The news comes just as Android 12L is expected to launch in early spring for tablets and foldable phones. But not, perhaps unsurprisingly, with a run of dates that should cause any issues with that. Not least of all, that’s because the Developer Preview versions of Android 13 — if all goes according to schedule — won’t wrap up until some time in April. With February and March set as the range for the previews. After that, Android 13 will enter into a more widely-available but still not quite ready for the prime time phase via Beta launches. With those Beta builds running into at least June. The finalization of Android 13 won’t take place until after July. But that date hasn’t been clarified just yet either. Last year, Google launched Android 12 in October, coinciding with its Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro launch. So a similar timeline should likely be expected here.
Beyond the schedule for releases, what’s in Android 13 Developer Preview 1?
Now, early Android builds in preview don’t necessarily offer the deepest look at upcoming features. However, there are already a few noteworthy changes with the first preview build here. Privacy and security are taking center stage, just as they did with Android 12 and Android 11. The first preview includes a new system-level photo picker that should make sharing locally or over the cloud more secure. And easier. It also includes the new NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES runtime permission. That will be mandatory for any app that calls the WiFi APIs and uses Nearby device permission to search and connect to nearby devices over WiFi. That’s without the need to require location-based permissions. One of the more prominent user-facing changes, conversely, is that Android 13 brings Material You-based theming to all app icons. At the very least, for developers who choose to include the feature. Making theming more consistent across the board.
