Google announces Android 12L, a version of Android designed for larger screen devices

Some of you might remember that way back in the earlier days of Android, Google tried to make a special version of Android for tablets called Honeycomb. Suffice to say it didn’t exactly pan out and it just confused users, especially since it was part of the Android update but specifically catered towards tablets.

Fast forward a decade later, it seems that Google could be trying their hand at it again. The company has announced a variant of Android 12 that they’re calling Android 12L and it’s designed for larger display in mind, such as tablets and foldables.

According to Google, the idea is that this version of Android will make it better for use on devices with larger displays, thanks to a more optimized UI. Google claims that Android 12L can also be used for phones, although we’re not sure how that works as it sounds rather confusing.

Google calls Android 12L a “feature drop”, meaning that it isn’t a full-blown fork like Apple’s iOS and iPadOS. Some of the features that users can look forward to include better multitasking, where Android 12L will feature a new taskbar that lets users drag and drop apps into split screen mode.

The company has also made changes and improvements to other UI aspects of Android like notifications, quick settings, lockscreen, overview, home screen, and more. Google plans to release Android 12L early next year, so we should have more details about it then.

Source: TechCrunch