Google offers first look at Android 13
The developer preview for Android 13 includes updated privacy features, themed icons and new language controls.
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Google on Thursday is offering developers a first look at Android 13, its newest operating system. Android 13 Developer Preview 1 will be available for manual download and includes a few notable updates.
The new system will have more specific privacy controls. Android 13 will let people share with apps only specific photos instead of all media, through its photo picker, a photo and video specific version of its document picker feature. It'll also minimize location data sharing through new Wi-Fi permissions. The OS also expands dynamic app icons to all apps and is designed to make it easier for developers to pinpoint a user's preferred language.
"First Android 13 developer preview!" said Dave Burke, Google's vice president of engineering, in a tweet sharing the news. "13 is both a fibonacci and prime number so we have that going for us... Over the next months, we'll be building on tablet/foldable work from 12L, privacy & security, and dev productivity."
First Android 13 developer preview! 13 is both a fibonacci and prime number so we have that going for us... Over the next months, we'll be building on tablet/foldable work from 12L, privacy & security, and dev productivity.https://t.co/HwOE5Oyd3y pic.twitter.com/hh4WTUspEK
— Dave Burke (@davey_burke) February 10, 2022
The preview also "starts the work of refreshing Android's Core Libraries to support Java 11," the company said in a blog post.
For now the preview release is "for developers only" and not for everyday consumers, Google said. A beta version of Android 13 isn't yet available for consumers.