Android 12 Leak Appears To Show Major Redesign With Color-Changing UI (arstechnica.com) 47
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The final version of Android 12 should be released sometime in September, but the first developer preview is expected any day now. Our first hint of what Google's new release might have in store comes to us from XDA Developers' Mishaal Rahman, who has some pictures of what looks like a major UI overhaul for Android 12. According to the report, these images represent mockups, not screenshots, of Android 12. The mockups appear in a document describing the new features of Android 12, and the document is being passed around to partners as a heads-up before the public rollout.
The first thing that jumps out to me is the weird sepia-tone color scheme, like someone left night mode on permanently. This color scheme looks like a huge change compared to the all-white color scheme of Android 11, but it's probably completely up to the user. [...] Even if we ignore the colors, the notification panel is still pretty different, which is totally on brand for Android, as the notification panel gets revamped in every release. Starting at the top, the weird black status bar is gone, replaced with a single sheet that serves as a notification background. It's not transparent here, but that could just be a mockup inaccuracy. The time and date have swapped places, with the date on top now. The quick settings are no longer in a box, and they've been cut down to four instead of six (booo!). The Quick Settings shapes have been configurable in the past, but it now looks like there's a mix of shapes, with disabled settings having a square background and enabled settings getting a circle.
There's also a new "Privacy" settings screen, which gives you what looks like systemwide kill switches for the camera, microphone, and location. None of these switches is new, but you get easy, more obvious access to them now. This privacy screen also seems to show a new design for the settings. In addition to the new color scheme, it looks like Google is taking after Samsung and some other Android OEMs in designing settings screens with reachability in mind. There's a huge "Privacy" banner at the top, with lots of white space above it, pushing the start of the list down from the very top of the phone. Most good implementations of this feature shrink the top banner once you start scrolling. The final new item in the mockups is a "conversations" widget. This seems to show a person or group chat and recent messages or calls from that person. It appears to combine messages from multiple apps into a single widget, which would be possible through the existing notification APIs.
The first thing that jumps out to me is the weird sepia-tone color scheme, like someone left night mode on permanently. This color scheme looks like a huge change compared to the all-white color scheme of Android 11, but it's probably completely up to the user. [...] Even if we ignore the colors, the notification panel is still pretty different, which is totally on brand for Android, as the notification panel gets revamped in every release. Starting at the top, the weird black status bar is gone, replaced with a single sheet that serves as a notification background. It's not transparent here, but that could just be a mockup inaccuracy. The time and date have swapped places, with the date on top now. The quick settings are no longer in a box, and they've been cut down to four instead of six (booo!). The Quick Settings shapes have been configurable in the past, but it now looks like there's a mix of shapes, with disabled settings having a square background and enabled settings getting a circle.
There's also a new "Privacy" settings screen, which gives you what looks like systemwide kill switches for the camera, microphone, and location. None of these switches is new, but you get easy, more obvious access to them now. This privacy screen also seems to show a new design for the settings. In addition to the new color scheme, it looks like Google is taking after Samsung and some other Android OEMs in designing settings screens with reachability in mind. There's a huge "Privacy" banner at the top, with lots of white space above it, pushing the start of the list down from the very top of the phone. Most good implementations of this feature shrink the top banner once you start scrolling. The final new item in the mockups is a "conversations" widget. This seems to show a person or group chat and recent messages or calls from that person. It appears to combine messages from multiple apps into a single widget, which would be possible through the existing notification APIs.
Leak? (Score:2)
Looks like they've improved security too..
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It's safe to assume any such "leak" these days is a publicity stunt. Or it's meant to test the waters: if people hate it, they can change it back and pretend it didn't happen.
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Probably yet another case of leaking information quasi-unintentionally to gauge the reaction of their users regarding some update, easing the sense of commitment they're put under had they decided to make an official statement instead.
Or something like that... [youtu.be]
rounded corners (Score:2)
Wait, so are we doing rounded corners, or are we not doing rounded corners? This seems to keep going back n forth constantly!
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They havent tried: rounded sides and rounded face yet.
You left out the new killer craze, round phones /s
Re:rounded corners (Score:5, Insightful)
Pointless changes? Check.
Harder to view? Check.
Even less contrast between elements? Check.
Definitely a more "modern" UI. They're not going to stop until everything is some shade of light grey on a slightly less light grey background.
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The Samsung Galaxy S5 (I think? might have been an older S) actually had this as a feature that was late removed. The phone could be switch to black and white mode. I actually used this regularly for usability testing while building mobile web sites. And it did save battery life, because they used a quad-dot OLED (RGBW), with the RGB disabled and only the W illuminating. But for some bumfuck reason they removed the feature in a "security update"
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I can't wait for this to be released along with a horde of cries from Slashdot users complaining that they can't get the update on their phone.
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So flat (Score:5, Insightful)
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This.
Buttons that look like buttons, static text that looks like static text.
And long press/right click gives a context menu EVERWHERE
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Sad how this is going. If sick of this simplification of UIs. It'd be tolerable if it just stayed on mobile devices but Microsoft seems to be keen on copying that stupidness in Windows. We'll have to be grateful if they dont' decide that context menus are too complex and remove them from Windows.
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Want to vomit after looking at it (Score:2)
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Wow, colors (Score:3)
A new color-changing UI, wow.
Stop innovating, you relentless bastards!
Please...just. stop. changing. shit.
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What? You don't look forward to relearning how your phone works, where everything has been moved to, and what was removed because someone thinks there's too many options?
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What? You don't look forward to relearning how your phone works, where everything has been moved to, and what was removed because someone thinks there's too many options?
Sounds like a great way to fritter away the day, but "no".
Copied from Sailfish (Score:2)
App and control colouring based on background has been in Sailfish since the beginning.
Does look a lot better than the fugliness that has been the past ten versions of Android though.
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Hipsters (Score:3, Insightful)
I hope the fix the volume control (Score:2, Interesting)
Ringtone and notifications are 2 separate things they should each have their own volume control or at least let the user separate them. The only sure way to separate the volume now is to load manually, sound files at different levels for one or the other. It's PITA. God knows how many apps I went through just to get this stupid feature to work before I just loaded a muted notification sound and gave up.
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It's been that way for... 4 years at least now, longer I think. The volume keys control the media volume, but you can tap to expand the control and adjust ring and notification volumes separately.
Additionally for ringing and notifications you have a quick control to set mute or vibrate only.
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Not sure if you are even using Android but I haven't had that option now since the change. Expanding the sound option still only presents on volume option for "Ring and notification volume". This is my third phone where Android doesn't present this option.
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I'm on pure Android, Google Pixel 5. It's been split out that way since at least three original Pixel.
Maybe your manufacturer disabled it for some reason.
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So am I. Ring and notifications is on one volume control. On Pixel 2, 3, 3XL and 4. One volume control for ringer and notifications. Android 10 and 11. Pure Google Android. Tell me where you see 2 different volume adjustments for ringer and notifications. It sure ain't on my phone.
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Original Pixel XL. Android 10, unmodified.
Tap the volume up or volume down button. You get a side menu which sets the media playback volume. At the top is a toggle for sound on/vibrate only/silent. At the bottom is a little slider icon. Tap that and you get a different menu with
- Media volume
- Call volume
- Ring volume
- Alarm volume
At the bottom is a "see more" link, which takes you to even more advanced options for fine control over the phone's sound options.
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Original Pixel XL. Android 10, unmodified.
Tap the volume up or volume down button. You get a side menu which sets the media playback volume. At the top is a toggle for sound on/vibrate only/silent. At the bottom is a little slider icon. Tap that and you get a different menu with
- Media volume
- Call volume
- Ring volume
- Alarm volume
At the bottom is a "see more" link, which takes you to even more advanced options for fine control over the phone's sound options.
Yes! Exactly! Your Ring volume controls your notification volume. There is no separate control for notifications even on your Original Pixel XL. It isn't on the Pixel 2, nor on the Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3XL or any other pixel.
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Link ringtone and notification volume
Gold taps (Score:2)
Signs a person has list the plot: bragging about gold bath taps
Signs an OS has lost the plot: bragging about color scheme updates
Phones for basement dwellers (Score:2)
Am I the only person that noticed the contrast is complete crap and this means that text could be very hard to read for anyone who doesn't sit in an office all day or has less than perfect eyesight. Nearly as bad as google maps.
Low-Contrast Text Is Not the Answer (Score:3)
Low-contrast text may be trendy, but it is also illegible, undiscoverable, and inaccessible! https://www.nngroup.com/articl... [nngroup.com]
Low-contrast font color and unreadable texts? To hell with them! https://contrastrebellion.com/ [contrastrebellion.com]
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Low-contrast text may be trendy
We hear you. Will do.
- Google Engineer.
Yet more evidence ... (Score:2)
call me stupid (Score:2)
...but "night mode"?
Is there such a thing in my Android phone?
I've been wanting an all-red low light readable theme for my phone for a decade, never was willing to pay for it.
will native call recording be back? (Score:1)
A new isotope of moronium (Score:1)
Turns out companies will do almost anything to avoid having to fix existing bugs.