Work continues for the new Android 13, which Google is preparing to release. And now, Android 13 Developer Preview 2 has been released. There are new added features and changes available. Android 13 Developer Preview 2 is only available on Pixel 4 and later Pixel devices. Let’s take a look at what’s new.
What’s New on Android 13 Developer Preview 2?
As you know, Google releases developer-specific preview versions for new Android versions every year. These versions are called “Developer Preview” and you can experience them months before the new version is released.
With Android 13 Developer Preview 1, a more improved monet engine, further improved sensor access notifications, and much more were available. And new Developer Preview includes more privacy and security, more languages, and more improved notifications. What’s new in this version can be listed as follows:
Foreground Services (FGS) Task Manager
We are now able to use the Foreground Services Task Manager feature, which was newly added to Android 13 Developer Preview 2. We can see the number of applications running in the background at the bottom of the Android Control Panel screen. There is a button that says the number of background processes here. When we touch that button, we can see the applications running in the background. We can stop the applications from here by pressing the “stop” button.
If the system finds an application running in the background for a long time, FSG Task Manager will notify you and warn you that you need to close it from the background. In addition, the settings and shutdown buttons are located at the bottom of the control center. This feature is very similarly available in Resurrection Remix Custom ROM.
Notification Permission
You can set whether applications can send you notifications or not with Android 13 Developer Preview 2. When you start the application, it pops up a permission popup about sending notifications. We can allow the application to send notifications via this pop-up. When we enter the permissions section in Settings, a new notifications section welcomes us. From here we can control the trace we have given.
New Music Player Notification Design
The new music notification added with Android 8.0 was slightly different with Android 11 and completely replaced with Android 12. This cool design returns with Android 13. While the album cover photo is designed differently in Android 12, we can see a full-screen album cover photo in Android 13. It has created a much more colorful ambient for the notification panel.
Show Touches while Recording Option is Returned
Show touches during screen recording, which was removed with Android 12, have been added again.
Do Not Disturb renamed to Priority Mode
Added with Android 5, do not disturb was renamed to priority mode. The functionality of the feature is the same but only the name has been changed.
New Vibrate First Then Ring Gradually Feature
Vibrate first then ring then gradually feature has been a feature in Android Custom ROMs for years. It will now be found by default on Android.
App-Based Language Switcher
All users will now be able to use the App Languages option, which was added with Android 13 DP1 but opened secretly. With this feature, you can change the language of the application you want. If your system is English, you can use the maps application in Turkish.
Removed App Icons from DND Priority App Settings
Previously, there was an application icon to the left of the application names in the Apps section. With Android 13 Developer Preview 2, this icon is removed.
New Display Size and Text Menu
The design of the Display Size And Text menu, which has been the same since Android 7.0, has been renewed. Previously, these two options were two separate menus. It is now collected under a single menu.
New Search in Settings Menu
Similar results are displayed when no results are found in the settings menu. Information about no results found is displayed on the top of the screen.
Android Tiramisu renamed to Android 13
Tiramisu version in Android 13 Developer Preview 1 has been replaced with Android 13 Developer Preview 2 with version 13.
New Screen Saver Menu
The Screen Saver menu, which has been the same since Android 4.0, has been redesigned with Android 13. There are still users who don’t know how to use this menu, but Google seems to have a plan to improve it.
New User Creation Menu
The new user menu, which has been the same since Android 5.0, has been redesigned. With this menu, we can now assign different colored user profile photos.
New Follow and Type Option inside Magnifier
Magnifier users can now set the magnifier feature to follow the text while typing. The magnifying glass enlarges the words as you type.
QR Reader is working now
The QR Reader feature was added with Android 13 Developer Preview 1 and it now works on Android 13 Developer Preview 2.
Bluetooth LE & MIDI 2.0 Support
On the sound front, new Android 13 Developer Preview adds built-in support for Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) Audio, as well as the MIDI 2.0 standard.
As you know, there are 2 types of Bluetooth protocols introduced with Bluetooth 4.2; Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth LE (Low Energy). With Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) technology, users will get longer battery life and higher performance when using Bluetooth. And new MIDI 2.0 standard, including the ability to connect MIDI 2.0 hardware through USB. MIDI 2.0 offers improvements such as increased resolution for controllers. As a result, higher performance and quality in sound and music await us in the new Android version.
New Emoji Format – COLRv1
Android 13 adds rendering support for COLRv1 and updates the system emoji to the COLRv1 format. COLRv1 color gradient vector fonts are supported as a new font format. These color fonts are made up of glyphs with multiple colors in them such as for emoji, country flags, or multi-colored letters. Google introduced it in the ChromeOS 98 update. Now available in the new developer preview version. In other words, we can theoretically say that it is used to prevent applications from using their own emojis. A single emoji pack in the whole system. Great!
Fixes & Improvements for non-Latin Languages
As you know, there are many languages that do not use the Latin alphabet. As a result, errors occur in the system and applications. Android 13 Developer Preview 2 comes with some improvements and bug fixes when displaying such characters. Custom row height is set for these languages. It’s also set to bring text wrapping for Japanese. Something called Bunsetsu provides this. Japanese user will be able to scroll the text thanks to Bunsetsu.
There is also a new text conversion API for Chinese and Japanese languages. With this new version, a text conversion API has been added to help those users find what they’re looking for faster and easier. Prior to this they had to use phonetic letter input methods, causing slow search and errors. You no longer need to convert Hiragana characters to Kanji. With the new text conversion API, Japanese users can type Hiragana and see Kanji search results directly. Nice solution for Japanese and Chinese users.
How to Install Android 13 Developer Preview 2?
First of all, even Android 13 Developer Preview and future Beta versions can only be installed on Pixel 4 and later Pixel devices. Google is officially releasing this developer preview update for the Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel 5a 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 4a (5G), Pixel 4a, Pixel 4 XL, or Pixel 4.
You can easily download Android Developer Preview 2, and be sure to check out our guide on how to install Android 13 if you’re unsure of how to do so. You can install it as Google suggested, using Android Flash Tool. Or you can download and install OTA rom for your device. Or you can use the 64-bit system images with the Android Emulator in Android Studio, and you can also use a GSI too. More information is available on this page.
The next version will now be a Beta release, we expect more innovations from Google. Stay tuned to follow the agenda and learn new things.