Google on Wednesday released the third Android 12 developer preview for its Pixel phone lineup. As with the previous Android 12 previews, this update focuses solely on developer-facing features and improvements. It should be the last major update to the Android 12 preview before Google launches the Android 12 beta, most likely at Google I/O in the middle of May.
The update, which is currently available on Google’s own Pixel line of phones, includes an improved app launch animation. The new-look launch screen is customizable by app developers, to streamline the launch screen of all apps on an Android device.
There’s also a new incoming call animation, new permissions for exact alarms to schedule tasks for apps in order to save battery life, and improved web linking that automatically uses the default browser. Other changes made in the new developer build include better haptics and better video encoding.
You can see the full list of what’s changed in the latest Android 12 update on the Android Developer blog.
Anyone with a Pixel 3 or newer can install the Android 12 developer preview. However, I don’t recommend it. It’s an early beta that has a decent amount of bugs and performance issues that Google is working through. Even with regular updates, as is usually the case for Android betas, some bugs are fixed, while other bugs are introduced.
According to Google’s Android 12 timeline, May is when it expects to release the first public beta. If anything, wait until Google reveals more details about Android 12 at Google I/O when it kicks off May 18.
