Now that you’ve got Android 13 up and running on your Google Pixel phone, you might be wondering what’s new and what to look out for. Of course, there are new features, even if the transition from Android 12 to 13 is not massive.

Let’s dive into the best new features of Android 13.

Other Material Colors You

Android 13 Material you color

Google introduced its Material You design language last year with a really nifty Android wallpaper color trick that allows your system to use colors from any wallpaper you host. They expand on this in Android 13 by giving you additional color packs (now 16 options) to choose from in the Wallpaper & Style area, and for the first time they allow non-Google apps to match icon colors with your theme. . The icons won’t change on their own and developers need to accept them, but we’re already seeing apps like ESPN, Relay Pro, and more.

Media player update

Android 13 media player

The media player you’ll see in the notification area has been updated to showcase album art and dance through the playbar as the song progresses. In fact, it’s just a funny squiggle, but it’s neat.

New notification permission

13 Permission to notify

On Android 13, apps will ask you for permission to show you notifications. This is a big change that makes notifications a lot less spammy if you “allow” or “don’t allow” right away. Those nasty games your child installs will be furious.

If you’re getting a bunch of pop-ups asking you to allow notifications right after installing Android 13, that’s fine. Also, you can view your favorites to see if they are still allowed to ping you.

Android 13’s new photo picker is private

Android 13 has a new photo picker, so when you’re about to share a photo in the app, only the photos you choose will be available, not the entire library. In previous versions, you had to share your entire media library. Pretty big change, right?

QR scanner shortcut

13 QR code

It’s somewhat minor, but we love it as we live in a world where places like restaurants are fully accepting QR codes again. Now in Android 13, at least on Pixel phones, there’s a quick settings shortcut to launch the QR code scanner. It is very comfortable.

App languages ​​for each app

Android 13 app language

An important feature for those who speak multiple languages ​​and may want apps to appear in those different languages ​​is that users can now set them on a per-app basis. So you can set one language at the system level and then others in text apps or Google Maps and the like.

To change them, go to Settings > System > Languages ​​& Input and look for App Languages.

Android tablets got a taskbar

This is actually a carry over from Android 12L, but Android 13 is made for tablets. Tablet users will get a real taskbar at the bottom, an improved multi-window interface, and a screen that should separately register palm and stylus touches. We’re starting to see similar features on Samsung’s foldable devices, and they’ll also be highlighted on the upcoming Pixel tablet.

Here are some other new features in Android 13:

  • Spatial sound supportA: Android 13 brings Spatial Audio support to supported headphones, where you get head-tracking audio for an incredibly immersive listening experience. The new Pixel Buds Pro will get this feature soon.
  • Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)A: Yes, Android 13 also introduces Bluetooth LE support to reduce latency, improve audio quality, and stream audio to multiple devices at the same time.
  • Night mode gets more customization: In Google’s Digital Wellbeing package, you can further customize settings with wallpaper dimming options and system dark theme.
  • Copying from device to device: If you have a tablet and a phone running Android 13, you will soon be able to copy content (URLs, texts, images, etc.) on one and paste it on the other using the “Sharing with the environment” feature.
  • Clearing the clipboardA: Android 13 will automatically clear your clipboard for a certain period of time so that your copied passwords or login credentials are not left there to be accidentally pasted in an unwanted location.

To get started with Android 13, we tell you here.

// Google | Android Developers