Download: Android 12 Developer Preview Now Available, Here’s What is New

by · Wccftech

Google is finally releasing the Android 12 Developer Preview today and finally giving users an initial taste of what the upcoming update will bring. While we have looked at some mock-ups recently, this is going to be your first official look into what Google has been planning all along.

It is also important to know that a lot of the features are not going to be available right away we have expected from Google and these Developer Previews.

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Still, Google has made sure that it has given us a long list of features, to the point that it will keep us occupied for some time, which is how it should be. It goes without saying, but Android 12 is looking like an impressive update.

First Android 12 Developer Preview Brings a Lot More Changes Than Expected

As far as the changes are concerned, Android 12 Developer Preview is full of them, but we are still going to mention all of the ones that we are aware of, so keep reading.

  1. Notification UI Tweaks: Improving on the changes from Android 11, Android 12 is going to offer a notification design that is going to be more modern, easier to use, and more functional. In addition to that, you will also get better animations and transitions.
  2. Faster Notifications: Google is also adjusting the way developers can call activities via notifications, and the user-facing difference should mean that the notifications will start opening much faster, though apps will need to target Android 12 before this is implemented.
  3. Better Support for Content: With Android 12, a unified API will allow you to pull content from a clipboard, keyboard, or even drag and drop. There will be more to it in terms of functionality, but users will be able to move content like photos or videos between apps with great ease.
  4. Audio Coupled Haptics: Android 12 is also going to allow for "audio-coupled haptic feedback". While the description is not as clear, but it sounds like that your phone will be able to play haptics that will be dynamically generated and will be based on sound in many instances.
  5. Improved Gestures and Immersive Mode: With Android 12, a fully tweaked system for gesture navigation in full-screen view is also coming.
  6. HEVC Transcoding: Android 12 will allow apps to work with a new format even if they don't directly support the. Converting between HEVC and AVC on the fly will be easy for the developers to implement. For users, this will mean that it will be a lot easier to play content, especially on older devices.
  7. AVIF Image Support: Android 12 will also support a new container format, which can achieve a higher quality at smaller sizes than older formats.
  8. New Mainline Modules: The Android Runtime is becoming the mainline module; in addition to that, the new transcoding functionality is also going to be a mainline module. This means that Google will be able to update even more system aspects through the Google Play Store.
  9. Trust and Safety: Android 12 is also bringing features such as Modern SameSite cookie behaviors in WebView, restricted Netlink MAC, safer exporting of components, and safer handling of intents.

How to Download Android 12 Developer Preview 1 For Pixel Devices

The Android 12 Developer Preview 1 is now available for devices starting from Pixel 3 and going up to Pixel 5. The download links for both Factory Images and OTA files are below.

We have a definitive guide on how you can flash the Android 12 Developer Preview on your Pixel phones. You can follow it here: