Android 12 is the third most popular Android version on smartphones, with 11.97% of users. It was officially released in mid-August for the Pixel 4, 4a (5G), 5, 5a, 6, 6 Pro and Pixel 4a. Older phones are not eligible and will continue to have Android 12 or an earlier version. Google is promoting its revision of Material You for its line of Pixel phones, while Samsung and Oppo adopt lighter touches of the same basic idea in their operating systems.
Privacy improvements include new buttons to keep the microphone and camera turned off when needed, a privacy panel to see which applications request what permissions, and many hidden changes to improve your phone overall. It will get much better in the future as more developers update their applications to work with Android 12, but Google's intention in this case is presumably to offer an experience similar to the iPhone's featured search experience and the Chrome OS All button. The update first arrived on Google's Pixel phones, including the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, and has since begun to be implemented on other Android phones. Notifications have been improved with new design of the notification tones and animations.
Android 12 also includes some design changes that make it easier to operate Android phones with one hand and thumb. PiP has existed on Android for some time and means that you can play a small floating video on the screen even when you're not in the video app. Material You also works in applications, with Google updating applications such as the watch, camera and calculator with a Material You aesthetic before the release of Android 12. ASUS was one of the few companies to publish an actual release date for Android 12 and lived up to its promises. The Realme GT currently has early access to the Android 12 version, which uses a new smooth AI engine, a fluid space design with 3D icons and improved always-on screen features.
A handful of other manufacturers, from Vivo to Asus to Xiaomi, have also started testing Android 12 versions. From the apps that constantly track you to the large amount of data that Google collects from each device, Android is far from being a private system. However, Material You goes beyond the theme-creation engine; it's a basic set of principles that define a new direction for Android and Google applications.
