Android 12 Leak Reveals New UI Design, Better Security Protections and More

A recent Android 12 leak suggests a new user interface design that will bring users a “beautiful new experience” once it’s launched.

Credit: Denny Müller on Unsplash

An unknown source allegedly reached out to popular leaker Jon Prosser informing him of new information on Google’s mobile software. The source, according to Prosser, is supposedly part of the team working on the upcoming Google I/O event, which is expected to feature more info on Android 12.

According to the slides shared by the unknown source, Android 12 will provide “a beautiful new experience, stronger privacy and security protections and that all your devices will work better together”.

The slides’ content is consistent with the info found on a previous post from the Android Developers Blog. You may remember that Android 12 will feature SameSite cookie behaviours similar to Google Chrome and other web browsers. It will also limit access for device identifiers and adjust the OS’ intent handling to improve security.

However, the most interesting part of the slides is about the new UI design that will come with Android 12. In his video on Front Page Tech, Prosser showed the new design and additions to the major UI elements and widgets.

The Android 12 may feature a brightness slider, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles, an analogue clock widget, a UI element that will either put an alarm on snooze or dismiss it with a slide of a finger, a weather widget and stacked notifications – a most-wanted addition in the sea of new additions to the Android operating system. The widgets may come with a rounder design, with no sharp edges.

Prosser then showcased what seems to the “official” video promo for the Android 12 in his video. He noted that Google appears to have changed how notifications are displayed in Android 12 by displaying the number of notifications in a circle next to the phone’s clock. Pulling the circle down will reveal the notifications and their context.

The clock will now be displayed at the centre of the lock screen, while a notification stack pill occupies where you would normally see the time. Android 12 will also feature a new keyboard that seems to have moved the comma and period keys to the numbers and symbols keyboard. The emoji keyboard, meanwhile, was placed on the lower-left corner of the keyboard.

A render of the Google Pixel 6 Credit: Jon Prosser

Prosser then commented on how fluid Google’s Android 12 looks and performs and the possibility of Google Pixel 6 coming with Android 12 installed. This was due to the similarity between the phone used to feature Android 12 in the “official” video promo and the recent renders of the Google Pixel 6.

However, when all is said and done, these are all just speculation. We’ll have to wait until Google I/O 2021, which will be held on 18 May 2021 and will continue until 20 May 2021, to see if the leaks are accurate.

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Written by John Paul Joaquin