The new Android 13 operating system making its way onto Android devices. Now, we can take a good look at what it has to offer. And what all Android enjoyers can look forward to.
Expanded Material You
If you are unfamiliar with Material You, then we will give you a quick rundown. Material You has several useful functions. Not only does it allow you to carefully tailor your phone’s style, but it also utilises a smart user interface that adapts to different screens, context changes and more. Along with several accessibility options, letting users change the contrast, size, and line width of the UI to make it perfect for the user.
With Android 13, Material You will be getting an upgrade. Now you will be able to customise the colour of all your non-Google apps. You will be able to select what colour the app icons are to match your wallpaper and its colour.
Assign Languages
The ability to assign languages to specific apps has also been added with Android 13. Which is a big addition if you speak more than one language. Through Android 13, you will be able to assign different languages to specific apps. Your phone’s system will remain in the single language you prefer, but you will be able to select which language different apps run in.
Media Player
We all love to play music on our phones. And the Android media player has been an effective feature since being introduced. And with Android 13, it is getting a bit of a design update. The functionality of the media player will remain the same, but now the Media Player will spotlight artwork from the album or artist that you are listening to. Along with a neat little playback bar that will dance as the song goes on.
Bedtime Mode
And the very last for the design and style updates comes an upgrade for the bedtime mode. Android has always taken wellbeing into account when it comes to your device. And with Android 13, you will be able to customise the bedtime mode with both wallpaper dimming and dark theme. Which is a handy addition, helping you to easily adjust when you are getting to go to bed.
Specific Media Access
Android users will know the annoyance and potential trouble when you must share your whole media library with different apps, just so you can upload or share something. Well, with Android 13, this problem is being resolved. Rather than giving access to your whole library, you now have the option to give apps access to specific photos and videos.
Clipboard
The clipboard is also being made a bit more secure too. Not only can you now prevent any unwanted access to your clipboard, but any sensitive data that may be contained on your clipboard will be automatically erased after a set amount of time. For example, if you were to copy your login details or email address onto your clipboard, Android 13 will automatically clear after a set time.
Notifications
It can be quite frustrating when an app you’ve just installed starts sending you notifications as a default. With Android 13 all apps will need your permission to send notifications, rather than sending notifications being accepted as a default. Helping you to keep all your notifications and alerts under control, rather than a huge flow of notifications that you don’t necessarily want.
Spatial Audio
Support for devices that enable spatial audio will also be added with Android 13. If you don’t know what spatial audio is, spatial audio shifts the audio in your headphones to adapt to how you are moving your head. Spatial audio creates a very immersive listening experience, and the lack of support for it with Android so far has been a bit of a bummer. So, it is great to know this will make its way with Android 13.
Stream Messaging Apps
Android 13 is taking a big approach to productivity. And one feature that was certainly missing with a lot of Android devices was the ability to stream your messaging apps to your other devices. The ability to stream your messaging apps to Chromebooks has now been added with Android 13 on the Google Pixel. Allowing users to easily send and receive messages from their laptops.
It will be interesting to see how this feature develops for other Android devices when available too. Will there be support for a larger range of laptops and devices? Guess we will have to find out.
Bluetooth Low Energy Audio
Making its way to Android 13 is the new Bluetooth Low Energy Audio standard. Bluetooth LE Audio has lower latency than the normal audio you are used to with Bluetooth. This is very beneficial when you may be listening to the radio or have multiple devices connected through Bluetooth. This lower latency results in better sound sync and less delay, along with higher audio quality.
Copy Content Across Devices
Just like you will be able to connect your messaging apps to your different devices, you will now be able to copy different content across all your devices. You can take a photo, video, text, or even a link on your phone and move it to your tablet. Once you have the content you want to move over, you copy it and press on the nearby share feature. And it will send it over to the device you want to share it with.
Taskbar
Coming with Android 13 is a new and improved taskbar that is specially designed for multitasking on Android tablets. On an Android tablet, with this new taskbar, you can easily bring it down and see all the apps that you have installed. From there, it is as simple as dragging and dropping the app into split-screen mode.
Separate Touches
Another change that Android 13 brings to tablets is the recognition of separate touches. Android 13 on tablets will now recognise palm touches and stylus pen touches as separate, helping reduce stray marks when you are writing or drawing on your tablet.
Other Features
There are a few extra small features that are worth taking note of. Android 13 now lets you choose between two different clock styles on your lock screen. Either a single-line layout or a double-line. Which is a nice little feature.
The media output switcher has been updated and tidied up to make it faster and easier to switch between different media outputs.
These are many of the changes and updates that we have seen this week with the Google Pixel and can expect with other Android devices later this year. There is still a lot of potential for changes and more additions over the next few months, so keep your eyes out.
