Android 12 Developer Preview 3 is Now Available!

Another build closer to Android 12 beta.

Google dropped the Android 12 Developer Preview 3 on us this morning to help developers further test the newest version of Android before it goes to beta. This is likely the last big preview build before beta too, so testing is going to be important at this stage.

In this new Developer Preview 3, Google still isn’t ready to talk about any new features that you’ll get to play with and is instead still talking about the technical moves developers need to make to their apps. The big highlights here (so far) are customized haptic feedback in apps, “frictionless linking” to apps, and a new app launch animation.

Here is the new build info:

Release date: April 21, 2021
Build: SPP3.210325.010
Emulator support: x86 (64-bit), ARM (v8-A)
Security patch level: April 2021
Google Play services: 21.12.12

What’s new in Android 12 Developer Preview 3

• Improved app launch experience: Google is making the “app startup a more consistent and delightful experience” and has “added a new app launch animation for all apps from the point of launch, a splash screen showing the app icon, and a transition to the app itself.” Developers can customize colors, light or dark themes, and exit animations too.
• Improved web linking: Google is changing the action that occurs when someone clicks on a link in Android 12. Now, if the links aren’t verified through Android App Links, they’ll open directly in the phone’s default browser instead of the pop-up chooser. Because of that change, Google is making it easier to get links approved for faster opening going forward.
• Rich haptic experiences: The buzzes your phone makes are going to be a lot more fun in Android 12 with “informative haptic feedback for UI events, immersive and delightful effects for gaming, and attentional haptics for productivity.” Think about gaming controllers and the feedback you get – your phone could do that while running Android 12. For DP3, Google is further expanding the tools to allow for these experiences.
• More-flexible backup configurations: Google is improving backup service in Android 12 to give developers “more flexibility and control,” with an “updated the XML configuration format so you can now set different rules for cloud backups and device-to-device transfers.”
• There are additional changes for the Camera2 vendor extensions, video encoding improvements, faster machine learning, quad bayer camera sensor support, and better debugging. Hit that source link below to dive into each change.

We’ll definitely install this new build and look for forward-facing features you might enjoy. Stay tuned for more on that front in a separate post.

This Preview 3 build is available on the Google Pixel 5, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 3a and 3a XL, and Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The Android Beta program is not yet available for Android 12, so to get into it, you may need to flash some files. However, if you are already running an Android 12 build, Google will be pushing this DP3 to your phone shortly as an over-the-air update.

For instructions on how to install Android Developer Preview 3, head over to this post.

// Android Developers Blog