Android 12 was officially released last October 4, 2021. The operating system is live at the Android Open-Source Project (AOSP) as of now. Once it’s final, the stable version is up and ready for you to download. If you have a recent Google Pixel, you can install Android 12 on your device right now. It is also available for a select few devices from other OEMs.
User experience Features:
- Custom notifications
Android 12 changes the appearance and behavior of fully custom notifications. Previously, custom notifications were able to use the entire notification area and provide their own layouts and styles. This resulted in anti-patterns that could confuse users or cause layout compatibility issues on different devices.
- Android App Links verification changes
On apps that target Android 12 or higher, the system makes several changes to how Android App Links are verified. These changes improve the reliability of the app-linking experience and provide more control to app developers and end users.
- Picture-in-picture behavior improvements
Android 12 introduces behavior improvements for picture-in-picture (PiP) mode.
Security and Privacy
Approximate Location
Modern SameSite Cookies in Webview
Motion sensors are rate-limited
App hibernation
Attribution declaration in data access auditing
ADB backup restriction
Safer component exporting
Pending intents mutability
Unsafe Intent launches
Performance
Foreground service launch restrictions
Exact alarm permission
Notification trampoline restrictions
Backup and Restore
D2D transfer functionality changes
New include and exclude format
Connectivity
Concurrent Peer-to-peer + Internet Connection
mDNS Responder native API
Vendor Libraries
Vendor-supplied native shared libraries