this effect. Meanwhile, Google has full control over all the apps. Third-party companies might struggle while customizing and tweaking app icons to match a theme.

To make it work for the third-party offerings, developers are being urged to release a monochromatic version of their app’s icon with their app submissions. With this, it will pair with the code that will Android 13 to customize and design the icon file with the Material You color theming magic, which is introduced with the predecessor operating system.

As of now, Material You are a Pixel-exclusive feature now, but Google is in talks with other manufacturers to bring theme-related app icons to the other devices.

App-by-app languages:

Multilingual users need to celebrate now. There’s a new feature known as ‘Panlingual’ is coming to Android 13, which will allow the users to set a specific language setting according to their preferences in an app. It means that people who use apps that aren’t in the same language in their device’s system language won’t be seeing poorly translated apps now.

It is an ideal feature for bilingual and trilingual who prefer different apps in different languages all the time.

Animation tools for the devs:

Most of the apps will start to look well-finished and smooth because Google is putting out something that is called ‘RuntimeShader objects.’ Devs will have the ability to use the same tools which the company uses to put in the Android OS. Devs will have an option of choosing UI effects like rippling, blur, and stretch over scroll.

Project Mainline:

Project Mainline will be aiming to start the procedure of updating parts of Android and putting new features, pretty much similar to that how apps are already updated using the Google Play system updates. With this, users with Android 11 or Android 12 won’t have to go for a full-fledged OS update.

Check How To Check AirPods Battery?

Features confirmed in Developer preview 2:

New permissions for notifications:

Apps thinking of suspending user-targeted notifications will now have to ask for permission in Android 13. Meanwhile, devices having Android 12 or lower are used to handle the notifications on their own.

Developer downgrade permissions:

The simple app permissions model in Android 13 will let users and developers downgrade previously granted or newly redundant permissions on the support apps. This is all for the more secure and safe privacy for the user.

Refined language-related text management:

An important improvement that is coming to Android 13 is how this OS will handle certain text.

The Japanese text will look more refined and readable to the users within the Japanese-language apps. Also, there will be improved line heights for non-Latin scripts. The line height will be automatically adjusted based on the language to make sure that the characters look better to read.

Moreover, the text conversion APIs will be coming into play whenever users are using phonetic language. These languages include Japanese and Chinese, which will get converted whenever users perform actions like searches.

Color vector font support:

The successor of Android 12 will be coming with COLR version 1 font support. The emojis will be using this COLRv1 format, which will make them smooth and crisp. With this, the emojis will look well-refined for the users.

Bluetooth Low Energy Audio Support:

Android 12 started the Bluetooth Low Energy audio support, but Android 13 will put this feature to life now. Mishaal Rehman, a technical analyst, spotted this long before the second release of the Android 13 developer preview. Bluetooth Low Energy was used only for data transmission, but now Google has folded it in the Low Complexity Communications Codec (LC3) for Bluetooth A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile). It will allow the users for high-quality audio with lower power demands by Bluetooth Low Energy.

MIDI 2.0 Support:

Android 13 will be extending the support of MIDI 2.0 compliant devices over USB. It will allow users who are into music production that they can easily use instruments, electronic items, and gadgets.

Features confirmed in public beta 1:

More colorways for Material You:

One of the best things about the Material You feature is that it has the ability to theme the whole device’s UI by picking the color on its own from your lock screen/home screen wallpaper. It somehow blends the whole visuals inside your phone and makes a theme for the user.

The thing which will differentiate Android 13 from its predecessor is that Android 12 came with a few palettes to pick from. Meanwhile, Android 13 has extra variations. During public beta 1, users are now able to choose from around 16 sets of wallpaper colors and 16 basic colors.

File permissions:

In Android 12, if an app wants to read files, it needs access to all of your phone’s storage. Android 13 comes with improved media file access permissions. Apps will have to ask the user for specific permissions to access different types of media. With this, users will be able to control app access according to their needs.

Resolution switching:

Android 13 comes with dedicated support for people who are into pixels and resolutions. You can switch display resolution from the Settings app now. There’s a new ‘Screen Resolution’ page that appears under Settings > ‘Display’ on the supported devices. With this, the users can choose between FHD+ (1080p) or QHD+ (1440p). These two resolutions are the most common screen resolutions that are currently available in every smartphone and tablet right now.

Most high-resolution phones are already offering this option to the users, but Google finally welcomes this feature for every other user in the world.

Enhanced screensavers:

Google seems to have been focusing on new and better screensavers for Android 13. They aren’t only changing the UI of how to activate screensavers, but they are making a different page for screensavers, which, later on, will be added to the device setup.

Controlling home devices from the lock screen:

Android 13 brings out the feature that lets the users control smart home devices from the lock screen. They can control and tweak the settings of their smart devices even when the phone is locked.

Vibrate icon toggle:

Users will have a toggle to decide whether they want to see the taskbar icon when the vibrate mode is on. This was removed in Android 12, but it’s back again for the users.

Features expected based on leaks and rumors:

Lock screen clock placement:

Android 13 will let the users set the placement and style of the clock according to their preferences. This is called a double-line clock. As per the leaks and rumors, it is said that this update might arrive sooner than we can think of as a part of Android 12L.

Switching accounts from the lock screen:

Talking about the lock screen, Android lets everyone have multiple accounts and users on the device. There are multiple ways to change users on-device, but Android 13 will introduce a new option that will let different users switch between profiles straight from the lock screen without letting the user unlock the phone.

NFC payments for secondary users:

Another important feature that will let secondary users have access to NFC and do their NFC payments to others. Android 13 will let multiple users on one device do contactless payments.

TTT (Tap-To-Transfer):

In Android 13, users will be able to use the tap-to-transfer feature, which will let them easily send files and media to other Android users. With this, users on Android phones will be able to do transfers quickly.

Ultra-wide Band Support:

Ultra-wideband support is getting wider in the latest Android update. Currently, only Pixel 6 Pro is able to use the UWB feature. Other devices from Samsung and Honor rely on their own UWB software support.

Currently, UWB is in the works for Android 13. It will offer a common for many manufacturers to work with when they are implementing the UWB technology in their devices.

Opening games quicker:

Most of the phones are coming up with flagship chipsets and high-performance chipsets that are able to handle high-demanding apps and games on Android phones. Android 13 will be able to open games quicker than its predecessor. The new feature will give an incredible boost to the CPU.

As of now, Pixel phones will be getting this feature first. Later on, the new updates that will be rolling out will extend support to other devices from different manufacturers.

Assistant home button toggle:

Most phones have different ways to initiate Google Assistant on them. According to some rumors and leaks, there are signs that people who prefer navigating through their devices with on-screen buttons and long-pressing the home button will be summoning the Assistant will be coming back.

Improved Google Wallet:

According to the reports, Google digital wallet app will be getting a refresh. Currently, it supports a range of digital tickets and payments, but there are rumors that digital IDs will be available on it too.

Final Thoughts:

To sum this up, you are pretty much aware of the improvements, features, and new stuff arriving with Android 13 for the public this year. People who have Android devices should get ready to experience a new OS with a clean and simple UI and a flicker-free and smooth user experience. Once the beta run is done, Google will make it official, and the updates will start to roll out soon.

Moreover, if you have an Android phone, you can download the public beta to test the latest OS update if your device is compatible. You can enjoy new feature improvements in the UI and UX of Android 13. Also, you will be able to experience a big shift from Android 12 to Android 13 because of the user experience.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *