Google Launches the Next Developer Preview of Android 12

Google has released the third developer preview of Android 12, the latest version of its mobile operating system, as scheduled. According to Google’s roadmap, this will be the last developer preview of Android 12 before it goes into beta, and it’s usually the first wireless update we’re likely to see from non-developers who want to try it out.

For now, developers still need to refresh the device image to their supported Pixel device.

Google noted that with the Beta phase, developers are now starting compatibility testing to make sure their applications are ready. Currently, Android 12 is scheduled to reach platform stability by August 2021. At that point, all application-oriented functionality will be locked down and finalized.

So, what’s new in this preview?

As usual, there are a lot of smaller tweaks and changes to new features, but this time the focus is on developers being able to provide a new haptic feedback experience in their applications and new app launch animations.

For developers and users, this new application launch experience is perhaps the most obvious change. The new animation will take the application from startup to the initial screen, where the application icon is displayed, and then to the application itself.

“The new experience brings a standardized design element to the app each time it is launched, but we also customize it so the app can maintain its unique brand image,” Google explained. Developers will have a lot of leeway in deciding how to customize this initial screen with their own branding. However, the most basic startup experience is enabled by default.

Rich haptic feedback is also new in this release to provide an immersive and enjoyable experience for the game, as well as tactile attention for productivity.

Other new features in this release include a new call notification template, which is designed to give users an easier way to manage incoming and ongoing calls. Google says these new notifications will be more visible and scannable. In addition, the neural network API for machine learning workloads has been improved and new APIs have been provided to support a wider range of ultra-high resolution camera sensors.

For Android 12, Google frowned on using the RenderScript API to run computation-intensive tasks in favor of GPU computing frameworks such as Vulkan and OpenGL.