2022’s big Android upgrade, Android 13, is formally releasing now for Google's Pixel devices, the search giant has publicized. The once a year update is getting an official release a little sooner than standard, following Android 12's launch in October 2021 as well as Android 11's launch back in September of 2020.
The rundown of revisions arriving with this year's edition of Android is very likely to be familiar if you've been staying up to date with Android 13's beta releases. There's the ability to personalize non-Google app icons to go with your homescreen wallpaper that we found in Android 13's first developer preview, a new permission to minimize notification spam, and also a new option to restrict which of your photos and videos an app can get access to.
The revision includes support for spatial audio with head tracking, which is made to make sounds look as though they're originating from a fixed point in space when you move your head whilst wearing compatible headphones, quite similar to a feature Apple delivers for its AirPods. Today's article doesn't say specifically which headphones this will use, but Google earlier revealed it would be improving its Pixel Buds Pro to give support for spatial audio.
Furthermore, there's the potential to stream messages from apps including Google Messages directly to a Chromebook, very similar to iMessage on the Mac. It's one other feature that Google revealed in January. Along with its own Messages app, one of Google's promotional resources also shows this getting the job done with the messaging app Signal, as well as the company points out the function will operate with "a lot of your other favorite messaging apps." The revision also incorporates a feature that helps you copy content from an Android smartphone to be pasted on an Android tablet and the other way around.
Some other Android 13 benefits include the ability to set up languages on a per-app basis, an upgraded media player that adapts its look based on what you're listening to, support for Bluetooth Low Energy for superior sound quality at lower bitrates as well as reduced latency, enhanced multitasking on large-screen units with drag and drop support for multitasking, and also better palm rejection when using styluses.
The Android update will be coming to phones from various other companies such as Samsung, Oppo, OnePlus, HMD, Motorola, Realme, Sony, Xiaomi, and Asus later this year Google's Sameer Samat writes in the news article. For more facts on the changes coming in the update, go to Google's blog post www.blog.google/products/android/android-13