Leaked Screenshots Gives a Flash of the Android 12 Updated Features.

There has been a history with the tech companies and their upcoming products’ information leak. We do not know that these companies leak the information purposely, or these are mere accidents. But those leaks have always been helpful for the general public to get a peek of new products before they get launched. This time we have got a chance to know about the features of Google’s upcoming OS for Android, i.e., Android 12, as some of the screenshots related to its features are out in the public, ‘accidentally’.

Android 12

With every Android OS release Google releases and shares the documentation and source code of the product with its partners so that they get enough time to prepare their devices for the same. This year too, before the beta release of the OS, Google shared the draft with its partners, but somehow, this draft along with some screenshots got leaked online, which is enough to derive a lot of information regarding the product.

Android 12 Features

The leaked documentation has got a defined summary of the features of Android 12, including the new UI and some functional changes made to the OS. Though the screenshots have revealed only a few features, these say a lot about the new Android OS. Looking at the screenshots, we can conclude that the company has done a lot of work on the UI of the new OS. The new OS has got a new notification panel, new privacy features, and a new widget selection feature.

The New UI

Google has given a new look to the notification panel of the OS, to make it look more attractive. In the previous Android OS versions, the notification panel is transparent, but the Android 12 has got an opaque light beige background. The notifications on the panel, too, have got a change in the form of an even more pronounced rounded corner for each. In the earlier OS versions, six quick setting icons would fit above the notifications, but now you will get to put only four, but bigger, icons there. The places of the date and time on the top has also been interchanged, and in the top right-hand corner, you can see new icons probably related to user privacy.

The Privacy Icons

There are speculations that these new privacy indicators are made to warn the user when an app is using their camera or microphone. The users will also have the option to turn off the camera or the microphone, through toggles. The new privacy feature will also let the users toggle their location access for the apps. In the previous versions of OS, the user could enable or disable the sensors of their device, but that was only possible if the developer’s option was enabled. But with the new advanced privacy features, there is a possibility that the option to turn the sensors on or off may be available on the Privacy settings of the device. These features have already been under tests for over two years, having them in the new OS would be an impressive move from the company.

The Converasation Widget

Apart from these new features, we can see a new conversation widget in the screenshots. Looking at the screenshot, we can guess that these conversation widgets will show recent messages, missed calls, or activity statuses from the user’s contacts. Since we can see that these widgets show pictures or avatars of the contacts sending messages or making calls and is comparatively smaller in size, it will only show one message/call/status at a time. According to the reports, we can see Google making these widgets mandatory for all its Android OS. This will act as a People’s shortcut for the contacts and will be managed under the PeopleManager class. Along with mandating the conversation widget, Google may also make the privacy indicators for the microphone, camera, and location mandatory for all its OSs.

These are the features that we have concluded from the leaked screenshots but will get to know more about the Android 12 only after the official release of the Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) for Android 12.  The OS will go under its Developer Previews and Betas later this month, and the final launch for the OS will occur by the end of the year.