The IT behemoth Google has begun rolling out Android 13 with several new features, beginning with Pixel smartphones and including better privacy controls, language settings, and more. Google announced that later this year, Android 13 will be made available for devices made by Samsung Galaxy, ASUS, HMD (Nokia phones), iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, Xiaomi, and more.
"Android 13 comes with new capabilities for your phone and tablet, like extending app colour theming to even more apps, language settings that can be set on an app level, improved privacy controls..." Sameer Samat, VP of Product Management, Android and Google Play, said in a blogpost.
According to the manufacturer, it builds on Material You and has a more sophisticated appearance and aesthetic. Non-Google apps can be customised by users to fit their phone's wallpaper theme and colours, creating a more coherent and distinctive home screen.
Android 13 features an updated media player that tailors its look and feel based on the music or podcast you're listening to. "For example, when you are listening to music, the media player spotlights album artwork and has a playback bar that dances as you progress through a song.
"It even works for media played through Chrome," the company said. It allows users to further customise the bedtime mode with wallpaper dimming and a dark theme. These screen options help users' eyes adjust to the dark when they are about to go to bed and get back to sleep if they wake up to check their phones in the middle of the night.
Users can also prevent any unwanted access to their clipboard. If they copy sensitive data like their email address, phone number, or login credentials on your device, Android will automatically clear your clipboard history after a while.
On supported headphones that enable head tracking, Spatial Audio shifts the source of the sound to adapt to how you turn your head, giving you a more immersive listening experience on your Android phone or tablet.
Android 13 adopts Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio, a new Bluetooth audio standard that results in lower latency than classic audio.This allows you to hear audio that better syncs with the sound's source, reducing delay.
With Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio, you can also enjoy enhanced audio quality and broadcast audio to multiple devices at the same time.