Android 12 is now available for Pixel phones: What’s new & how to download the update?

Google made Android 12’s announcement long and intense to keep the suspense and curiosity. First came the Developer Previews, then came the betas (with the first in May and the fifth and last in early September) and, when everyone was waiting for the stable version, Google left us with the nectar in the rims.

Unlike every year, Google officially released Android 12 by publishing the source code to the AOSP repository, but without releasing the stable version for its Pixel devices. Now that the new generation of Pixel smartphones, which is now official.

New Android 12

The arrival of each new version of Android has so far been accompanied by the possibility of downloading and installing it immediately on Pixel devices. So it was with Android 11, but this time it doesn’t happen so with Android 12.

When it published the source code for Android 12 in the AOSP repository, Google promised that the stable version of its new operating system would reach the first devices in the next few weeks.

As expected, the official presentation of the Pixel 6 has been accompanied by the deployment of the update, which is available as of today for the Pixel (from the Pixel 3).

After the Pixels, the next mobiles to welcome Android 12 will be the devices from the following brands whose update will go by the end of this year:-

• Samsung
• OnePlus
• Oppo
• Realme
• Tecno
• Vivo
• Xiaomi

In fact, both ColorOS 12, the new OPPO layer for Android 12, and the beta of Samsung One UI 4 have already been presented, and even the list of Xiaomi phones that will receive a major system update has been leaked.

Android 12: What’s new & How to update?

What will we find with this new version? All the features and improvements that we have seen in recent months with the previews and betas of Android 12, among which the new user interface for Android and the improvements in performance and privacy stand out.

However, here we have summarized the most important ones below:-

• Material You: The native version of Android has a new design whose main novelty is that the elements of the interface of the system and the applications are adapted to the colors of the wallpaper.
• Redesigned widgets: Taking advantage of the new Android interface, Google has also redesigned its widgets to bring them up to date and to better fit the new design.
• Display screens Application Startup: Now all applications will display a splash screen to the open. By default, they will show their icon but developers can add animations.
• Faster and more efficient system performance: In Android 12 the CPU time used by the central services of the system has been reduced by 22% and the use of large cores by 15%, also improving the speed in which the applications and data writing and reading.
• Privacy panel: Android 12 launches a new panel in its settings that offer users more visibility into when their application accesses the microphone, camera, and location data.
• Approximate location: The new location permission gives us more control over our position. With Android 12 we can grant access to your application to an approximate location.
• Microphone and camera indicators: If an application is accessing our camera and/or microphone, we will see a notice in the status bar or notifications to let us know that the mobile is currently using the camera and/or microphone.
• Alternating microphone and camera: In the quick settings we can disable access to the camera and microphone for all applications.
• Nearby device permissions: Android 12 launches new permission to detect nearby devices without the need for location permission, as with previous versions.

If you have a Pixel (from Pixel 3 onwards), then you can now update from:-

Settings> System> Advanced> System update> Check for updates

Keep in mind that your mobile will receive the beta as an OTA update, so the process can take from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on how drenched Google’s servers are.