Android 12 is finally here and Google has given a first look at the new update which includes a massive tweak to the user interface as well as some security and privacy features.

Below are some of the interesting features on the new Android 12 update.

Android 12 Features: Visual Design Changes

The first thing you’ll notice about the update is the new design philosophy Google has decided to take on the Android 12 update.

The amazing Material Design is now being tweaked up and rebadged as Material You which is supposed to be much more expressive and humanistic while focusing more on the user experience rather than the user interface.

So here are the major visual changes in Android 12:

• Android is all about customization and personalization and t hat remains the core philosophy with the Android 12 update. One of the cool things you’ll notice includes the adaptive color palette of the user interface. The technology now makes it possible to determine your device’s color palette based on your wallpaper for example and that will influence the color accent of other elements on your smartphone’s UI such as volume controls, lock screen, notification shade and even widgets.
• As mentioned above, the Android 12 design is now more expressive. So shapes and colors will both play an important role in the UI. Along with adaptive color palettes, the new OS will also play around with the sizes of the UI elements.
  A simple example is your lock screen clock. The size of the clock will depend upon whether you have notifications on your screen. Without any notifications, you get an enlarged clock widget which looks pretty good.
• Quick Settings
  The Quick Settings panel aims to be a true control panel on Android 12. In this regard, the buttons have become larger along with new additions to the panel. For example, Android 12 adds Google Pay and Home Control buttons along with two privacy-focused toggle buttons namely Camera & Microphone Access. These two access buttons can directly revoke system-wide permissions for the two sensitive sensors on your smartphone.
• Power Button
  The power button now brings up Google assistant. So no more awkward gestures at the bottom to launch the assistant.

Speed and Efficiency

According to the VP of Product Management at Google Sameer Samat: “This was achieved by some under-the-hood improvements including reducing the CPU time needed for core system services by up to 22% and reducing the use of big cores by the system server by up to 15%.”

The essence which is to offer a smoother experience and smooth animations across devices that supports the operating system.

Security & Privacy Features

The user interface is massively tweaked out but there are in fact much more tweaks in the software side especially security tweaks and privacy features to help protect your data efficiently.

• The biggest addition is the new Privacy dashboard. Android 12 will showcase a pie chart of the number of data requests from your installed apps over a span of 24 hours. The same dashboard panel will allow you to tweak permission settings for each app, giving you better control over your data.Source: Google
• Another important addition is the new camera and microphone indicator on the top right corner. Every time your camera or microphone is being accessed, the indicator will light up giving you a heads up that the sensor is in use.
  Moreover, with the included Camera and Microphone Access buttons in the Quick Settings panel, you can revoke system-wide access to these sensors.Source: Google
• Android 12 adds an approximate location permission setting which will only give out your rough location. This will be handy for apps like the weather for which you don’t have to share your precise location information.
• The new OS also isolates key AI processes into a separate, secure location within your system. Android 12’s Android Private Compute Core will handle all audio and language processing for Live Caption, Now Playing, and Smart Reply. This will ensure that your personal information is secure and stays locally on your smartphone. Sameer further adds in the official blog post ” the protections in Private Compute Core are open source and fully inspectable and verifiable by the security community.”

Aside tat, there are also some additional information on the new Android 12 update which includes scrolling screenshot, conversation widgets as well as improvements for the impaired vision features meant to help those living with disability.

There is a number of devices that will offer support for the Android 12 update which includes the Pixel smartphones as well as other high-end Android smartphones from brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, OnePlus, ASUS and Huawei.