Otherwise, Google looks weak and I doubt its commitment. So far, I think Apple and iOS are quite a ways ahead on the privacy front, and Google doesn’t seem to want to catch up quickly.Īndroid 13 makes some good changes, don’t get me wrong, but all of the new privacy features should be strictly enforced. This is something Google needs to enforce if it really is serious about privacy on Android. In theory, it sounds great, but in practice, very few apps support the photo picker at this point adoption is likely to be slow, if at all. ![]() ![]() When an app requests access to your photos, the system will bring up a list of your media and whatever you whitelist will get passed to the app. Google also introduced a new photo picker, again much like the one iOS has. I love it.Ĭontinuing in the line of permissions, Android 13 now requires apps to ask for access to photos, video, or audio separately instead of all together like before. While managing notifications is a lot easier and more robust on Android than on iOS, I prefer Apple’s way of making apps get your consent to send notifications.Īnd just like on an iPhone, it’s quite satisfying in Android 13 to deny an app the ability to send you notifications at runtime. This is an extremely welcome change and I love to see it. Apps now ask for permission to send you notifications when you load them up for the first time. Android 13 review: Privacy and securityĪndroid has finally gotten iOS-style runtime notification permissions. Google likes to make things needlessly complicated sometimes and this is yet another example of that tendency. It works well on iOS and I think it could work equally well on Android. I would have preferred Android 13 to unify the two search functionalities into one single spot. But the fact that this is hidden in the app drawer instead of the main Google widget on the home screen is not something I like. The app drawer search is a lot more like iOS, where you can search for apps, perform web searches, look for stuff on your device, and search the Play Store. The Google widget on the home screen functions primarily for web searches, but it can also surface apps as you type. The launcher features two ways to look for things. Not much about the Pixel Launcher has changed visually, but Google messed with the search functionality again. I don’t mind the chonky clock in the clock in the center of my lock screen, but if you do, Android 13 lets you adjust this via the Double-line clock toggle in Settings > Display > Lock screen. While not new to Android per se - this change actually came in Android 12L - the lock screen clock sports a tweak that allows you to banish it to the corner, right where it goes when you have notifications. Spotify, however, looks nice thanks to this change. You might find that some just give you a single color. The album art also now takes full center stage in the background, but only in apps that support it. The media player is also always expanded, unlike the compact mode in Android 12. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) (opens in new tab) The latter is rather odd, as it turns squiggly and animates. It’s gotten a minor facelift, including new button placement and a fresh seek bar. One you might notice immediately is the new media player in the notification shade. ![]() While not monumental, Android 13’s system UI received a few upgrades. I hope that next year’s Android 14 update reintroduces some of those things that Google has left out of recent versions, such as custom icon shapes. Google changed a lot with Material You, including some customization options that existed in Android 11. Android developers are slow to buy into many of Google’s initiatives, especially since they need to opt-in to this. ![]() While nice in practice for a look of uniformity, I have my doubts on its adoption. But now, Google has expanded the themed icons to third-party apps. Material You also introduced themed icons, which were limited to Google apps and stood out like a sore thumb alongside regular icons in your app drawer.
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