Android 12L features are coming soon to your Galaxy Z Fold 3

On Wednesday, Google officially detailed Android 12L, a special version of Android 12 optimized for large-screen devices. Android 12L represents a big step forward for foldables, tablets, and large screen Android devices, enabling features like a two-column layout for notification shade and lockscreen, an improved multitasking experience, and more. Although Android 12L won’t be publically out until Q1 2022, Google says many Android 12L features will be coming “soon” to your Galaxy Z Fold 3.

“For foldables, you’ll see many of these features including Activity Embedding coming soon to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3,” Google said during the presentation.

Among the features that will be making their way to Samsung’s latest foldable (via 9to5Google) is Activity Embedding. As Google describes, “Activity embedding lets you take advantage of the extra display area of large screens by showing multiple activities at once, such as for the List-Detail pattern, and it requires little or no refactoring of your app.”

Activity Embedding essentially allows apps to show multiple activities simultaneously to take advantage of the extra real screen estate of foldable and tablets. Developers can determine how they want to display app activities — side-by-side or stacked — using an XML configuration file or Jetpack WindowManager API calls. If you’re an app developer and want to support Activity Embedding in your app, you can learn more about the feature here.

Samsung recently announced that it would soon release a One UI 4 beta based on Android 12 for the Galaxy Fold 3. It’s possible the beta release will include some of the Android 12L features.

While currently, you can only try out Android 12L through an emulator, Google says the new software will soon be making its way to real devices such as the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Lenovo P12 Pro. The first beta of Android 12L is coming in December, and there will be two more beta releases before the official public release around March.

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Google Pixel’s nearby calling feature will let you receive callls on your Nest Hub

Yesterday Google released Android 12L, a special feature drop for Android 12 designed for tablets, foldables, and Chrome OS devices. While the new update provides an optimized experience for large screen devices, it also gives us a glimpse at a new feature that Google is working on for Google Pixel and Google Nest devices: nearby calling.

As spotted by Mishaal Rahmaan, Android 12L comes with a new app called “Cross-Device Communication Service” and it provides a sneak peek at the new nearby calling feature that Google is working on for Pixel phones and Google Nest Hub.

Google is working on “nearby calling” between Pixel phones and the Nest Hub. With this feature, you can receive incoming calls on your Nest Hub, transfer calls between your phone and Hub, and start calls with your voice. pic.twitter.com/e5yfXlmcU8

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) October 27, 2021

By linking your phone, you can access calls from phone directly from Nest hub when you’re nearby.

Image credit: Mishaal Rahman

As the name implies, nearby calling will allow you to receive incoming calls directly from your Nest Hub when you’re home. In addition, you’ll also be able to quickly transfer calls between your Pixel and the Hub and start calls with a voice command. At the time being, the feature isn’t working and appears to be a work in progress. We don’t know when Google plans to roll it out to everyone. We’ll keep an eye out and let you know if more details emerge about the nearby calling feature.

Android 12L brings several UI tweaks and optimizations to make Android more usable on large screens. It introduces a two-column layout for notification shade, lockscreen and other system UI elements to get the most out of the extra real screen estate. Android 12L is currently available as a developer preview, with the official release slated for sometime in March next year.

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Here’s how to install Play Store and other Google apps on Windows Subsystem for Android

Windows Subsystem for Android is finally here. What’s more interesting is that you can unofficially try it right now — even if you’re not enrolled in the Beta channel of Windows 11. In case you’re not happy with the mandatory Amazon Appstore integration, you should be happy to hear that the app sideloading process isn’t difficult either. It is also possible to install a third-party Google Play Store client, but the lack of Google services in the Windows Subsystem for Android makes it a bit hard to use apps that are dependent on them.

Hands-on with Android apps on Windows 11

Unlike traditional Android devices, the Windows Subsystem for Android doesn’t come with a user-accessible recovery environment. As a result, an end-user can’t simply compile a custom recovery like TWRP for the Android Subsystem and straightaway install one of those popular GApps (short for Google Apps) packages. But what if you can directly patch the underlying system image with the necessary suite of Google apps and libraries to get the Play Store working? XDA Senior Member ADeltaX has now come with a solution named WSAGAScript that does exactly so.

How to install Google Play Store on the Windows Subsystem for Android

Step 1: Install Windows Subsystem for Linux

1. Open the Windows Features tool by executing the optionalfeatures command from the Run prompt or a Terminal window. You can also click on the Start menu and search for the term “Turn Windows features on or off” to do the same.
2. In the new window, place checkmarks for the Virtual Machine Platform and the Windows Subsystem for Linux entries.
   
3. Click OK and wait for Windows to download the required components.
4. Restart your PC.
5. Install the latest Ubuntu LTS release under WSL from Microsoft Store using this link and configure it as necessary.

You should skip this step if you have already installed Ubuntu on WSL.

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Step 2: Preparing Windows Subsystem for Android for patching

1. Download the installer package of the Windows Subsystem for Android. You can refer to the first step of this tutorial if you need any help.
2. Once you have the MSIXBUNDLE file, extract the architecture-specific installer using 7-Zip.
   • If you have a regular x86-64 PC, then extract the file named WsaPackage_x.x.x.x_x64_Release-Nightly.msix.
   • If you have a Windows on ARM device, then extract the file named WsaPackage_x.x.x.x_ARM64_Release-Nightly.msix.
     
3. Now extract the MSIX file related to your device’s architecture to a folder, e.g. D:\WSA.
4. Delete the following objects from the folder: AppxBlockMap.xml, AppxSignature.p7x, [Content_Types].xml, and the AppxMetadata folder.

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Step 3: Patching Windows Subsystem for Android with GApps

1. Download a GApps package. The developer recommends the “Pico” variant of OpenGApps.
   • If you have a regular x86-64 PC, then opt for the x86_64 platform.
   • If you have a Windows on ARM device, then opt for the ARM64 platform.
     

     OpenGApps package selection for x86-64 Windows Subsystem for Android

2. Start Ubuntu on WSL and install the unzip and lzip packages.

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install unzip lzip

3. Clone the WSAGAScript repo by ADeltaX:

   git clone https://github.com/ADeltaX/WSAGAScript

4. Follow the readme of the aforementioned repo to perform the actual patching process.
   • Remember to adjust the paths in the commands according to where you extracted the MSIX file in the previous step.

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Step 4: Installing the GApps-patched Windows Subsystem for Android

Make sure you’ve uninstalled the official Windows Subsystem for Android package before attempting this step. You can easily do so by locating the corresponding shortcut in the Start menu, right-clicking on it, and finally selecting the “Uninstall” option. Keep in mind that the Amazon Appstore will be automatically uninstalled alongside.

1. Open the Settings app and navigate to Privacy and Security => For Developers. Then turn on Developer Mode.
   
2. Launch Windows Terminal as Administrator with the built-in the PowerShell profile.
3. Paste the following command into the Terminal window:

   Add-AppxPackage -Register <path-to-the-extracted-MSIX-folder>\AppxManifest.xml

   For example, if you originally extracted the contents of the MSIX file to D:\WSA and subsequently patched them, then the command should be:

   Add-AppxPackage -Register D:\WSA\AppxManifest.xml

4. Wait for the installation to finish. Then open the Start menu and you should see a new icon for the Google Play Store alongside the familiar Windows Subsystem for Android.
   • Optionally, you can sideload a launcher app in the Android Subsystem and access the Play Store icon from there.
     
5. Click on the “Sign in” option and enter the credentials of your Google Account information. If everything goes right, then you should see the main page of the Google Play Store.
   

That’s it! You just installed Google Play Store and a set of necessary Google Services required for running many popular apps in Windows Subsystem for Android. Now you should be able to install Android apps on your Windows 11 PC right from the Play Store.

In case you’re looking for a video guide, ADeltaX has published one too. Keep in mind that the script is evolving heavily, hence some steps shown in the video might be obsolete already.

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Let us know which apps you’re planning to install on the Windows Subsystem for Android using the Google Play Store!

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Google Play Store improvements are on the way for tablets, Chromebooks, and foldables

If you have a Chromebook or Android tablet, it can be tricky to find applications that actually work well on large screens. Many apps and games, including some from Google itself, are primarily designed for phones and don’t scale well to large displays. Google announced a renewed focus on Android apps for large screens today, including the first developer release of Android 12L, and the company also shared changes coming to the Play Store for large devices.

One of the presentations from the Android Dev Summit, titled “What’s new for large screens and foldables in Android and ChromeOS,” briefly mentions changes coming to the Google Play Store. Google says ratings and reviews for large devices will now be separate from those of small devices — presumably, checking an app’s reviews on your tablet will now only show reviews from other people using it on a tablet/Chromebook/foldables. The video didn’t specify if you’ll still have a way to check reviews from other form factors, perhaps in a separate menu.

Secondly, the Play Store’s quality process is being updated to check apps for large screen layouts and improved import support, so they can be featured more prominently to people using large devices. That definitely sounds better than the Play Store’s current tablet check, which mostly just involves the app developer uploading a tablet-sized screenshot.

Google says it will go into detail about these changes in the first quarter of next year, before they are enabled sometime in 2022.

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Google aims to make app development easier for large-screen devices

It’s a well-known fact that the Android experience on large-screen devices is far from perfect. Those who have used an Android tablet in the last few years would agree that Android doesn’t scale well on large displays. UI elements make poor use of all the extra screen real estate, and most apps are not optimized for the form factor. Google aims to change that with Android 12L. To help developers get their apps ready for the update, the company has shared new tools and guidelines.

At the Android Dev Summit today, Google announced new Material Design guidelines to help developers design adaptive apps that scale well on any screen size. The guidelines cover common layout patterns prevalent in the ecosystem to inspire developers and help them optimize their apps to behave nicely on both small and large screens. In addition, the guidelines outline how developers can provide the best possible navigation experience across screen sizes.

In a blog post, Google notes: “The recommended navigation patterns include using a navigation bar for compact screens and a navigation rail for medium-width device classes and larger (600dp+). For expanded-width devices, there are several ideas on larger screen layouts within our newly released Material Design guidance such as a List/Detail structure that can be implemented, using SlidingPaneLayout.”

It further adds, “While updating the navigation pattern and using a SlidingPaneLayout is a great way to apply a large screen optimized layout to an existing application with fragments, we know many of you have applications based on multiple activities. For those apps, the new activity embedding APIs released in Jetpack WindowManager 1.0 beta 03 make it easy to support new UI paradigms, such as a TwoPane view.”

Google also urges developers to use the Jetpack Compose toolkit to build the UI for their apps. The company explains that using Jetpack Compose can help developers easily optimize the UI, as all UI is described in code. This makes it easy to adjust it to the available screen size at runtime. If you’re interested in using Jetpack Compose, you can check out Google’s Build adaptive layouts in Compose guide to get started.

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WindowManager APIs

Google has introduced new WindowManager APIs to help developers build responsive UIs that adjust to any screen size. The WindowManage library provides a backward-compatible way to work with windows in your app and build responsive UI for all devices. It includes:

Activity embedding

Activity embedding helps developers take advantage of the extra screen real estate on large-screen devices by showing multiple activities simultaneously. Using Activity embedding, developers can define how their apps display activities — side by side or stacked — by creating an XML configuration file or making Jetpack WindowManager API calls. Google claims that Activity embedding works seamlessly on foldable, stacking, and unstacking activities as the device folds and unfolds. You can try Activity Embedding APIs in Jetpack WindowManager 1.0 Beta 03 and later.

Window Size Classes

Window Size Classes

The new WindowSizeClass APIs define a set of opinionated viewport breakpoints to help developers design, develop and test resizeable app layouts.  The Window Size Class breakpoints are split into three categories: compact, medium, and expanded. These categories are designed to balance layout simplicity and offer the flexibility to optimize apps for the most use cases. The WindowSizeClass APIs will be available in Jetpack WindowManager 1.1.

Make apps fold-aware

WindowManager also offers a common API surface for window features like folds and hinges. Developers can use the API to build fold-aware apps that automatically adapt to avoid folds and hinges or take advantage of them. Check out this guide to make your apps fold aware.

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Android Studio changes

Reference Devices

Android Studio Reference Devices

Google has introduced four new Reference devices in Android Studio to help developers build responsive apps that adapt to various screen sizes. These reference devices are available across tools where developers design, build and test the UI and layout of their apps. The four reference designs represent phones, large foldable inner displays, tablets, and desktops. Developers can also use these reference devices to ensure their apps work across popular WindowSizeClass breakpoints.

Layout validation

Android Studio Layout Validation tool with Reference Device classes

Google is working on a new tool in Android Studio Chipmunk to help developers identify potential issues impacting large screen devices. The visual linting tool proactively surfaces UI warnings and suggestions in Layout Validation and helps developers identify the affected reference devices.

Resizeable emulator

Android Studio Chipmunk also brings a new resizable emulator that helps developers test UI scaling at runtime. The resizable emulator lets developers quickly switch between the four new reference devices and validate their app’s UI layout. To use the new resizable emulator, create a new Virtual Device using the Device Manager in Android Studio and select the Resizable device definition with Android 12L (API level 32).

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Google Play on large screens

Lastly, Google has also announced some changes for Google Play on large screen devices like tablets and Chromebooks. The company has added new checks to assess each app’s quality against the new large screen app quality guidelines. Google Play will automatically recommend apps that pass this assessment on large screen devices and bring up a warning when an app isn’t optimized for large screens. In addition, Google will introduce large screen-specific app ratings on the Play Store. These changes will roll out next year.

For more information about user-facing changes coming in Android 12L, check out our announcement post.

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Jetpack Compose gets Material You and Wear OS support

Jetpack Compose is a declarative UI engine written in Kotlin that aims to replace or be a viable alternative for classic imperative UI engines, like Android’s XML layouts. In essence, Jetpack Compose is a powerful code-only layout engine that can make UI implementation a lot easier. It was first released in alpha in August last year, followed by a beta release in February this year with a lot more additions. Now, at Google’s Android Developer Summit, the company has announced that Jetpack Compose is getting Material You and Wear OS support.

Google has released the first alpha of Compose Material 3, which offers Material Design 3 styled components and theme, enabling Material You personalization features like dynamic color. The company is also releasing the first beta version of Jetpack Compose 1.1 with features like stretch overscroll for Android 12, improved touch-target sizing, experimental lazy layout animations, and more.

For the uninitiated, Material You’s dynamic colors feature makes use of monet, a new theme engine introduced in Android 12 — and currently exclusive to Pixel phones — to extract colors from your wallpaper and generate a rich palette of pastel colors. Apps can then apply these colors to their UIs in various ways, which is what apps that incorporate Material You typically do. Dynamic color support is one of the most exciting things to come from Material You, as it makes each app’s design feel more personal. It also maintains consistency across apps and makes your smartphone experience feel more cohesive.

Even better, the company has also announced that Jetpack Compose is getting a developer preview that has Wear OS support, too. It even has samples and documentation to help you get started making UIs for Wear OS devices. This is yet another tool being offered to developers that goes hand in hand with other additions to the Wear OS ecosystem, such as Watch Face Studio that launched in August this year.

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Android 12L is Google’s latest attempt to optimize Android for tablets, foldables, and Chrome OS devices

A month before Google officially announced Android 12, we spotted some evidence within the AOSP Gerrit suggesting that Google would release an incremental update after Android 12. Soon after that, we got our first look at this interim update and learned that it would pack a couple of new features optimized for foldable devices. Previously, we referred to this update as Android 12.1, but Google has now confirmed that it will be called Android 12L.

Android 12L feature drop

At the Android Dev Summit today, Google officially announced Android 12L — a feature drop for Android 12 purpose-built for large screen devices. As we spotted previously, Android 12L will pack new APIs, tools, and guidance to help developers optimize their apps for large screen devices like foldables, tablets, and Chromebooks. It brings several UI refinements to make Android more usable on large screens.

For instance, on devices with screens above 600dp, the notification shade, lockscreen, and other system surfaces use a new two-column layout to make the most of the extra screen real estate.

New two-column notification shade layout

Google has worked on making multitasking more powerful and intuitive in Android 12L. As you can see in the attached GIF, the update introduces a new taskbar on large screens that lets users easily switch to their favorite apps, like they would on a desktop. The new taskbar also helps users easily view two apps in split-screen mode. In addition, Android 12L automatically enables all apps to enter split-screen mode, even if they’re not resizeable.

New taskbar and multi-tasking improvements

Furthermore, Google has improved compatibility mode with visual and stability improvements in Android 12L. These improvements offer users a better letterboxing experience and help apps look better by default on large screens. Google is also giving OEMs tools to customize letterboxing, allowing them to set custom letterbox colors or treatments, adjust the position of the inset window, apply custom rounded corners, and more.

It’s worth noting that Android 12L likely includes a few more changes than what Google revealed today. You can check out our previous coverage to learn about some of the other features that might go live with the feature drop.

Android 12L Developer Preview

Google plans to release the Android 12L feature drop early next year, in time for next-gen Android 12 tablets and foldables. The company is already working with OEM partners to bring these new features to large-screen devices. If you’re an app developer, you’d be glad to know that Google has already released a developer preview build of Android 12L.

You can try the Android 12L Developer Preview by downloading the Android 12L Emulator system images and tools from the latest preview release of Android Studio. Make sure you review all the features and changes to test your apps ahead of the stable rollout, and check out the preview overview for the timeline and release details. If you encounter any bugs, you can report them here.

Interestingly, Google says that Android 12L “is for phones, too, but since most of the new features won’t be visible on smaller screens, for now we’re keeping the focus on tablets, foldables, and ChromeOS devices.” However, the company plans to open up Android Beta enrollments for Pixel devices later in the preview, and you can expect to see some new phone-specific features too.

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