Hidden Android 12 Features You Probably Didn’t Know About

Android 12 changed into launched on October 4, 2021, however despite the fact that it’s been part of a choose few Android customers’ telephones for some time now, there are nevertheless pretty some interesting new capabilities that you’re in all likelihood unaware of! In this most recent launch, there’s been an expanded cognizance on gaming, media, adaptive aesthetics, and safety (in addition to some different surprises). Unfortunately, except you’re a die-difficult Android fan—leaping into blogs, or trawling via each menu upon a brand new launch—you won’t have observed those neat capabilities as they’re now no longer intuitively accessible, or now no longer broadly supported through third celebration apps (but), or have turn out to be the historical past default.

We’ll be going for walks down what the maximum exciting capabilities are, and the way to get admission to them. There’s a touch some thing for every person to be enthusiastic about on this most recent update, whether or not you’re inquisitive about games, safety, or simply making your normal phone enjoy greater handy and comfortable.

Game Mode Dashboard

One of Android 12’s maximum dazzling hidden capabilities is the Game Mode dashboard. To activate the sport dashboard, you’ll want to burrow deep into the settings, via an improbably circuitous route. First, open your Settings, then faucet the Notifications choice. In the brand new display screen, scroll down a chunk to the General segment in which you’ll want to faucet Do Not Disturb. This takes you to every other display screen in which you’ll faucet Schedules. On the Schedules display screen, you have to see Gaming and a touch tools icon to the proper of it. Tap the tools.  Finally, turn the transfer to the on function.

If you’re gambling a sport that helps this neat characteristic, you’ll see a dark, translucent arrow at the proper aspect of your display screen. Tap that to show a small controller icon that you then faucet to carry up the dashboard (at closing!). Here you’ll be provided with a whole lot of exciting alternatives, aleven though now no longer they all might be supported through each sport. You can sopt for to flow your gameplay stay through YouTube, have interaction optimization (aka drain your battery), activate a body charge counter, activate a do-now no longer-disturb transfer, and upload a recording and/or screenshot shortcut on your sport display screen. You’ll additionally see an choice to view your profile in which you may investigate your leaderboard function and achievements.

Audio-coupled haptic effect

While haptic comments is not anything new to smartphones, Android 12 is attempting to leap at the bandwagon of creating haptic comments a touch greater exciting and beneficial for the common person. If you don’t take into account what “haptic comments” is, it’s simply tiny vibrations that may assist provide virtual interfaces a greater tactile experience. For example, whilst you kind at the display screen keyboard, when you have haptic comments enabled, you’ll experience a touch vibration whilst you press a letter, that is supposed to offer you the feeling of typing on a bodily keyboard.

Android 12 is taking this a breakthrough through integrating the haptic capability of our telephones with sound. Built proper into every tool might be specific haptic styles for every of the default hooked up ringtones. In this manner, you may recognize who’s calling you even in case your ringer is off. Bzz-bzz-bzzzzz-bzz… oh that ought to be Cathy!

Even greater interesting is that Google has opened this capability as much as builders via its HapticGenerator API. Devs can plug into this to auto-magically generate haptic styles for his or her track and sound effects. Video games, movies, and track turns into ever greater immersive as they feed actual-time sensations proper into your palms as you have interaction together along with your media.

One-Handed Mode

If you’re a modern-day or former iPhone person (seeing that 2014, at the least), this could appear like a characteristic that’s a chunk overdue to the scene, specially thinking about how quite simple it seems. And, in case you’re a person of an Android telecellsmartphone with a bigger display screen, you could experience very fortunate to have this one-passed mode eventually brought to the listing of to be had capabilities.

One-passed mode offers you the cappotential to temporarily, and with only a faucet or swipe, carry the pinnacle 1/2 of of the display screen right all the way down to the decrease 1/2 of, for less difficult navigation. That’s it.

To permit this/ you’ll want to visit your settings menu. Then, swipe all of the manner to close to the lowest and faucet System. Then we hit gestures, accompanied through One-passed mode. You’ll grow to be on a display screen with some alternatives provided to you. You can both decide to “Pull display screen into reach” or activate the “One-passed mode shortcut.”

Personally, I struggled with the pull choice. You want to get your finger in only the proper function to make it paintings with out inflicting the incorrect element to happen. I advocate the shortcut. This places a pleasing little floating button down at the decrease proper hand aspect of the display screen. Give it a faucet and the pinnacle 1/2 of of the display screen will slide down.

Material You

Material You is the darling infant of Android 12. You can tell, from the promotional material, that they’re hella pleased with it. And, to be fair, it’s quite nifty. With Material You, you’ll be capable of customize the cultured of your telecellsmartphone’s interface, simply through adjusting some settings, or switching out your wallpaper—the relaxation works routinely. 

The critical characteristic of Material You is the manner it devises a system-extensive colour scheme drawn out of your wallpaper, which it is able to sync throughout numerous gadgets to create a homogenized, but specific visible enjoy. That method your clever watch, TV, or something else that’s going for walks Android 12 below the identical person will agree to the identical aesthetics.

What does this suggest in easy terms, aleven though? Essentially, in case you use a wallpaper with in general blue colours, your icons, and app backgrounds, might be shaded in blue colours that echo the character of your wallpaper.

Using Material You will bring about a customised aesthetic enjoy in your telecellsmartphone. The critical characteristic of Material You is the manner it devises a system-extensive colour scheme drawn out of your wallpaper, which it is able to sync throughout numerous gadgets to create a homogenized, but specific visible enjoy. 

To a few quantity it’s automatic, however in case you need to dial it in, head on your Settings after which scroll to “Wallpaper & style” to alter as you please.

Easter Eggs Galore!

Every new Android OS launch comes with its personal unique Easter egg(s). This one isn’t anyt any exclusive, besides for the reality that it comes with 3 Easter eggs!

The first one is quite acquainted to everyone who’s located preceding Android surprises. You visit Settings, then About Phone, after which locate “Android Version” and faucet it repeatedly. In the beyond there had been ghosts and Oreos. This time there’s a clock.

If you drag the palms at the clock in order that they study 12, you’ll get to look a huge wide variety 12 surrounded through bubbles that make it seem like you’re taking a colour blindness test.

Once you’ve carried out this, you’ll have unlocked the Easter egg widget. Go on your widgets settings, and on the pinnacle you’ll locate the “Android S Easter Egg.” This is a without a doubt beguiling widget primarily based totally off of your Material You settings, so as to permit you to get admission to the complete colour palette this is being run in your tool, primarily based totally off of your wallpaper.

Finally, in case you visit this URL in your tool and click on the huge ‘ol hyperlink, you’ll be capable of region a massive wide variety 12 statue in augmented fact area. And, in case you study the lower back aspect of the statue, you’ll see a listing of ice cream flavors, the initials of which spell Material You.

24 Hour Notification History

Personally, I’m keen on this subsequent tucked away characteristic of the Android 12 working system. As a person who quite rashly clears my notification display screen whilst it fills up too tons, I’ve located it supremely beneficial to have a catchall basket of kinds for all of my notifications from the closing 24 hours. It’s an exceedingly easy characteristic, however one that’s awesome beneficial, and but now no longer clean sufficient to locate.

If you need to show this on, first swipe down in your display screen to reveal your notifications. If you notice a History button at the lowest, then congratulations, you have already got this selection became on. If now no longer, and also you see a button titled Manage instead, move beforehand and faucet that. Alternatively, you may visit your putting and faucet Notifications. When you get there, one of the first alternatives might be “Notification history.” Enter that display screen and turn the transfer. Voila, your notifications will now have a tidy region to live for twenty-four hours, even after you’ve swiped them away.

This characteristic is lacking one element, aleven though, that I desire they reconcile withinside the future: a seek bar. In 24 hours I acquire a variety of notifications. Being capable of slim it down, even through the app alone, might be a big boon. But, for now, at the least you may are trying to find out what you would possibly have misplaced before.

2×2 App Button Layout

You’ve usually been capable of alter the dimensions of your icons, however Android has made the alternatives even greater accessibility-minded through introducing the jumbo-sized 2×2 grid association in your app icons.

This characteristic won’t be for every person, however for people with negative vision, or folks that simply don’t have tons on their telecellsmartphone, this will assist considerably.

To flip this on, locate an empty area on your own home display screen and press down for approximately one complete second. A little menu will spring up, and also you’ll want to choose “Wallpaper & style.” Swipe all of the manner to the lowest in which you’ll see the “App grid” segment. Tap there and also you’ll be delivered to a brand new display screen in which you may strive out all of the exclusive grid sizes. They variety from five×five all of the manner to 2×2. So, with the five×five choice you’ll have a complete of 25 icons to be had to you, and with the 2×2 you’ll have simply four (plus the house row, which doesn’t alternate throughout screens). Additionally, it’s really well worth bringing up that this interprets throughout to app folders, in order to additionally alter whilst you open them up.

If you faucet any of those, you’ll get a pleasing preview of what your display screen might seem like in case you hit the Apply button with out honestly effecting any changes. If you do need to alternate your grid size, simply hit Apply at the lowest of the display screen and the whole lot will alter routinely.

New Media Encoding Support

Here’s one for the actual techies out there! Android 12 now helps AVIF pictures, HEVC video transcoding, and MPEG-H 3-D Audio. Okay, for the non-techies out there, that’s a variety of capital letters, and now no longer a variety of context. Let me provide an explanation for why all Android customers will advantage from this dazzling characteristic.

AVIF is a reasonably new picture record format (like jpeg, png, or gif) that offers more fine pictures at even higher compression rates. That method you may have a photograph that has a smaller difficult pressure footprint than a JPEG, whilst additionally searching higher.

HEVC is the identical concept as AVIF, besides for video. Lots of gadgets and apps presently use HEVC, however many don’t. For those who don’t, Android 12 will provide on-the-fly video transcoding to make HEVC video documents usable throughout the entire working system.

This will gradual customers down, aleven though. The Android developer API web page says that, “a one minute HEVC video record takes more or less 20 seconds to transcode into AVC on a Pixel three telecellsmartphone.” That said, for general video usability, that is a sacrifice really well worth making.

What approximately MPEG-H 3-D Audio? Essentially, which means your telecellsmartphone will now aid now no longer simply surround sound, however what a few are calling “3 dimensional sound.” We’re speaking as much as sixty four audio system throughout 128 middle channels, tailored to a whole lot of bodily arrangements. Or, heck, it is able to even simulate auditory 3-D area in headphones, for those who aid it. Massive possibilities.

Improved Privacy Settings

Unobtrusive safety appears to be certainly considered one among the bigger desires of Android 12. That is to say, they’re pushing new safety capabilities that, in effect, come up with manage of the way uncovered you need to be. We can see this really in 3 present day capabilities.

The first one is the choice to ensure that best apps that require your specific area can get admission to it. That method that apps which require a few area information, however now no longer particular area information, may be restricted to best having your approximate area to be had.

Next up, Android is attempting to preserve you abreast of the way your clipboard snippets are being used. If an app accesses your clipboard, a touch notification will pop up at the lowest of the display screen and fill you in.

The third, and final, new safety characteristic I’d want to cowl is the microphone and digital digicam kill switches. You can permit those kill switches which make it so that, whilst enabled, no app, no matter previous permissions granted, can get admission to the microphone and/or digital digicam whilst the transfer is became on. How absolutely dependable that is, I don’t recognize, however it’s a step up in private safety from the preceding kingdom of matters.

Furthermore, if an app is gaining access to both your mic or cam, a inexperienced icon will glow withinside the top proper hand a part of your display screen. Assuming that is accurate, you’ll usually be capable of recognize whilst you’re being listened to, or watched.

Scrollable Screenshots

In the beyond, you’d want to down load a 3rd celebration app to make some thing like this paintings. Luckily, now, scrollable screenshots are constructed into the Android 12 OS.

If you’re now no longer acquainted with what a scrollable screenshot is, believe you need to seize a whole webpage, or a big segment of a communication, in a unmarried picture. Usually, you’d need to fill your display screen with what you wanted, seize, scroll down, seize, and so forth and so forth. That, or use an out of doors software that might assist you’re taking screenshots large than your display screen. Now, this capability is a local characteristic of Android.

This one’s now no longer pretty as hidden because the relaxation, however it nevertheless wishes a touch explaining. After you’re taking a screenshot as usual, a sequence of icons will line up alongside the lowest of your display screen. The rightmost icon will say “Capture greater.” Tap that. This will then permit you to seize more or less 3 instances the period of your display screen (or any quantity in among). It doesn’t appear to permit greater than that, however that is nevertheless a extreme development over the preceding default.

Google Android 12 demo Quick Tap

Ah, the Quick Tap—bestowed upon the selected few. Not best do you want Android 12 for this nifty function, however you want to have a telecellsmartphone that helps it. Unfortunately, my Pixel 4a does now no longer, so I can best burst off the enjoy of others. If you’ve got got a Pixel five or a Pixel 4a 5G, you’re in success for this one.

To flip this selection on, visit settings, then System, then Gestures, after which Quick Tap. Toggle the transfer on. Once activated, tapping the lower back of the telecellsmartphone two times will, through default, take a screenshot. The neat element, however, is that you may personalize this to do a almost infinite form of different matters. You can pull up the virtual assistant, pause (or, conversely, play) your media, pull up the latest app listing, display your notifications, or—get this—open any app of your choosing. You also can pressure it to require you to faucet greater forcefully to activate—beneficial for the greater fidgety amongst us.

New Widgets

p dir=”ltr”>Android 12 introduces some new widgets and widget capabilities. Some of this we’ve blanketed earlier, including the Easter egg widget and the Material You colour customization. But there’s lots greater to this, and right here I’d want to run via a group of the maximum exciting matters you may drop in your display screen.

There’s a Google Maps widget so as to permit you to look for something you need with only a faucet. There’s a todo listing widget that integrates with Google Keep that maintains all of your duties the front and center. There’s the choice to place pictures in your display screen, as though your telecellsmartphone have been a form of virtual mantlepiece.

The Google Drive widget simplifies and hurries up the manner of gaining access to and importing documents. The YouTube Music widget offers you home-display screen manage of your track. There’s a easy digi-tool so as to show your information usage. There’s an analog clock, which lets in you to pick from a whole lot of exclusive styles.

And, eventually (at the least for this listing), there’s the conversations widget. This lets in you to make any textual content communication a wonderful icon. You’ll get updates at the icon, which includes notifications of latest messages, and what number of unread there are. When you faucet the convo, you’ll be delivered without delay to it, no wanting to undergo the app interface first. I’ll in all likelihood get the maximum use out of this one, myself.

Overhauled Ability to Share with Other close by telephones

Sharing has been up to date for the Android 12. Whether which means sharing a wifi connection, or sharing a few precise hyperlink or media out of your telecellsmartphone, the whole lot has been made (theoretically) less difficult.

Now, you may use Nearby Share to ship a person the wifi credentials important to percentage with you. That method you’ll best want to be inside Bluetooth variety (that is more or less 30 feet, or 10 meters), so one can make use of this capability.

Nearby Share will even display up on every occasion you need to percentage something in your telecellsmartphone that lets in it. Instead of going through a messaging or social media app, you may use Nearby Share’s Bluetooth capability to zip matters without delay to the tool of your choice.

That said, “zip” is possibly an exaggeration. While I can believe a few software for this selection, it concerned a ways too many faucets for my taste. Easier but to simply shoot your percentage over to a person’s textual content inbox.

Face-Detection Rotation

This one is natural comfort, however what comfort it is! Few matters are greater stressful than attempting to make use of the rotate characteristic of a telecellsmartphone whilst mendacity down. Android 12 gives the choice to routinely perceive the orientation of your face relative to the telecellsmartphone and alter its rotation intelligently. This manner it’s going to evidently transfer among panorama and portrait mode in a manner that makes the maximum experience for what you’re viewing, even whilst you’re laying in your aspect.

You do need to permit this one through going on your Settings first. Scroll approximately midway right all the way down to the Display choice, faucet that, then choose the Auto-rotate display screen choice. You’ll need to permit auto-rotate first, after which you may activate Enable Face Detection.

This may be a touch finicky relying at the fine of the lighting fixtures withinside the room (or bouncing off your face from the display screen), however whilst it works, it is able to be pretty the disappointment saver.