Android 12 Beta Published With Performance Enhancements, Overhauled UI

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Android 12 Beta Published With Performance Enhancements, Overhauled UI

Google used their Google I/O conference today to introduce the first beta of the upcoming Android 12 mobile operating system...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Android-12-Beta-Published

[johanb]

The UI changes from Android 10 to 11 was a downgrade in my opinion, I hope that they learn from their mistakes this time around. The rest sounds like small but nice improvements.

My Linux phone (Librem 5) is not ready to replace it and it'll probably be a few years until that's possible, it's just a fun toy to hack around with for now.

[waxhead]

I am laughing at this "We also added dynamic color APIs so your widgets can use system colors to create a personalized but consistent look."
Well what does this mean? does it mean that stuff like darkmode which really is just a theme now can be applied at the system setting level and not per. application? I have voiced my disgust for GUI's always implementing their own widgets, themes etc when it is all a complete waste. A GUI should be made according to a standard and all meny styles, buttons, highlights, backgrounds and other eyecandy should be set in system preferences (and there is nothing preventing you from having a list of applications that could be configured separately if needed).
It looks like finally someone got a wake-up call from the past...

[ssokolow]

A new UI for Android that has been described as "the most significant UI update to Android yet" using a new design language called Material You.

Whenever I see stuff like this, I wonder how much better the world might be if interface designers were required to document (and make available to end users) a thorough rationale for why the change is objectively more effective at being a user interface than what they're replacing. (ideally backed up by user studies)

(Stuff like how Firefox 4 defended the "Tabs on Top" decision by appealing to the argument that it put things "scoped to the current document", like the contents of the address bar "within the tab page", thus making the underlying mental model behind the layout more consistent.)

[willmore]

I'm curious about the approximate location feature. Will the app know that it's getting degraded info? I'm thinking of things like AR games that rely on precise location to allow or disallow activities. In the past some of these programs have gone through complex gymnastics to detect mock location settings and applications that will fake the location data.

I wonder if this is implemented, how they do so. Do they degrade it and say "you're getting degraded info" or when the app asks for location does it say "precise location only, please" and if the device (or per app) settings say to provide degraded, does the OS just say "Sorry, not available"?

This has been an issue in the past where an app will refuse to run if you have a device or service it wants and you disallow access, but it will run if you simply don't have the device or service. Tablets without GPS can run AR games but just with degraded positioning. But, if you have GPS, they can refust to run at all if not given access to it. If they're not allowed access, they should be able to be aware of the existance of the desired resource.

[skeevy420]

I am laughing at this "We also added dynamic color APIs so your widgets can use system colors to create a personalized but consistent look."
Well what does this mean? does it mean that stuff like darkmode which really is just a theme now can be applied at the system setting level and not per. application? I have voiced my disgust for GUI's always implementing their own widgets, themes etc when it is all a complete waste.

It seems like they're adding in color schemes for the system themes to pick primary, secondary, accent, etc colors based on dark/light mode, background images, and other dynamic content.

A GUI should be made according to a standard and all meny styles, buttons, highlights, backgrounds and other eyecandy should be set in system preferences (and there is nothing preventing you from having a list of applications that could be configured separately if needed).
It looks like finally someone got a wake-up call from the past...

The closest thing that exists to that is KDE Plasma.

[skeevy420]

Whenever I see stuff like this, I wonder how much better the world might be if interface designers were required to document (and make available to end users) a thorough rationale for why the change is objectively more effective at being a user interface than what they're replacing. (ideally backed up by user studies)

(Stuff like how Firefox 4 defended the "Tabs on Top" decision by appealing to the argument that it put things "scoped to the current document", like the contents of the address bar "within the tab page", thus making the underlying mental model behind the layout more consistent.)

I think Google developers figured out this one little trick to keep themselves in a job for the next four years.

[skeevy420]

The UI changes from Android 10 to 11 was a downgrade in my opinion, I hope that they learn from their mistakes this time around. The rest sounds like small but nice improvements.

My Linux phone (Librem 5) is not ready to replace it and it'll probably be a few years until that's possible, it's just a fun toy to hack around with for now.

I like being able to set a Serif font....but the rest of it was kind of meh. My Moto G Power got the update to 11 a few days ago.

And seeing as how my previous three phones had user changeable fonts it was more like getting a lost feature back than it was getting a new one. Also, the accent colors I can pick from are horrible so I'm using Default Motorola Blue.

[dylanmtaylor]

My biggest issue with Android as a long term user is that it relies on the manufacturer a LOT to get updates to the device IF you will see them.

[jacob]

Whenever I see stuff like this, I wonder how much better the world might be if interface designers were required to document (and make available to end users) a thorough rationale for why the change is objectively more effective at being a user interface than what they're replacing. (ideally backed up by user studies)

(Stuff like how Firefox 4 defended the "Tabs on Top" decision by appealing to the argument that it put things "scoped to the current document", like the contents of the address bar "within the tab page", thus making the underlying mental model behind the layout more consistent.)

I wish GNOME designers especially were forced to do that. How does the new design contribute to make typical user workflows easier? How does it help to make it easier for users to find the functions they are looking for? How is it more accessible for colorblind people? Etc etc etc.