Android 12 focuses on personalisation and privacy, again

Google has previewed the next version of Android which, once more, claims to empower the user to adapt and secure their device experience.

Just as smartphones haven’t significantly evolved in a decade, having hit their optimal form factor quickly, so trying to innovate their operating systems has proven tricky. Most users just want them to work and it’s definitely better to do nothing than impose some undesired new product or service. So it’s probably no bad thing that Android 12 seems to just be more Android 11.

In unveiling the beta version, Sameer Samat, VP of Product Management for Android & Google Play, said “Android 12 builds on everything you love about Android, and focuses on building a deeply personal phone that adapts to you, developing an operating system that is secure by default and private by design, and making all your devices work better together.”

The personalisation angle apparently represents the biggest design change in Android’s history. You will be able to more fundamentally muck about with the look of it, including choosing a colour palate that goes across every part of it. The UI also adds some snazzy new transitions as well as an updated Quick Settings space, and there have been some tweaks to improve power efficiency.

Android is also following in Apple’s footsteps by emphasising data privacy. “Android 12 includes new features that give you more transparency around which apps are accessing your data, and more controls so you can make informed choices about how much private information your apps can access,” wrote Samat. There’s also the introduction of a special privacy-focused bit of the OC called Private Compute Core.

Here’s a vid.