What Does Android 13 Developer Preview Bring To The Table?

Ahead of the Android 13 release, Google has released The Android 13 Developer Preview on supported Google Pixel devices. While we will be able to see the stable final release later this year, the beta version should start releasing from April. With Developer Preview, you can try out the latest features that you can further try out with your apps.

Source: Android Developers

What Google Pixel Devices Can Try Android 13 Developer Preview?
●Pixel 4
●Pixel 4 XL
●Pixel 4a
●Pixel 4a (5G)
●Pixel 5
●Pixel 5a
●Pixel 6
●Pixel 6 Pro

A Word of Wisdom

This preview build is more for developers. However, if you have a keen interest in testing out the latest Android features, we still recommend that you download this build on a secondary device.

How To Get Android 13 on A Supported Google Pixel Device

As recommended by Google, if you have one of the above Google Pixel devices you can flash Android 13 with the help of Android Flash Tool which is used to install Android builds on supported devices. For more information on this, you can visit this page.  For flashing your device manually, you can also get the Android 13 system image from the Pixel download page.

What Features Can Users Expect From Android 13 Developer Preview

– Photo Picker

Android 13 seems to be strengthening your video and photo privacy more than ever with the help of a system photo picker. With this, you can share both local as well as cloud-based photos securely. Apps in your device can use the photo picker APIs to access shared videos and photos, and the best part here is that they won’t need permission to view all the other media files on your device. Google plans to extend this experience to more Android users via Google Play system updates.

Source: Android Developers

This feature is for those apps that manage a device’s connection to any nearby access points but don’t need location permission. Thanks to the NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES runtime permission, it will enable apps to discover and connect to any nearby devices over Wi-Fi. And, for this, it won’t require location permission.

– App-Wise Language Preferences

To cater to the language need of users, some apps let users choose a language different from the system language. But, now Android 13 Developer Preview gives an app-by-app language control option. It would even be helpful for multi-language users with distinct dialects as well. More technically, apps can now aid from a new platform API that helps reduce the boilerplate code, helps set user’s preferred language, and enhance compatibility during the app’s runtime language.

– Programmable Shaders

What Android internally used to implement shaders such as blur, ripple effects, overscroll, and stretch is now going to be extended to apps as well. More specifically, Android 13 has added support for RuntimeShader objects whose behavior is defined with the help of Android GRaphics Shading Language.

– Themed Apps Icons

This is an interesting one. You can now customize and more so, personalize your app icons. You can now bring the feel of your phone’s theme and your wallpaper’s tint into your icons. Again, as of now, this is supported on Pixel devices but Google is extending this to other manufacturers as well.

– Quick Settings API

Android 13 provides tile placement API, where an app will now be able to prompt the user to add customer tiles to a set of active Quick Settings tiles. For the same, you will not have to leave the app.

Wrapping Up

As an Android user, I am eagerly waiting for Android 13 and would surely try to delve into its preview builds as well. What about you? Do let us know in the comments section below. For more such information, keep reading WeTheGeek. Follow us on social media – Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.