The Android 13 beta offers some innovations. You can take part in the test phase yourself. Source: Google
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Android 13 officially started the first beta phase yesterday. With the latest version, Google’s operating system for mobile devices would like to introduce some new features. One of them is particularly interesting because it allows you to better protect your data from third-party apps.
The news is from official developer blog for Android. According to this, the beta started yesterday, April 26, 2022, and you can even participate if you have the right mobile phone, but more on that below.
Restricted access to file types
With Android 13, you no longer need to give third-party apps full access to your data. So far, if an app requests access to photos, for example, you have to release the entire data storage, including music files and videos, for this app.
In the latest Android version, you can share the different data types separately. For example, if an app needs access to image files, you can then only share the image files. The app then has no access to the video and music files on the smartphone.
However, if you grant access to a file type, the app can only read it. She cannot change your files or forward them without being asked.
More changes for developers: There are two more changes that are of particular interest to Android developers. One concerns error displays for Keystore and KeyMint. If you’re developing an app that generates keys with Keystore or KeyMint, you’ll get more accurate error messages with the beta version.
The last change is called Predictive audio routing
and is intended to help apps identify how their sound is being routed. This allows developers to determine which audio format works best for their app.
If you prefer to use Android apps on Windows 11, that’s no problem either. Here we show you how it works:
Windows 11:
Install Android apps – step by step
Android 13: How to get into the beta
If you want to test the latest pre-release version of Android for yourself, you can do that too. However, you need the right smartphone for this. Currently only phones from the Google Pixel series are supported. These models are compatible:
- Pixel 4
- Pixel 4 XL
- Pixel 4a
- Pixel 4a (5G)
- Pixel 5
- Pixel 5a
- Pixel 6
- Pixel 6 Pro
These smartphones support Android 13
If you have a suitable smartphone, you can release it in your Google account for the beta. You can get more information in the Developer FAQ. If you have successfully registered, you will receive the corresponding beta updates on your smartphone.
The schedule for Android 13 currently envisages that a total of four beta versions will be deployed by July. If everything then goes as planned, the release should take place promptly. In addition, Android will soon take over one of the best features of the iPhone:
Android is finally getting one of the best features of iPhone and Co.
Do you have a Pixel smartphone and will you participate in the beta? Is the distribution of access authorization a sensible innovation or rather an unimportant detail? Please let us know.
