great system with great potential for the future

Along with Google Pixel 6 phones, the US company has finally released a sharp version of the Android 12 operating system, which will eventually reach more devices, and some brands, such as Samsung, have their flagships on the latest system now. We had the opportunity to try it in the new Pixels, which we used for about two months as our main phones, and in this article we will look at the biggest changes and news.

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The biggest design change in the last few years

I guess we all agree that Android 12 comes mainly design changes. At this year’s I / O conference, Google introduced a new design language called Material You, which (as the name suggests) can adapt to you. The function called Dynamic Colorwhich can color the whole system to the colors of your currently set wallpaper. Specifically, these are system icons, a notification bar or, for example, a keyboard. You may say that this is just a small thing, but after a few days of use, we got used to this design in such a way that reviewing Android 11 phones was not easy for us. It has a similar function in its superstructure One UI 4 i Samsung.

Some have also undergone major changes widgets, which we think are much nicer (specifically, we like the Clock, Weather and Calendar) and correspond to the rest of the system, as well as various sliders and buttons that are larger. We had to get used to it for a while, but in the end we think it’s a change for the better. There is also a whole in Android 12 a number of new animations, the system works a bit smoother and faster.

However, some of the steps that Google has decided to take in the new system are difficult for us to understand, such as turn off / on Wi-Fi / mobile data in the notification center. Normally you would download the bar, tap the icon and turn the feature on / off, right? However, in Android 12, you must first click the Internet button. This is not a terrible thing, but it is an unnecessary change for the worse. Perhaps other manufacturers will not take example from everything in everything. We also don’t understand why Google has removed the ability to change the shapes and fonts of icons. He just thinks it’s right and that’s it.

New features

In addition to the design, Google has added several new features to Android 12. You will make full use of some of them in English onlybut we were surprised that we need features Live translation works well in Czech. However, it is possible that Google will keep this feature purely to itself and Samsung, Xiaomi and others will have to come up with their own solution. Google Assistant manages on Android 12 more challenging tasks and is smarter. There is a thing called Dictaphone in the application Live transcriptwhich (including punctuation) manages to rewrite notes on the phone, which we have tried and it works very well and accurately. Again, we’re only talking about Pixels.

Privacy comes first

Security and privacy have also been improved. Android 12 alerts you to which applications use the microphone, camera or your location so that a colored dot appears in the upper right corner, which means that some of these things are currently in use. If you click on it, you will find out which application uses what. Apple has brought a similar solution to its iOS. If you would like to feel as safe and private as possible, you can use it in Android 12 as well manually turn the camera or microphone on or off.

If you have a large number of applications on your phone, after a while the system will warn you which ones you are not using and at the same time have access to your location and automatically remove the permissions of unused applications. In short, there is a lot of emphasis on privacy, and Google is trying to convince users, a bit like Apple, that the system is doing everything it can to protect your privacy and data.

We also like the new universal search we liked on iOS. Just go to the application drawer menu and start searching for anything, whether you want to search for an item in settings, a contact or a specific application. It’s very convenient and fast, especially if you have a lot of different data on your phone. The new scrolling screenshot feature, which most other manufacturers have had for several months, will also please you.

Is Android 12 a change for the better?

If we should answer in one word, our answer is YEAR. Most of the features and news that Google has made are enjoyable, with a few exceptions. This is not a revolution, but it is definitely one of the biggest updates of recent years. If we were to compare, for example, the differences between Android 10 and Android 11, then the changes are much more striking. The question remains how to deal with the new system other manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, realme or Samsungwhich has only the Galaxy S21 updated at the time of writing, where One UI 4 looks interesting, but we haven’t had a chance to test it yet.

The key will be how many things they take from Google and how well they can implement them in their extensions, with as few bugs as possible. However, it is not just about products, but also developers. How many of them will offer new ones Material You widgety for your applications? This is a question we cannot answer yet.

Which phones will get the update on Android 12?

If you want to find out if your phone will get Android 12, take a look at our lists with Samsung, Huawei or Xiaomi phones.

What do you think of Android 12?