Google to roll out Android 12 update soon starting with Pixel phones

Google will be releasing the final build to Pixel phones in the coming weeks

Google has released the source code for Android 12 to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and will soon roll it out to devices starting with Google Pixel phones.

As shared on an official blog post, "Today we’re pushing the source to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and officially releasing the latest version of Android. Keep an eye out for Android 12 coming to a device near you starting with Pixel in the next few weeks and Samsung Galaxy, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Tecno, Vivo, and Xiaomi devices later this year."

The update isn't quite ready for prime time, just yet but the launch isn't far away. In the next few weeks, Android 12 will begin rolling out to Pixel devices and other OEMs such as Samsung and OnePlus will be making their custom ROMs available by the end of the year.

One of the marquee changes for Android 12 is the new Material You design, which redesigns many elements of the user interface including widgets, a new notification system and custom app splash screens at launch.

Google also said Android 12 will be faster and will be tuned with better system performance in mind. It also touts faster Machine Learning APIs for developers, more responsive notifications and optimised foreground services.

There is also a renewed focus on privacy with a new dashboard that tells users, what apps use services like camera and location at a glance, indicators for microphone and camera use, new toggles for microphone and camera in quick settings and more control over device permissions.

Android 12 now also supports rounded screens on modern devices, has rich content editing tools, new transcoding video codecs and image formats, and new camera effects to try out.

It also lets developers create more haptic experiences for apps, access sensors through new APIs, a more thought out debugging tool for crashes and game mode APIs for faster performance in-game.