Google releases Android 12 Beta 3 for Pixel phones

Abner Li | Jul 14 2021 - 9:59 am PT

Compared to last year, Android 12 is pushing back the release candidate build by one version with Beta 3 rolling out today as another “incremental Beta-quality release.”

Like last month’s early update, developers are advised to continue compatibility testing and start early testing with targeting Android 12, while watching for feedback from users in the Android Beta Program on Pixel and other devices.

Ahead of schedule, Beta 3 features the official API Level 31 SDK. “Full” Platform Stability is still scheduled for Beta 4, and will include final app-facing system behaviors and non-SDK interface restrictions.

Here’s everything new in Android 12 Beta 3 [Gallery]

In a real “finally,” Android 12 Beta 3 introduces scrolling screenshots. When you screenshot, there will be a new “Capture more” button in the tray that takes users to a full preview with the ability to adjust cropping. Google expects scrolling screenshots to work out-of-the-box for most — standard View-based UI — apps. Apps with highly customized UIs can take advantage of a new ScrollCapture API. More updates will be coming in the next release:

We’re continuing to iterate on scrolling screenshots and in Beta 4 you’ll see improvements to the default support, such as for scrolling ListViews. We’re also working to provide support for a wider variety of content (such as web content). Let us know what you think!

Google has made auto-rotate more accurate by leveraging the front camera for face detection. Ideal for people using their devices while lying down. “Enhanced auto-rotate” on the Pixel 4 and newer has to be enabled by end users in Settings. It makes use of the Private Compute Core so that “images are never stored or sent off the device.” Other enhancements include:

To make screen rotation as speedy as possible on all devices, we’ve also optimized the animation and redrawing and added an ML-driven gesture-detection algorithm. As a result, the latency for the base auto-rotate feature has been reduced by 25%, and the benefits of the face detection enhancement build on top of those improvements.

AppSearch allows for high-performance on-device search where apps can index structured data and search over it with built-in full-text search capabilities. Other capabilities include highly-efficient indexing and retrieval, multi-language support, and relevancy ranking. A central index allows the OS to search for data, while developers can share with other apps.

Companion apps for wearables and other accessories can now “launch foreground services from the background by declaring a new normal permission.”

On the privacy front, Google will help reduce visual conflicts introduced by the camera/microphone privacy indicators, especially in fullscreen apps, while those toggles are now available to enterprise admins on fully-managed devices.

Android Beta Feedback can be accessed from the app drawer or via Quick Settings to file bugs in the Google issue tracker. The Android Beta community is available on Reddit.

Android 12 Beta 3 (SPB3.210618.013) system images are available for the Pixel 3 (XL), Pixel 3a (XL), Pixel 4 (XL), Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, and Pixel 5, as well as the Android Emulator. Those on Beta 3 will see an OTA update in the coming hours. If you need help, here’s our full guide on installing Android 12.