Game Mode Headed To Android 12
There are no screenshots detailing any of the new stuff, but according to the site, the GameManager service is able to “manage the game mode and persist the data” when rebooting a handset or tablet. it is not entirely clear what that entails, though it could conceivably mean certain settings used when gaming (like brightness and Do Not disturb mode) will be automatically applied when gaming, and will not be reset if needing to reboot a phone or tablet for any reason.
Enhanced Picture In Picture (PiP) And Auto Rotation Could Land On Android 12 Too
At long last, it sounds like users will be able to pinch and double-tap PiP windows to resize them, rather than (or perhaps in addition to) touching a corner of the window and sliding your finger up or down. Some people find the existing gesture to resize PiP windows to be a bit clunky.
In addition, PiP might be getting a “stashing” feature. This would allow uses to temporarily hide a large portion of a PiP window by dragging or flinging it off to the side of the display. To bring it back, a user would just need to tap the part of the PiP window that is still visible.
According to the site, this feature is specific is Pixel phones, but it could be implemented in Android 12 for all compatible devices. We’ll have to wait and see.
Android 12 To Make One-Handed Use More Convenient
Google is also said to be developing a one-handed mode for Android 12. This is a timely inclusion, as phones continue to grow in size. This is a feature that some OEMs have already implemented on their own, and it is likely Google’s version will work similarly—as in, shrinking the screen in half or more, to make it easier for users to access icons and controls towards the top.
Somewhat related, scrolling screenshots could finally find its way to Android with the next release too. Interestingly, Google touched on this a while back in an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit in regards to Android 11, essentially saying it wanted to wait until it could implement it the right way.
“In the end, as with every Android release (and especially in this unusual year), we had to make hard choices about where to focus our limited resources; while this is a cool feature that we’re still really excited about, we decided not to rush it,” an Android team member wrote.
Some other features that might land in Android 12 include bubble animations similar to Facebook Messenger, app pairing (launch pairs of apps in split-screen mode), and general UI enhancements.
What would you most like to see in Android 12? Let us know in the comments section below!