Android 13 has today launched in its final form. Unlike Android 12, the new Android 13 is one of the smaller mobile OS releases and doesn’t bring too much to the table regarding features and enhancements.
Instead, Google has been focused on brushing up the loose ends left by Android 12 and 12L.
This year’s major update will first be officially released for Google’s Pixel phones, the search giant has announced.
The new update comes jam-packed with new capabilities for your phone and tablet, like extending app color theming to even more apps, language settings that can be set on an app level, improved privacy controls, and even the ability to copy text and media from one Android device and paste it to another with just a click.
There are many reasons to love Android 13, but here are our top 13:
1. Android 13 comes with an evolved look and style that builds on Material You. You can customize non-Google apps to match your phone’s wallpaper theme and colors, making your home screen more cohesive and unique to your style.
2. For the many Android users who speak more than one language, you can now assign specific languages to individual apps so you can keep your phone’s system in one language, and each of your apps in a different language.
3. 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’re 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.
4. Android 13 allows you to further customize Bedtime mode with wallpaper dimming and a dark theme. These screen options help your eyes adjust to the dark when you’re about to go to bed – and get back to sleep if you wake up and check your phone in the middle of the night.
5. In Android 13, you can select the specific photos and videos apps can access instead of the whole library.
6. Prevent any unwanted access to your clipboard. If you copy sensitive data like your email address, phone number, or login credentials on your device, Android will automatically clear your clipboard history after a period of time.
7. Android 13 helps keep your notifications under control and makes sure you only get the alerts you ask for. The apps you download will now need your explicit permission to send notifications, rather than being allowed to send notifications by default.
8. Feel like you’re in the middle of the action with Spatial Audio. 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.
9. When you’re on your laptop, you don’t want to break your workflow to respond to a chat from your phone. Soon, you’ll be able to stream your messaging apps directly to your Chromebook so you can send and receive messages from your laptop.
10. 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’s in better sync with the sound’s source, reducing delay. With Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio, you can also enjoy the enhanced audio quality and broadcast audio to multiple devices at the same time.
11. You’ll soon be able to copy content — like a URL, picture, text, or video — from your Android phone and paste it onto your tablet. Or you can start on your tablet and paste it to your phone.
12. Multitasking on your tablet is even easier with Android 13. With the newly updated taskbar on tablets, you can see all your apps at a glance and easily drag and drop any app in your library into split-screen mode.
13. Android tablets will register your palm and stylus pen as separate touches. So whether you’re writing or drawing on your tablet, you’ll experience fewer accidental stray marks that come from simply resting your hand on the screen.
Android 13 is packed with these and many other features, like HDR video support on third-party camera apps, an updated media output switcher, braille displays for Talkback, and more. And it goes beyond the phone to give you a connected set of experiences across your other devices like your tablets and laptops.
Android 13 is rolling out to Pixel devices starting today. Later this year, Android 13 will also roll out to your favorite devices from Samsung Galaxy, Asus, HMD (Nokia phones), iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, Vivo, Xiaomi, and more.
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