While a significant number of users are still using Android 9, Android 10, and Google’s Android 12L has yet to be officially released, Android 13 is already here. On Feb. 11, Google released the first developer preview of Android 13, with the stable release set for four months.
No doubt the Android 13 announcement came as a surprise to many Android users, with the reaction focusing on “Android 12 isn’t available yet, why is 13 here” and questioning whether Google is “swiping the version numbers” again. However, if you look at Google’s past release pace, February’s developer preview is pretty routine. The first developer previews of Android 11 and Android 12 were released in February.
However, the comments could be part of the fragmentation of the Android experience, as native Android seems to be moving toward mediocrity and underperformance in the perception of users.
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01 Android 13, upgrade without upgrade
Compared to the previous generation, Android 12 has introduced a “Material You” feature that allows users to change the look and feel of the system based on the depth of wallpaper color, making the overall style more personalized and diverse, as well as changes to privacy items such as the camera and microphone. Android 13 takes the “Material You” and privacy aspects of Android 12 further. You could also say that Android 13 is a patch for Android 12.
Android 13 puts privacy and security at the heart of the upgrade, introducing a photo picker and a new Wi-Fi permission. The photo picker limits the application’s ability to read albums. Users can allow the application to read only parts of photos. The new Wi-Fi access ensures that devices that only need wi-fi access don’t have to reveal their location after establishing a connection.
In addition, the ‘Material You’ feature is no longer limited to Google’s first-party apps, and all third-party apps can now be adapted to Google’s needs. However, adaptation only supports the app icon, and the in-app interface cannot be changed.
02 Why Do Android Users Upgrade Slowly
For the two successive generations of Android upgrades, the perception among users is not high, not so much the users are slow, but Google is slow.
Domestic manufacturers generally develop independent UI systems customized to the new version of Android. In the past two years, there have been Origin OS, Color OS, Magic UI and Flyme which are highly praised. Although MIUI of Xiaomi is suffering from a failure of reputation, it is also the first product of Xiaomi, which has gone through 10 years of development just like Xiaomi mobile phone.
These customized systems have distinct characteristics compared to the original Android, that is, they are extremely suitable for the user’s use scenario. Small to answer the phone in the game, small window to reply to the message, quickly open healthbao; Large enough to work with computer devices as a hub for home management and privacy management. Handset makers clearly know better than Google what users want.
Especially in the past two years, Google’s upgrade is more inclined to empower developers and provide APIS to facilitate third-party modifications. For mobile phone manufacturers, the strategic position of mobile phone system is increasingly prominent, becoming the soft power of tandem hardware ecosystem. Google is more of a maintainer of open source systems, while handset manufacturers are undoubtedly the real developers.
Google is stepping up efforts to address its weaknesses
Google seems to be aware of similar issues, with updates to Android 13 focusing more on app compatibility, such as making more Android features available via Google Play and optimising them for tablets, foldable devices and Chromebooks. These tweaks could lead to a more consistent experience on the Android platform.
Google is also learning from Apple. At CES 2022, Google introduced Its “Better Together” initiative, which aims to partner with manufacturers and developers to bring Android users a similar experience to the Apple ecosystem, such as teleporting, device relay, and more. These functions are already partially implemented by mobile phone manufacturers.
If you want to try out the latest Android 13, just download and swipe the official system image onto the Pixel 6 Pro / 6/5A 5G / 5/4A (5G) / 4A / 4 XL / 4 device. Or a tablet or foldable device configuration using an Android emulator.