Around this time each year, Google rolls out the latest version of its Android operating system. The last three versions were released in September and October but this year, it’s a bit early — at least if you have a Google Pixel device.
As always, the latest version of Android includes feature and security updates. With Android 13, your smartphone or tablet is even more customizable and secure with extended app colour theming, app level language settings, improved privacy, and cross device copy/paste functionality.
Some of the key features coming to Android 13 include:
- Themed app icons: With expanded themed app icons, you can set more apps – not just Google apps – to match your phone’s wallpaper tint and colors.
- Photo picker: Instead of sharing your entire media library with apps, you can select only the photos and videos they’ll need to access.
- Notification permissions: Now, the apps you download need your permission to send notifications, helping you proactively protect your time and attention span.
- Chat everywhere: Send and receive messages across devices by streaming your messaging apps directly to your Chromebook.
- Copy/paste: Copy content — like a URL, text or picture — from your phone and paste it to your tablet, or vice versa.
- Multitasking on tablets: The updated taskbar on tablets helps you do two tasks at once. You can now drag and drop any second app in your app library into a split screen view directly from your taskbar.
To view more details about “lucky number Android 13,” you can visit the Google blog post about its release. If you have a Google Pixel 3 or newer, you can expect to see the update at some point in the coming days. We’re not seeing it yet on our Pixel 6a review unit, but will be including an overview in our upcoming review! If you are impatient, you can head over to the Android developer site and install the factory image for your specific Pixel device.
What do you think about Android 13? Are you looking forward to getting it on your Google Pixel or other Android smartphones? Let us know on social media by using the buttons below.
