The new version of Android is now available. In addition to its new interface, Android 12 embeds some new features and improves some already in place. Discover the tips and hidden features to get started with Google’s new mobile OS.
After several months of beta testing, Android 12 is officially available. If Google Pixels are the first served, devices from other manufacturers will be entitled to them in the coming weeks, starting with the most recent.
With Android 12, Google is launching Material You, its new responsive design that maps accent colors to the wallpaper used on the device.
But the new version of Android is not limited to a more modern interface. Some new functions are emerging, while some older ones have been improved. To help you find your way around, you will find in the following lines our tips and hidden functions to get started with Android 12.
Also to discover in video:
1. Take full screen screenshots
Android 12 can now take scrolling screenshots. Those screenshots in full screen are, in principle, accessible from the pop-up which is displayed when you have just taken a screenshot by using for example the combination of keys provided for this purpose on your device.
Just press the Capture more option to display the full page of the website or application on which the screenshot was taken. All you have to do is adjust the framing to get the scrolling screenshot you want and then Save it.
However, while this option is in principle intended to be enabled by default on Android 12, this is not always the case. On the Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 4a that we have on hand and on which we have the Android 12 update installed, the scrolling screenshot is natively non-existent.
If you are in this case, you can activate it manually. To do this, open Chrome, go to the address chrome: // flags / # scroll-capture to activate the Scroll Capture flag. Once this flag is activated, the scrolling screenshots are accessible in Chrome, but also on all the applications offering scrolling content.
2. Start playing before downloading a game.
Google has obviously planned a new function for impatient gamers. Now it will be possible to start playing some games even before their download is complete in the Play Store.
Unfortunately, for the time being, we do not know the list of games affected by this novelty.
3. Use proximity sharing to share the Wi-Fi password
While it was previously possible to easily share the Wi-Fi connection password with a third party by having them scan a QR Code, it is now possible to use Proximity Sharing to share it.
To do this, open Settings, enter Network & Internet, select Internet and tap on the Wi-Fi network you are connected to.
Then tap the Share option and, in the window showing the QR Code, tap the Nearby button, displayed at the bottom of the screen. Then choose to Enable nearby sharing, and select the device to share the Wi-Fi connection password to.
The owner of the other Android smartphone will then only have to accept the initiated sharing to be automatically connected to the Wi-Fi network.
4. Check if the microphone or camera is used
As Apple offers since iOS 14, Google introduced in Android 12 a new option to know if your smartphone’s microphone or camera is in use. When an app accesses your microphone, camera, or both, a green dot is displayed at the top right of the screen.
By deploying the quick access panel, Android 12 displays icons for active items.
5. Block access to microphone and camera
If it is now possible to easily know if the microphone or the camera of your smartphone are active, you can also block access very easily. To do this, fully extend the Quick Settings panel and tap the pencil icon.
Scroll through the options offered until you reach the box Drag blocks to add them and drag the Mic access and Camera access blocks in the top box to integrate them into the quick settings panel. If necessary, move the blocks to rearrange them and change their location.
Now all you have to do is unfold this panel and then touch these two buttons to momentarily block access to your smartphone’s microphone and camera.
6. Activate one-handed mode
If you’re using a smartphone with a large screen, but the thumb of your little hand has trouble reaching the top of the screen, you can turn on One-Hand Mode to navigate your smartphone more easily.
To do this, open Settings, go to the System menu, then to the Gestures menu. Then enter One-handed mode and activate the option.
To switch to one-handed mode, briefly swipe down on the bottom of the screen, in the center, about 2 cm from the edge of the smartphone, to “lower” the screen. Do the same gesture towards the top of the screen or touch the top area of the screen to return to full screen.
7. Zoom locally on the screen
If you suffer from vision problems, Android 12 includes a shortcut to quickly zoom in on a part of the screen. To activate this shortcut, open Settings, go to the Accessibility menu and enter the Magnify menu.
The shortcut is then displayed on the right side of the screen. Touch it to activate the function. A square area displays and zooms in on the part of the screen above which it is placed. Touch the icon at the bottom right of the box to move it.
Note that the content displayed in this magnified area can be further zoomed by dragging in / out two fingers.