Google releases Android 12 Beta with a focus on beauty, speed, and privacy

Android has been a bit boring lately -- it has been hard to get excited about Google's Linux-based mobile operating system. Android 10 and 11, for instance, were more evolution than revolution. While there was plenty going on underneath the hood, there wasn't much to excite the typical Android user.

Well, folks, Android is about to get fun once again. Today at Google I/O, the search giant unveiled Android 12. Even better, the search giant has since released a Beta of the operating system. This version of the OS is very exciting, as it puts a lot of emphasis on eye candy and aesthetics -- things that do matter. In other words, typical end users will actually see something fresh and new.

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"Starting with Android 12 on Pixel devices, you'll be able to completely personalize your phone with a custom color palette and redesigned widgets. Using what we call color extraction, you choose your wallpaper, and the system automatically determines which colors are dominant, which ones are complementary and which ones just look great. It then applies those colors across the entire OS: the notification shade, the lock screen, the volume controls, new widgets and much more," says Sameer Samat, VP, Google.

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Samat further says, "We've also simplified interactions and recrafted the entire underlying system to make your experience more fluid and efficient. Your Android devices are now faster and more responsive with better power efficiency so you can use your device for longer without a charge. This was achieved by some under-the-hood improvements including reducing the CPU time needed for core system services by up to 22 percent and reducing the use of big cores by the system server by up to 15 percent."

Of course, there is much more to Android 12 than speed and looks. Users should appreciate the new Privacy Dashboard which lets you know how apps are using your data. And yes, you can easily stop apps from tracking you. Android 12 evens borrows a feature from iOS, providing visual indicators when your microphone and cameras are being accessed.

So, wait. Android 12 will both run faster and look prettier? And on top of that, it will focus more on privacy too? Woo-hoo! This news is exactly what Android users have been craving, Google! So far, Android 12 looks to be quite the substantial update; this version is something to truly get excited about.

If you have a compatible device, you can install Android 12 immediately -- the Beta can be downloaded here now. To those of you that do install Android 12 Beta, we kindly ask that you share your experience with the operating system in the comments below.