It's the biggest facelift in years. Google surprised at the keynote at the Google I/O 2021 developer conference with the new design language Material You for Android - and a focus on new colors and designs. Chromebook users should also benefit and Wear OS restarts as Wear.
Material You: Android 12 in colorful and individual
Security and transparency in Android 12?
Can I download Android 12 already?
Wear – News from the niche
Chrome OS – finally relevant thanks to interlocking?
Google or Apple: who is the innovation leader?
Material You: Android in colorful and individual
Android 12 debuts Material You. According to Google, this is a radically different way to customize your smartphone. You define colors, shapes and functions of individual screens and menus and can wallpaper the entire Android OS in your favorite look:
Sound familiar to you? Maybe because Android hosts dozens of launchers and apps with customizable designs via the Google Play Store that have been doing this job for years. In Android 12 you create color palettes yourself or use automated compilations based on your background photos, for example:
Google is also integrating new animations for widgets, changing the notifications on the home screen and has reduced power consumption with some under-the-hood modifications.
Google is talking about applying the Material You philosophy to all of its own ecosystems. This means that Wear and Chrome OS should also have a new look. When is open. Google also failed to provide information as to whether Material You is mandatory for all Android licensees - or whether large manufacturers such as Samsung and Sony are exempt from this.
Security and transparency in Android 12?
The dilemma in which Google finds itself is already mentioned at the beginning. On the one hand, the company generates countless billions of dollars with personalized advertising. On the other hand, users must always have the feeling that they have data sovereignty.
Android 12 takes this into account by giving you a detailed view of which apps are using certain phone functions, how long and how often on redesigned dashboards. If necessary, pull the plug and forbid Facebook, for example, to record what you are looking at in other apps. A new display informs you if a program is accessing the camera and microphone.
Google does not eliminate all data collection, but waters down the information. So you can only pass on your approximate location to the weather app to get a forecast - that is still meaningful enough even without a meter-precise location.
Google put speech recognition, which has been redesigned with Android 12 and Private Compute Core, as the keystone. Instead of sending your voice commands and search queries to a server, where the spoken word is converted into text, the telephone takes over these tasks.
Can I download Android 12 already?
The new Android 12 is still in the beta phase, i.e. a late test stage. If you still want to take a look, we recommend taking a look at this Google page, where you can find all the cooperating smartphone manufacturers and their compatible devices. Installing the beta is at your own risk.
Google Wear: Out of the niche?
The smartwatches still exist. And contrary to popular perception, they're selling reasonably well. In the future, Google will merge its own efforts with those of Samsung and the purchased expertise Fitbit and unite the systems of all under the new name Google Wear.
The unified platform aims to improve user experience, app selection and performance. Google repeats this promise like a mantra – but the restart actually gives hope. In future you will be able to switch between apps even more conveniently, new applications and functions will also be added by Samsung and Fitbit, you can make Watch Faces even more convenient and pay via Google Pay in 26 other countries.
Chrome OS – finally relevant thanks to interlocking?
A sharply worded subheading, admittedly. But in this country Chromebooks are an attractive but very niche device category. Things are different in the USA, in the Corona year the Chrome OS-powered mobile computers sold brilliantly.
Whether in the penumbra of electronics stores or placed prominently in children's rooms, the integration of Chrome OS with Android and Wear OS is good news. Since one of the more recent Chrome OS updates, you can conveniently exchange WiFi data between your phone and Chromebook, and use Smart Lock to secure access to your mobile device. Via Phone Hub you can access the latest Chrome browser tabs or exchange data directly.
Sound familiar? Absolutely, because Apple is taking this path at breakneck speed. Unlike the iPhone group, however, Google is struggling to interlock devices from very different manufacturers via software. Google is therefore intensifying its cooperation with the most relevant partner companies.
Soon you'll be able to use your Android phone to unlock BMW and Ford cars (which Google explicitly named), use your phone to control your smart TV's search function, or add Bluetooth devices with just a click or tap.
Google or Apple: who is the innovation leader?
The rabbit-and-hedgehog game of the big smartphone competitors has entered a new round with the Google I/O. My personal impression is that Apple seems to be many steps ahead of the Android group. Privacy, interaction of different device categories or feature lists - Apple is well positioned in these areas with iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Google, on the other hand, is appealing with new personalization options under Android 12, more transparent privacy and convenience functions across the manufacturer landscape. But the company doesn't have any real, stunning innovation to offer for my taste. However, that was also true for Apple not so long ago, when calls were made to please equip iPhones with 5G chips. The current iPhones finally support the radio standard.
We're curious to see whether Google will be a pioneer again very soon - and whether Apple won't pull something out of a hat that we didn't expect at all.
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