Android 12 leak seems to show a major redesign with color-changing UI

The final version of Android 12 will be released sometime in September, but the first developer preview is now expected any day. Our first tip on what the new version of Google has in store comes to us from XDA Developers, Mishaal Rahman, who has some photos of what looks like a major UI update for Android 12. According to the report these images are a suggestion, not a screenshot, of Android 12. The mockups appear in a document describing the new features of Android 12, and the document is transmitted to the partners as a head-up before the public implementation.

The first thing that pops out at me is the weird sepia tone color scheme, like someone who left the night mode permanently. This color scheme seems like a big change compared to the all-white color scheme of Android 11, but it probably depends on the user. A recent report by 9to5Google claims that Google will launch an in-depth theme system in Android 12 that will re-color the system and third-party applications based on a user’s preferences. One line of the report reads: “It’s interesting that your Android 12 theme colors can also be automatically selected based on your current background. If you change your background, Android should be able to seamlessly change to new colors similar to the color of your background. palette. ‘

It seems to be going on here. The UI colors match the background very well, because it is probably of the wallpaper. A beige background leads to a beige color notification panel, icons, settings, widgets and more. Even the camera app is beige. Android has long had unused code for a theme engine. The automatic color selection of the user interface was launched in Android 5 with the Palette API when Google started the idea of ​​using it for a music application. It seems like these things are finally being used.

Even if we ignore the colors, the notification panel is still completely different, which is completely available for Android, as the notification panel is refreshed in each version. Starting at the top, the strange black status bar is gone, replaced by a single sheet that serves as a notification background. It’s not transparent here, but it could just be an inaccuracy. The time and date swapped places, with the date at the top. The quick settings are no longer in a box, and it has been shortened to four instead of six (booo!). The shapes of quick settings were configurable in the past, but now it looks like there is a mixture of shapes, with disabled settings with a square background and enabled settings that get a circle.

The rest of the notification panel looks no different than the rounded corners. One oddity in this model is the visible rounded corners. This was briefly a real thing during the Android 10 developer preview, but never got a final version. I think it’s just an inaccuracy. Other mockups even show a round cutout of the camera in the UI, which does not normally appear on screenshots.

Many of the mockups describe the return of the privacy slide notification in the top right corner of the status bar, which alerts you when an app gives you camera, microphone or location permissions. We first saw this feature in Android 10 builds before its release in 2019, but it never reached a final version. The idea then was that these alerts would appear when an app was actively using sensitive permissions, and to tap on the slide would identify the app. One mockup shows what the pop-up UI would look like; it not only identifies applications that are currently using the camera, microphone or location, but also applications that ‘recently’ used the permission. Each line in the private pop-up has a settings gear next to it, which presumably allows you to block settings for that individual app.

There’s also a new ‘privacy’ settings screen that gives you what looks like a system-wide dead switch for the camera, microphone and location. None of these switches are new, but you now have easy, clearer access to them. This privacy screen also seems to show a new design for the settings. In addition to the new color scheme, it looks like Google is considering Samsung and some other Android OEMs to design settings screens for accessibility. There is a large “Privacy” banner at the top, with lots of white space above, which slides the beginning of the list at the very top of the phone. Most good implementations of this feature reduce the top banner once you start browsing.

The last new item in the mockups is a “conversation” widget. It appears to show a person or group chat and recent messages or calls from the person. It looks like it’s combining messages from multiple apps into a single widget, which would be possible through the existing notification APIs. Incoming notifications are already associated with a contact for priority message purposes, so it would work well to merge all the messages under a single person widget. It is strange that the models show the conversation widget in different forms.

They all seem to be different states of the conversation widget, but some are rounded rectangles and others are pill-shaped. Why? More love for widgets in Android 12 is a good bet after Apple finally copied the feature into iOS 14.. Android was introduced with widgets in version 1, but it has been neglected over the years. If Google wants to back up Apple, you can now stack and browse with widgets, which would be nice to see in Android. Apple’s widgets are also generally more modern and cohesive, as they’ve just been introduced. Android’s widgets can really use a general overhaul.

The first Android 11 developer preview was launched on February 19 last year, so we’ll probably see Android 12 buildings work this month.