Android 13: Everything we know about Google’s next big release

The new OS version is coming with some much-needed refinements following Android 12's big redesign

We've already had a chance to look at Android 13 extensively thanks to Google's developer previews, but with the arrival of Android 13 Beta 2, we're starting to see exactly how it'll shape up — on non-Pixel phones, no less. While it may feel like Android 12 has just been released, Google’s development cycle calls for a new Android version every year. To ensure it’s free of bugs and applications are ready for it, the company opens up its previews, and that's no different this time around. Given that we've had the chance to play with quite a few pre-releases already, there is a ton we've learned about the new OS version.

What is Android 13 Beta 2?

The first developer preview for Android 13 arrived in early February, granting us an early look at Google's next major release. A month later, as expected, Google dropped Android 13 DP2, which laid the groundwork for the first Beta release that hit phones on April 26. We didn't have to wait much longer for Beta 2 — it arrived as part of Google I/O on May 11th, with nearly a dozen third-party manufacturers supporting it on their devices.

As expected, considering how quickly this latest beta came out, there isn't a ton of attention-grabbing features to write about. Still, the complete idea of what Android 13 is shaping up to be is starting to come into picture, with a focus on privacy and security, new ways to personalize your phone, and even more improvements for tablets and other big screen devices.

What's new in Android 13 Beta 2?

Although we've made it to the second Android 13 beta — of four, if Google's road map is to be believed — we still aren't seeing a ton of new features over the first two developer previews from earlier this year. This update fixes a couple of the issues found in Beta 1, including the missing per-app language settings Google promised would return in a future build. It also catches up to the latest QPR3 beta, adding in a toggle to bring back the vibrate icon in the status bar. Search on Pixels from the app drawer has a new look and returns the "Search your phone and more" language missing in the last update, but it seems like searching through settings and other system apps remains broken.

Left: Android 13's modified media player. Right: A slightly new look for search on Pixels, even if on-device search is still broken.

Although it's not live yet, today's Beta 2 announcement gave us some concrete data about how predictive back gestures will work in Android 13. Meanwhile, the media player got (another) slight redesign, rearranging controls and shrinking the playback bar down to size. It's an odd change, something that could always switch back in a future beta build.

All the Android 13 features we know so far

With all these new additions in Beta 2 now on the table, we know a lot about what's coming down the line for this year's update. Here's everything we found so far.

Codename

All Android versions used to come with delicious, sweets-based codenames; remember Android 4.4 KitKat or Android 9 Pie? While Google doesn’t use these codenames for marketing purposes anymore, its developers still use them internally. For Android 13, this name is confirmed to be Tiramisu, following up on the not-publicly used Snow Cone for Android 12, Red Velvet Cake for Android 11, and Android 10's Quince Tart.

Tap-to-transfer

Remember Android Beam, which allowed you to tap two phones to send links, files, and more to each other? It was replaced with Nearby Share, which doesn’t rely on NFC technology but instead on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct. But this tap-to-transfer method is just too handy and intuitive to vanish into Nirvana, and it looks like Google wants to resurrect it. As we exclusively covered, a similar method for sharing and playing media is bound to return to Android 13. At the moment, it’s codenamed “Media TTT” (tap to transfer), but it’s unlikely that Google will market it under this name.

So far, we’ve only got our hands on some non-functional demo process created by Google, showcasing how you need to move closer to a device to send or even play media, so it’s possible that you’d also be able to use it to connect to future smart home devices a la Apple’s Home Pod. We don’t know which technology it will be using, but NFC and UWB seem like the obvious candidates.

More Material You color schemes and 'cinematic' wallpapers

Android 13 gives us a selection of new palettes for extracting colors from the wallpaper. In addition to the existing so-called "tonal spot" colors, Google gives users or Android manufacturers access to three other methods: "Vibrant," which differs ever so slightly in supplementary accents, "expressive," which offers a wider range of colors that apparently even extent to colors not seen in the background, and "spritz," a desaturated, nearly monochromatic theme. We got all the details and samples on this in our exclusive coverage, and in Beta 1, these themes are finally live for users in the form of 16 new color extraction options in your wallpaper picker.

Android 12 vs. Android 13 Beta 1

Android 13 DP2 has also offered us a first glimpse at so-called "cinematic" wallpapers. Right now, this only seems to be an API for developers to hook into, but based on what we know, it sure seems likely that this could enable custom live wallpapers based on images from your photos library—much like cinematic images in Google Photos.

Alongside the launch of Android 13 DP1, we've learned Material You themes are coming to devices from Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, and more. Seems like as good a time as any to get some new color choices.

Improved launcher search for Pixel phones

Android 13 Beta 1 broke the on-device search option living in the app drawer that was first introduced in Android 12, but that might be because there are bigger changes headed for us. When you tweak the right flags, you can reactivate the on-device search method, and not only that—the search mode also overrides the regular Google Search bar that lives at the bottom of Pixel phones' home screens, smoothly launching the on-device search in that place, too.

Opt-in notifications

Android has historically always been better at managing and displaying notifications than iOS, but there’s one thing we appreciate in Apple's ecosystem — applications need to explicitly ask you for permission before they’re allowed to send notifications. It looks like Android 13 is set to follow suit, as XDA has spotted a new permission asking you to allow notifications for newly installed apps.

We've since also learned what this prompt will look like. Like most other permission prompts, it will pop up when an app first runs and requests the POST_NOTIFICATIONS permission. Your options will be binary, with you being able to either allow or deny notifications altogether — it's unclear if you'll be able to select specific channels only at this stage.

With Android 13 DP1, we've learned these new permissions won't be mandatory for a while. Based on API requirements, the change won't be enforced until sometime in 2023. And with DP2, we finally saw them go live, with apps prompting users to grant notification permission when first running.

QR code scanner

We exclusively covered that Android 13 could get a QR code scanning quick settings tile, including some kind of lockscreen functionality. Then, in Android 13 DP1, we got our first real glimpse at the QR scanner quick settings toggle in the notification shade, though it was grayed out and inaccessible. In Beta 1, this has finally changed, and we can confirm that yep, this is indeed a QR code scanner that works as expected. Since this is a quick toggle, lockscreen functionality is given, too.

With QR codes becoming so incredibly commonplace these days, anything that will make it easier to interact with them is probably a welcome addition for those who don’t live and breathe Android like we do.

‘Panlingual’ per-app language settings for apps

This is an exciting one for me, being someone who juggles English and German on my phone. As we exclusively covered, Android 13 introduces an option that allows you to set your preferred language on a per-app basis. This might not sound too significant if you’re someone who can confidently use any and all features of an app in English in the US, but internationally, there are tons of apps that are optimized for some other native language, with their English versions being a badly translated afterthought. If you’re someone who still prefers to use their device in English but would love for some apps to work in a different language you’re just as fluent in, Android 13 might be a game changer.

First two images: Per-app language settings on Android 13 DP2. Last two: Missing per-app language settings on A13 Beta 1.

The feature went live in Android 13 DP2, but then disappeared in Android 13 Beta 1 for some reason. In DP2, it didn't work on all of our devices and some apps were incompatible, so it's possible that Google had to go back to the drawing board once more. Given that the per-app language switching option was mentioned in the Beta 1 blog post, we're very hopeful that it will make a return before the stable release.

Battery measures

Android 12 introduced new draconian battery saving measures that make it even harder for apps to run in the background, summarized under the so-called PhantomProcessKiller. While this helps keep rogue developers in check, it also leads to unintended consequences for apps that absolutely need to run multiple heavy processes in the background, like the Linux terminal emulator Termux. Android 13 might introduce a toggle in developer options that will allow power users to turn off this measure for edge cases just like Termux.

Google is also developing a new feature called “TARE,” short for “The Android Resource Economy.” It’s supposed to monitor how apps run in the background and which tasks they perform, awarding and taking credits from apps to limit their ability to schedule unlimited jobs for the future. Since this is still in active development, we’ll likely have to wait until Google gives us proper documentation to understand exactly how it works.

Android 13 also looks to warn you about rogue apps taking advantage of excessive battery drain, specifically in the background. It's only in Google's documentation right now, so we'll have to wait to see how it functions in the real world.

UWB support

Ultra-wideband, or UWB for short, is an exciting technology enabling a whole slew of new applications: It can turn your phone into a car key, helps you find lost gadgets that also support UWB, and augments features initially made possible by NFC and Bluetooth. The Pixel 6 Pro already has a UWB antenna on board, but it doesn't use it to its full potential just yet. Here, Android 13 is supposed to add a generic hardware abstraction layer that will give all Android devices a shared foundation for how UWB works, making it easier for all manufacturers to implement these futuristic features.

For the Pixel 6 Pro, a few UWB features will make their way into the Android 12 January security patch, but the full system-wide abstraction layer should only come in Android 13.

Support for Bluetooth Low-Energy Audio

As spotted by Mishaal Rahman, Android 13 could be the first version of Android to introduce fully-fleshed out support for Bluetooth Low-Energy Audio. The standard is meant as a replacement for regular Bluetooth audio streaming, and it brings a whole slew of improvements to the table: lower energy consumption at the same audio quality, multi-stream support to send signals to both of your earbuds at the same time (or to multiple headphones/speakers at once), and full support for the features introduced in Google’s hearing aid protocol.

Of course, devices will need to be equipped with the appropriate hardware to provide you with Bluetooth LE Audio streaming, but this will only be a question of time as new phones, tablets, headphones, and speakers are released.

Home button Assistant toggle

Gesture navigation may be the future of interacting with your phone, but many people still prefer the three-button navigation of old, whether for accessibility reasons or just because they're used to it. The three-button navigation is in for the return of an old option in Android 13. According to leaked screenshots in our possession, there will be an option to disable the gesture that lets you long-press the home button for Assistant. That makes sense for the Pixel 6 series, as the new phones have switched to invoking the Assistant by long-pressing the power button, removing the option to long-press the home button for Assistant altogether.

Output picker and media player changes

Android 10 introduced an output picker for audio and other media, allowing you to easily choose how you’d like to listen to something — on your phone, your wireless headphones, or your Bluetooth speakers. Android 13 has an all-new look for this feature, with a total redesign for both selecting destinations for your audio and the media player itself. It looks even better than we expected based on early screenshots, and even includes additional functionality. In Android 13 Beta 1, Google additionally introduced a snazzy new squiggly animation that grooves along with you and your music.

Meanwhile, Beta 2 gave us another redesign, with a smaller playback bar and relocated playback buttons. This might be in my imagination, but the buttons feel smaller and harder to push — especially because they're right next to each other. Hopefully, this change is temporary.

Spatial Audio for the Pixel 6

Android 13 Beta 1 has a spatializer effect in tow, which could manifest as Google's version of the iPhone's spatial audio feature. Right now, this still seems under active development and isn't user-facing, so it isn't even entirely clear if the feature will make it into the final release of Android 13. Still, for anyone who loves to enjoy their audio content the best way possible on their Pixel 6, these could be good news.

Lockscreen

Android 12’s new Material You design and all the interface changes coming in tow have left the community divided, with some wishing for a way to tone things down just a bit. If you’re particularly annoyed by the overblown clock that shows up on your lockscreen when you don’t have notifications on Pixel phones, this Android 13 change might be for you: Google appears to be working on a toggle for disabling the huge clock, labeled as “Double-line clock.” This won't be exclusive to Android 13, though. The option has already made its way into the Android 12L beta.

Another change possibly coming to the lockscreen (or, more specifically, to the keyguard where you enter your PIN or pattern) is the addition of an account switcher. We can't confirm whether this will come to all form factors or, say, only tablets, but it's a much appreciated change nonetheless. It will make it much easier to switch to another user right when logging in on shared devices.

Gaming

While we still don't know much about the state of mobile gaming on Android 13, Esper's Mishaal Rahman has found an interesting tidbit of information regarding devices that will launch with the upcoming release. According to his findings in the AOSP code, a new API will allow games to temporarily boost the CPU speed while they're loading, making it possible to launch titles more quickly than before.

It looks like some current Pixel phones will also get updated to take advantage of this API, but this isn't a given for most phones that are currently available. We've got all the details on this in our dedicated coverage.

Photo picker

Announced alongside Android 13 DP1, Google's new photo picker seems destined to be controversial. Although we have yet to try it for ourselves — it's not actually live in DP1 just yet — it sounds pretty similar to how Apple handles photos on the iPhone. Rather than displaying all of your documents in a single layout, Google will separate your photos into their own menu.

Whether this turns out to be a downgrade from how Android currently handles its photos remains to be seen. With any luck, it'll be live in a future developer preview, where we can actually give it a spin.

Third-party Material You icons

We've complained extensively about how Material You limits its app icon theming to Google's services and nothing else. It clashes with the rest of your home screen, resulting in an unfinished look that's pushed some AP writers back to third-party launchers and icon packs.

With Android 13, Google will bring dynamic icon themes to all apps, assuming developers choose to support it. It wasn't live in DP1, but now, we're seeing the first few third-party apps introducing support for it, like Sync for Reddit and Inware.

Quick Settings Placement API

Developers have had the option to add tiles to Android's quick settings menu for years now, but with this year's update, prompting users is getting even easier. The Quick Settings Placement API allows apps to advertise their tiles with a pop-up notification, making the existence of these tools and shortcuts a whole lot more obvious to the average smartphone owner. While there's always the risk of abuse with prompts like these, it seems like a great way for devs to make better use of an underutilized part of Android.

Multi-user support

It's clear Google has really refocused on tablets lately, even after the official launch of Android 12L. For its next big update, Android is getting a ton of changes to how multi-user profiles work, and so far, it all sounds pretty promising. From a redesigned profile picker screen for tablets to colorful new icons for your avatar, there's plenty to love here. "Hub mode" sounds like it'll make it easy to share apps between profiles, while guest accounts are getting a list of accessible apps ready from the jump. And then there's a new "kids mode" on the way that brings back an old-school nav bar. We'll have to wait to see what all this adds up to, but it's too many puzzle pieces not to be part of a larger picture.

Clipboard improvements

Android has long been improving clipboard management, and the latest release takes things up another notch. When you copy text in Android 13 Beta 1, you will see a small floating panel that allows you to view and change the contents of your clipboard. This makes it easy to tweak URLs or addresses before sharing them. The clipboard additionally auto-clears after a certain time as a privacy measure.

Extended treble compatibility for the beta

While you may not ever need it, the Android 13 beta is officially compatible with all devices that are compatible with Treble. This makes it much easier for developers to get ready for the new release when they don't own a Pixel device, even though some important features don't work on these builds, like phone audio.

Small changes in Android 13

There are a handful of small changes in the new OS version that are worth rounding up.

• Flashlight: The quick tap shortcut initially added to Pixels in Android 12 is getting support for turning the flashlight on and off.
• Privacy: Last year's update brought about some significant privacy improvements, and Android 13 is keeping the momentum rolling with 7-day views in Privacy dashboard.
• Haptics: Silent mode disabled nearly all haptic feedback in DP2 — a controversial change, to be sure, and one that has already been undone in Beta 1. There are additionally a handful of new vibration settings, though right now, they don't seem to do much.
• Big screen changes: Android 13 Beta 1 has also introduced the familiar row of intelligent app suggestions for the drawer on big screen devices along with a new app drawer shortcut,
• Smart home controls: and it brings back the option to control your smart home devices without unlocking your screen first.
• Display and font settings: Google has pushed its display and font size options together under one menu, and the screen saver picker has an all-new look.
• Screen recording: Android's touch indicators when recording have returned after they went missing in 12L.
• Split-screen: A split-screen feature from 12L lets you pull up two apps at once in multiple windows from notifications.
• Hidden features: There is also a whole slew of hidden features, including an automatic dark mode and new placement for the app drawer's search box, help round out a substantial release.

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We finally got our first glimpse at Android 13 with these three previews, but there's a long way to go before it's officially released. We expect the bulk of changes to be publicly acknowledged in May, when Google usually holds its I/O developer conference. It's almost safe to assume that we'll have a lot more rumors, leaks, and hacks to look at before that happens, though.

Will Sattelberg contributed to this article