Google will take the virtual stage of I/O 2021 on Tuesday, some two years after the last I/O developers conference. The company canceled last year’s I/O event, as the world was battling a significant first wave of the novel coronavirus. Things are different this year. Google isn’t quite ready for an in-person event, but I/O 2021 will happen.
Android 12 will be the show’s main attraction, as Google will use the event to highlight the new operating system’s new features. We’ve already talked about Android 12 this year, as Google released three developer preview versions to date. But it’s usually at I/O where Google reveals the customer-facing changes in Android. And it’s at I/O where Google announces release dates for the first public betas.
Android fans don’t have to wait until Tuesday to see Android 12 in action. The same leaker who posted renders of the purported Pixel 6 design last week is back with plenty of images and even a leaked presentation video showing off the new design and features of Android 12. On top of that, the leaked video might tease the Pixel 6 design.
Jon Prosser is the YouTuber who leaked the Pixel 6 design last week, which happens to be another Pixel 6 development. Leaks already said the Pixel 6 will feature Google’s brand new custom ARM chip. The design leak indicates the handset will also get an in-display fingerprint sensor, up to a triple-lens camera system, and a much bolder design than before.
The design will only be a part of the Pixel 6 story. Android 12 is the other. The same Prosser got a hold of images and a video that give us a good look at what the next Android update is all about.
“A beautiful new experience,” “Stronger privacy and security protections,” and “All of your devices work better together” — that’s what’s new in Android 12, according to a purported slide.
The following image shows all sorts of Android 12 improvements, including new widgets (audio player, weather, and time), new sliders and toggles, a new menu to snooze and dismiss alarms, and stacked notifications.
Here’s a closer look at that interesting weather widget:
This is how the new stacked notifications will look like:
Prosser also got a purported Android 12 promo video from his sources, which he shared in his YouTube video. As you’ll see below, Android 12 feels very fluid. The apps and app menus and other UI elements can be dynamically resized depending on what’s happening on the screen. The animations look fast, teasing the sort of design experiences app developers can offer, Google included.
The video also shows some of the new Android 12 features seen in the slides above. One of them is a new notification system. A pill-like button will show the number of incoming notifications on the home screen.
The pill changes colors on the lock screen and lists some of the apps that have new notifications.
There’s also a new keyboard in Android 12, according to one of the slides in the video clip.
This brings us to what might be Google’s sneaky Pixel 6 teaser in this Android 12 presentation. Let’s revisit Prosser’s Pixel 6 leak from a few days ago:
Now let’s look at the Android 12 lockscreen in the video:
As Prosser observes, the time and the clock design are identical. The two phones also have the same hole-punch all-screen display.
However, Google doesn’t show the entire phone in the leaked video promo. Given that all Android phones look the same, especially the flagships, there’s no way to tell whether that’s a Pixel 6 that Google snuck into the clip. Come to think of it, there’s no way of verifying the Android 12 leak is legit, and Google might not use this video now that it has leaked.
What Google can’t change by tomorrow is the Android 12 design. If Android 12 looks like in the images above, it’s likely Prosser’s information was accurate. In which case, the Pixel 6 teaser might be accurate as well. After all, Google previously teased next-gen Pixels during I/O events.
Prosser’s full video follows below.
