The Best New Features Coming to Android This Year

You know that feeling when a new Android update drops and suddenly your phone feels fresh and exciting again? The thrill of new features and a revamped interface that makes you fall in love with your device all over. Well, if you're an Android fan like me, get ready to experience that feeling all over again this year. Google has been hard at work cooking up some amazing new updates for Android in 2020,and they're going to change the way you use your phone.

Android 13 Improved Privacy and Customization

Android 13 is coming later this year, and it's bringing some exciting new features

Improved Privacy Controls

Android 13 will give you more control over what personal information apps can access. You'll be able to limit apps from accessing your photo gallery, microphone, and location. About time, right? These new privacy controls will make it easier to keep nosy apps out of your business.

Customizable App Icons

Tired of your boring app icons? Android 13 will let you customize icons for individual apps or your entire home screen. Choose different colors, shapes, or upload your own images to make your phone uniquely you. Get ready to spice up your app drawer!

Better Multitasking

Android 13 improves multitasking with some useful additions. A new taskbar at the bottom of the screen shows all your recent apps so you can switch between them more easily. You'll also be able to drag and drop images, links or text between apps, allowing you to quickly copy info from one app to another.

More Material You

Material You, Android 12's design refresh, is expanding in Android 13. There are more color options to match your wallpaper, and these new color schemes will be applied more broadly across notifications, volume controls, and other system UI. Everything on your home screen will have a cohesive, personalized look.

More AI Integration Across Google Apps

Google announced some major updates coming to Android this year, including more AI integration across their apps.

Google Assistant will get smarter and more helpful.

The digital assistant we all know and love will soon do even more for you. Expect the Assistant to understand your questions and commands better, as Google continues to improve its natural language processing abilities. It will also get better at understanding context and having more engaging conversations.

AI-powered features in Google apps.

Many Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and Photos will gain new AI features to simplify your life. For example, Gmail may automatically suggest responses to emails or flag important messages for you. Maps could warn you about traffic conditions on your route and suggest alternate paths. Photos may create curated collections of your best shots from a trip or event.

Improved on-device machine learning.

Instead of sending all your data to Google's servers, Android will do some machine learning right on your phone. This means potentially faster, more private AI experiences. For instance, your keyboard may learn your typing habits and suggest words without transmitting personal info to the cloud. Or the camera could detect scenes and objects instantly without an internet connection.

Faster Performance and Longer Battery Life

Android 12 is bringing some exciting new features that will significantly improve your experience. Some of the updates you can look forward to include:

Faster Performance

Android 12 will provide speed and performance improvements across the board. The new OS is optimized to better allocate resources like CPU, memory, and battery. Apps will launch up to 22% faster, the keyboard will respond 21% quicker, and unlocking your phone with biometrics will be up to 50% faster.

Improved Battery Life

In addition to performance enhancements, Android 12 is engineered to be more battery efficient. Idle apps won't run background processes, the OS will hibernate apps you're not using, and a built-in power usage dashboard will give you insights into how each app impacts your battery life. With these intelligent power saving features, you can expect your battery to last longer between charges.

Enhanced Privacy Controls

Android 12 gives you more transparency and control over how apps access your data. The new privacy dashboard shows you which apps are accessing your mic, camera, location and other sensitive info. You'll be able to instantly disable access for any app right from the dashboard. Android 12 also introduces new indicators to show when your mic or camera are in use, so you're always aware of how your data is being accessed.

Improved Accessibility

For those with visual impairments or other accessibility needs, Android 12 provides new options like magnification, contrast adjustments, and talkback support. The Accessibility Menu has also been redesigned to make features easier to find. Whether you have a disability or just want a more customized experience, Android 12 gives you more ways to adapt the interface to your needs

Additional Camera and Imaging Features

Android phones are getting some exciting camera updates this year. Here are a few of the new features coming to Android devices:

Enhanced Zoom

Many new Android phones will offer enhanced optical zoom capabilities. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra offers a whopping 10x optical zoom for high-quality long distance shots. Other phones may offer 3x or 5x optical zoom. This allows you to zoom in on subjects from farther away without losing image quality.

8K Video Recording

The most advanced Android phones in 2021 will be capable of recording video in stunning 8K resolution. That’s four times the quality of 4K! 8K video capture requires a massive amount of processing power and storage space, so it will likely only be featured on higher-end flagship devices this year. But for content creators and videographers, 8K video on an Android phone will be an exciting new tool.

More Consistent Updates Across Devices

One of the most exciting updates coming to Android this year is faster, more consistent software and security updates across more devices. Google has made it a priority to streamline the update process for Android partners to bring the latest version of Android and security patches to all users.

Google is also working closely with chipmakers like Qualcomm to ensure their hardware platforms support multiple Android versions, making updates easier to develop. The goal is for most Android devices to receive regular security updates for at least two years after their release.

Some other improvements coming to the Android update process include:

Streamlined testing to speed up carrier approvals. Carriers add their own apps and customizations to Android updates, which has caused delays. Google is making the update process more standardized so carriers can approve updates faster.

Seamless updates so you never have to manually download and install an update again. Updates will install in the background and automatically reboot your device when ready.

Project Mainline will allow critical components like the media player or Bluetooth modules to be updated directly by Google, without a full OS update. This will patch vulnerabilities and bugs faster.

By improving the update process across the Android ecosystem, Google hopes to make the platform safer and easier to maintain for both manufacturers and users. The end result should be a better overall experience with the latest features and security protections on more Android devices.

Conclusion

So there you have it, an exciting preview of what's coming to your Android phone later this year. Faster updates, smarter AI, improved security, and all sorts of refinements across the board. 2020 is shaping up to be a big year for Android and a great time to be part of the ecosystem. The best part is, all these new features are designed to make your life easier and your phone more useful. What are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for all the details as Google releases updates over the next few months. The future of Android is looking bright!