Android 13 is set to replace the current Android 12 version in late summer. Google is already working on numerous new functions that the upcoming version of the mobile operating system should bring to smartphones and tablets.
Although Android 12 has still not arrived on all current smartphones, Google has already given a preview of the next version. It will still be a few months before Android 13 is ready and officially presented. Nevertheless, the first developer versions are already giving a preview of the new functions. In this article, TECHBOOK summarizes the innovations Android 13 should bring.
Also read: Android 12 is here! The most useful functions at a glance
First developer version brings new type of screen mirroring
Google has a first version of Android 13 on its developer blog released. It’s intended for developers. But the new functions are already exciting. The group had already announced at CES 2022 that it wanted to better network Android and Chromebooks in the future. Google is now doing this. Among other things, thanks to Android 13, users should be able to transfer Android apps and content from their smartphone directly to PCs and laptops.
Google uses a web application for the Chrome browser for the transfer. The website specialized in Google 9to5Google has already been able to try out the so-called screen mirroring. They could stream content from a Pixel smartphone to a Windows 11 laptop and interact with the apps there just like on the smartphone. It was possible to send tweets via the Twitter apps and even send and receive messages with messenger apps.
According to 9to5Google, the special thing about the transfer is the implementation. Because instead of simply mirroring the smartphone screen on the laptop, a completely independent display is generated that is adapted to the laptop. Among other things, the messaging apps installed on the smartphone appear here. Users can thus open an app on their laptop without interrupting the apps running on the smartphone.
Even if screen mirroring works on Windows PCs, the function is probably intended primarily for Chromebooks. Since Google itself manages the operating system here, a deeper integration of the new functions into the so-called Phone Hub – the interface between Android smartphones and Chromebooks – is possible. So Google does not rely on a web application like with Windows, but on a system-side integration.
The new features of Android 13
With Android 13, Google wants to offer users even more customization options and even more data protection. Accordingly, the company has further refined the features that we already know from Android 12. But there are also new functions in Android 13.
photo picker
A data protection function that is intended to enable users to only allow apps to access individual, specific or a few photos or videos. So far, the motto “all or nothing” has applied to this authorization. Incidentally, the feature should also come retrospectively for Android 11 and 12 – via an update of the Google Play services.
Nearby search without location
Apps that want to connect to WLAN devices in the vicinity currently always receive the location data of the smartphone or tablet under Android. It doesn’t really have to be. That’s why Android 13 has a new permission (Nearby-Wifi-Devices) that allows apps to search for nearby WiFi devices and connect to them without knowing their location.
Faster updates
With Android 13, the Play Services app should finally become the linchpin for forced, faster system updates, bypassing the smartphone manufacturer. Google internally calls this approach Project Mainline. It reacts to the fact that device manufacturers often only deliver updates slowly or sometimes never. Google cites not only the Photo Picker as an example, but also updates for system components such as Bluetooth or ultra-wideband radio.
design and operation
Up to now, the icons of Google apps could be adapted to a background color – so goodbye to the colorful. In the future, this should be possible with the icons of all apps in order to emphasize the new Android design language Material You with a monochrome color scheme.
In addition, custom tiles for the quick settings can be created directly in an app in Android 13, as can the language. It then only applies to this application. Prerequisite for the three features: They must also have been included in the development of the respective application.
Lock screen login
If several people use an Android device together or if you give your smartphone out of your hand more often, for example to children, a new feature is practical. It was discovered by Esper, an Android development platform provider. It is user switching and user login directly on the lock screen.
sources
With material from dpa