The Android mobile platform has an illustrious history of delivering authentic user experiences. From its humble beginnings as a simple software modification to support smartphone applications to the present day, the Android mobile ecosystem has always strived to deliver experiences that are practical, intuitive and fun. In the era of Android 13, Google is under no illusion that this is going to be anything but a new beginning for the platform. The company has clearly stated that it is unwaveringly committed to bringing about a new era for users of Android devices, and this has manifest itself in many ways. Google is no longer just providing an operating system, but also an ecosystem of apps and services that build on top of it. This article lists some of the major changes that Google has made with Android 13 .
The user-first platform philosophy, emphasis on design & humans at the centre
As the name suggests, Google’s new mobile operating system is all about the user. With more and more people relying on their phones to do everything, including communication and productivity, Google has made efforts to make the user experience as seamless and enjoyable as possible. This is best observed in the new software design and UI language that Google has chosen. The company has ditched its old stock Android UI and opted for a new sleek and sophisticated look. This new user interface has been carefully designed with humans in mind. The new UI looks and feels like an app, making it much simpler to use and understand. There are even pop-up notifications when you least expect them and tabs in the app allow you to jump right to the content you’re interested in. In short, the new OS design is user-friendly and consistent with Google’s mission to make the internet a better place.
Artificial intelligence (AI) to drive a more seamless and personal mobile computing experience
With the release of Android 13, Google has taken a huge step forward in its AI efforts. The software giant has teamed up with hardware partners like Huawei and Xiaomi to integrate AI functionality into their devices. Google has even open-sourced the AI engine that powers its services to the public. This AI engine, called Tensorflow, is designed to drive a variety of machine learning-based services, including image recognition, language translation, and voice recognition. As part of the integration, you can now use your device as an AI gateway, enabling you to communicate with real-world devices using your phone as an intermediary.
Removed legacy support
Google has clearly stated that it’s committed to supporting only the current iteration of Android. That’s why it’s killing off the old-fashioned but much-loved Android OS – version 14 – and replacing it with the new one. It’s also why the Google Play Store still offers access to the discontinued software. This is a far cry from the days when Google was all about pushing software updates at breakneck speed. Rather than developing and pushing out new software features one after the other, Google is now focused on polishing and improving the entire Android ecosystem.
Core to every Google product moving forward
For its part, Google has clearly shown that it doesn’t just want to change the Android platform. It wants to fundamentally change the way that Android is used. The company has integrated the AI engine into every product that comes with Android, largely in an effort to centralize Google’s services. The result is a single source of truth for all your Google services, making it much easier to switch from one service to another. This single source of truth also helps to explain the recent shift in Google’s product strategy.
All apps now come with an optional virtual keyboard
One of the earliest changes that you’ll notice is the addition of the virtual keyboard to apps like Messenger, Hangouts, Gmail, and Google Search. You can now choose to enable a virtual keyboard when in a conversation or when composing an email. This way, you don’t have to type all your messages manually – you can instead have the keyboard sent to you as an overlay on top of the conversation. In addition to the virtual keyboard, other notable software changes include the removal of the search bar and the resizing of the app camera. To give your camera a makeover, Google has added drawing tools, making it easier to add effects and filters. Android users can now hop on over to the Google website and apply their favorite filters to their photos right from their mobile device.
Google play services is back and better than ever
Launched back in 2014 as a way to provide software tools to help Google services scale, Google play services has been an essential part of the Android experience ever since. Now, with the return of Android 13, Google has made some significant updates to the platform. Playing a number of roles at once, Google play services is now the center of a newly themed app ecosystem focused on gaming. You can find your favorite multiplayer games – like NBA 2K, PUBG, and Fortnite – among various others, all available for Android and iOS.
Conclusion
The era of Android 13 is upon us, and with it comes a wealth of change and innovation for the platform. We’ve seen and experienced many changes over the years, and it’s safe to say that the Android platform is at an all-time high. Android is more than just an operating system – it’s a platform that’s been tailored to support not just apps, but more importantly, users. With the latest release of Android, Google has delivered on that. The platform is more accessible, more user-friendly, and more versatile than ever before. The mobile platform has come a long way in a short period of time, and it’s now time for Google to take a step back and assess the state of the platform. The company needs to take stock of where it’s at and take a look at where it wants to go. With the freshest release of Android on the block, it’s clear that Google is dedicated to leading the pack once more.
