Still playing engineer even though I am supposed to be “retired” except for my blogging and ForCarol.com, Inc. charity directorship, I decided once again to beta test the latest operating system for the Pixel 5: Android 12.
So far, and we are one week or so into version 2 of the Android 12 beta…..this has been the most trouble free beta test I have ever (in over 40 years) participated in! (Hopefully, I did not just jinx that…..). 🙂
Jinxed (so funny): Update July 21, 2021: Beta 12 version 3.0 came with an incoming call notification error. When I get an incoming call (like a thousand times a day with spam) and I ignore it……..the phone notifies me that I missed a call, but, I can’t clear that notification…..unless I reboot the phone! I understand Google knows about this, and has a fix ready for the next big beta release in August. I hope so, as, this is the only issue I have run across, and I hate it. 😉
No well defined issues with version 1. There may or may not have been a small issue with City Island 5 operation, but, at that time, it was unclear if it was the installation of the beta version 1….or a City Island 5 issue.
Since I installed beta version 2 City Island 5 has been perfect, soooooo, it may be a beta 1 issue? We will see over time.
EVERYTHING else that I do with the Pixel 5 has been great!
I took some screenshots to show you some of the things I have noticed or changed. NOTE: I am not a power user…just an ordinary retired engineer using his phone for, mostly, boring stuff.
One thing I tried yesterday was the ability to click the back of my Pixel 5 to call up something quickly (Quick Tap) such as the camera, notifications, calendar, take a screenshot, etc. I tried it, and it works great, but, I’m to fidgity and kept calling up the app (Calendar) while I was grocery shopping. I disabled that feature. 😉 But you can use it……find it here: Settings–>System–>Gestures–>Quick Tap (it only works on Pixel 5).
Screenshots
I changed the default matrix on the Pixel 5 to 4 x 4 that came with the added benefit of larger fonts and icons. You can also see the new volume controls that pop up when you move the volume button up or down. Pretty cool that you can control what you want to do from those sliders.
The settings and notifications pages are now larger and more colorful (they say that Android 12 gets the colors from your home screen…..I guess it sees the green toy in Blaze’s mouth?)
Click on the settings gear at the bottom center and I am now getting nice large fonts for aging eyes. 😉
Finally, when I hold down the power button to restart or power down….this is what it now looks like. The credit cards you had stored are now in “Wallet” (see above).
Conclusion
Android keeps evolving and it is getting better and better as time marches on. Eventually I hope to see widgets like Lori’s iPhone now has, but, alas, it ain’t there yet.
Overall….Android 12 beta version 2 is solid, and I’m sure Android 12, when it is finally released will be really nice.
Geek on!
More geeky and mobile technology…
TechyMike: Technology Made Easy 