Android 12, Android 13: new versions and so many disappointments?

You have noticed how it has been a long time since we were impatient with the announcement of a new version of android ? While we’ve been disappointed with what’s new in Android 13, this isn’t the first year that Alphabet’s OS has offered side features or features that seem bland when it releases a new version. Yet Android has never been better and seems to be reaching a kind of glass ceiling. You only have to look at the Material You feature which makes sure to match the colors of your icons to that of your wallpaper to realize that the developers are tackling the small details…

The September 2022 Android Feature Drop is here!

Here’s what’s new: pic.twitter.com/jBNSYbk5xz

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) September 8, 2022

Also read: The best VPNs for Android on sale – Tested & approved

Year-round updates!

Yet Android still offers interesting features all year round with its “Feature Drops”. New arrivals falling from the sky! In recent months, we have had the right to car accident detection, automatic subtitling, the possibility of using your smartphone as a car key, translating on the fly, time lapse in astrophotography mode, locked folder, the “magic eraser”, etc. And even if some of these updates are for the apps and not the system, they are still impressive. Note, however, that if these features mainly concern Google-branded Pixel devices, many of them could be integrated into models from other brands if the latter had the will.

A different strategy at Apple…

Why do we have this impression now and not before? Simply because Google has implemented two systems to simplify updates on Android with Treble in 2018 and Mainline in 2019. This is part of the reason that system updates seem a little bland since the release of Android 10. By comparison, Apple hasn’t really decoupled its apps from iOS so even minor changes have to wait for the annual system update. No wonder Apple fanboys are eagerly awaiting this latest one. This is also part of the apple brand’s marketing and Android should perhaps take inspiration from it by keeping a very big feature to talk about when releasing a new version of the OS.