Android 12 Beta 3 and final APIs

Posted by Dave Burke, VP of Engineering

Every month we’re bringing Android 12 nearer to its remaining type, with modern options, a brand new UI that adapts to you, efficiency enhancements, privateness enhancements, safety advantages, and far more. Lots of you might be already creating and testing on Android 12 via our Beta program – thanks for the entire suggestions you’ve shared thus far!

There’s nonetheless quite a bit to do to land this launch, although, and as we speak we’re pushing out the third Beta of Android 12 so that you can attempt. Together with updates like scrolling screenshots, privateness indicator APIs, and enhanced auto-rotate, Beta 3 additionally contains the ultimate Android 12 APIs and the official SDK. WIth these, you can begin testing and updating your app forward of Platform Stability, developing subsequent at Beta 4. Now’s the time to ensure your apps are prepared!

You may get Beta 3 as we speak in your Pixel machine by enrolling right here for over-the-air updates, and in case you beforehand enrolled, you’ll robotically get as we speak’s replace. You may also get Android 12 Beta 3 on choose units from a number of of our device-maker companions like Sharp and TCL – be taught extra at android.com/beta. Go to the Android 12 developer website for particulars on methods to get began.

What’s new in Beta 3?

Beta 3 contains a variety of updates to enhance performance, consumer expertise, and efficiency. Listed here are a couple of highlights.

Scrolling screenshots – To make it simpler to seize and share scrolling content material, we’re including scrolling screenshots. Beginning in Beta 3, when customers seize a screenshot of content material that’s scrollable, they’ll now see a “Seize extra” button to increase the screenshot to the total content material and so they can then regulate the crop.

Capturing a scrolling screenshot within the Settings app

Scrolling screenshots work out-of-the-box for many apps — in case your app makes use of a typical View-based UI, no adjustments must be wanted. For apps and UI toolkits that aren’t utilizing View-based UI or that use extremely custom-made UI, we’re introducing a brand new ScrollCapture API to assist scrolling screenshots. With this API, the system notifies your app of scroll seize requests and offers a Floor so that you can draw your UI into. We’re persevering with to iterate on scrolling screenshots and in Beta 4 you’ll see enhancements to the default assist, comparable to for scrolling ListViews. We’re additionally working to offer assist for a greater variety of content material (comparable to internet content material). Tell us what you suppose!

On-device search – With Beta 3 we’re highlighting platform assist for AppSearch, a brand new high-performance on-device search engine. With AppSearch, apps can index structured knowledge and search over it with built-in full-text search capabilities, and so they can use native options like highly-efficient indexing and retrieval, multi-language assist, and relevancy rating.

AppSearch is available in two flavors: a neighborhood index in your app to make use of that’s backward-compatible via a brand new AppSearch Jetpack library, and a central index that’s maintained for your complete system in Android 12 (and later releases). While you take part within the central index, the system will be capable to show your app’s knowledge on System UI surfaces except you select to decide out. Moreover, you possibly can securely share knowledge with different apps, permitting them to go looking your app’s knowledge in addition to their very own. Extra right here.

Privateness indicator APIs in WindowInsets – In Beta 2 we added assist for privateness indicators within the standing bar that present when an app is utilizing the machine digital camera or microphone. Because the indicators may be displayed when an app is in immersive mode and will probably cowl controls or content material, apps have to know the place the symptoms may be drawn and make any changes wanted to forestall helpful content material from being coated. In Beta 3 we’ve added new privateness indicator APIs to WindowInsets that allow you to get the utmost bounds of the symptoms and their relative placement on the display, bearing in mind the present orientation and language settings. Extra right here.

Digital camera and microphone toggles configurable for enterprises – In Beta 2 we additionally launched new toggles that allow customers immediately flip off entry to the machine microphone and digital camera for all apps. We’ve now made these accessible to enterprise directors who can set any restrictions wanted on totally managed units. Extra right here.

New permission for CDM-paired apps beginning foreground companies – To higher assist companion apps finishing up core performance whereas offering transparency to the system, apps paired with Companion Machine Supervisor (CDM) can launch foreground companies from the background by declaring a brand new regular permission. Extra right here.

Higher, sooner auto-rotate – We’ve enhanced Android’s auto-rotate characteristic with face detection, utilizing the front-facing digital camera to extra precisely acknowledge when to rotate the display. That is particularly useful for people who find themselves utilizing their units whereas mendacity down on a sofa or in mattress, for instance. For builders, which means the auto-rotation conduct will present a greater consumer expertise for customers who’ve opted in via Settings. The improved auto-rotate characteristic lives inside our not too long ago introduced Personal Compute Core, so photos are by no means saved or despatched off the machine. In Beta 3 this characteristic is obtainable on Pixel 4 and later Pixel units.

To make display rotation as speedy as attainable on all units, we’ve additionally optimized the animation and redrawing and added an ML-driven gesture-detection algorithm. In consequence, the latency for the bottom auto-rotate characteristic has been diminished by 25%, and the advantages of the face detection enhancement construct on prime of these enhancements. Give the auto-rotate enhancements a attempt to tell us what you suppose.

Android 12 for Video games – With Sport Mode APIs, you possibly can react to the gamers’ efficiency profile choice in your sport – like higher battery life for an extended commute, or efficiency mode to get peak body charges. These APIs will likely be tied to the upcoming sport dashboard which offers an overlay expertise with fast entry to key utilities throughout gameplay. The sport dashboard will likely be obtainable on choose units later this 12 months.

Play as you obtain on Android 12 with Touchgrind BMX

In the meantime, play as you obtain will permit sport property to be fetched within the background throughout set up, getting your gamers into gameplay sooner.

Go to the Android 12 developer website to be taught extra about the entire new options in Android 12.

Remaining APIs and SDK

Over the previous a number of weeks we have been working to finalize the Android 12 APIs and as we speak we’re releasing them with Beta 3, together with the official API Degree 31 SDK. We plan to achieve full Platform Stability at Beta 4, when all app-facing system behaviors and non-SDK interface restrictions will even be remaining, along with the API surfaces.

If you happen to’re compiling your app towards the Android 12 APIs, we suggest utilizing as we speak’s launch to replace your setting and recompile your apps with the ultimate SDK and newest instruments.

App compatibility

With many early-adopter customers and builders getting Android 12 Beta on Pixel and different units, now could be the time to ensure your apps are appropriate and prepared for them to make use of!

To check your app for compatibility with Beta 3, simply set up the revealed model from Google Play or different source onto a tool or emulator operating Android 12 Beta. Work via the entire app’s flows and look ahead to useful or UI points. Assessment the conduct adjustments to focus your testing on areas the place underlying adjustments could have an effect on your app. There’s no want to vary your app’s targetSdkVersion right now, so when you’ve resolved any points, we suggest publishing an replace as quickly as attainable in your Android 12 Beta customers.

As talked about earlier, Android 12 will attain Platform Stability within the subsequent launch, Beta 4. With Platform Stability, all app-facing system behaviors, SDK/NDK APIs, and non-SDK restrictions will likely be finalized. At the moment, you possibly can start your remaining compatibility testing and launch a totally appropriate model of your app, SDK, or library. Extra on the Android 12 timeline for builders is right here.

Get began with Android 12!

At this time’s Beta launch has the whole lot it is advisable attempt the most recent Android 12 options, take a look at your apps, and provides us suggestions. Simply enroll any supported Pixel machine to get the replace over-the-air. To get began creating, arrange the Android 12 SDK.

You may also get Android 12 Beta 3 on units from a few of our prime device-maker companions like Sharp and TCL. Go to android.com/beta to see the total listing of companions collaborating in Android 12 Beta. For even broader testing, you possibly can attempt Android 12 Beta on Android GSI photos, and in case you don’t have a tool you possibly can take a look at on the Android Emulator.

Beta 3 can be obtainable for Android TV, so you possibly can take a look at the most recent TV options and take a look at your apps on the all-new Google TV expertise. Strive it out with the ADT-3 developer package. Extra right here.

For full particulars on Android 12 Beta, go to the Android 12 developer website.