We’re long past the days where Motorola was atop the mountain when it came to software update releases. Now, some devices are lucky to get even one major Android update, usually being relegated to a life of delayed security patch releases. Nevertheless, Motorola has published a new blog post sharing what devices will be updated with Android 12.
Honestly, that’s a pretty impressive list, but you’ll have a little bit longer to wait before it will arrive. Motorola confirmed that the Android 12 and My UX experience is still in beta testing, and the official rollout won’t begin until sometime in February of 2022. A little disappointing, but at least Motorola is self-imposing a deadline of some sort.
As is the case with versions of Android 12 you’ll find from other phone makers, Motorola is putting a little bit of its own twist on things. Because Google isn’t making the Material You engine available for all, Motorola is still adding a similar implementation thanks to the all-new Personalize menu available when long-pressing on an empty space on the home screen.
Rounded widgets are also coming, along with the ability to customize the colors across your entire device. Motorola is also bringing the ultra-useful conversation widgets to its phones, putting your most important conversations just a tap away on your home screen.
All of the big privacy features that Google announced at I/O ’21 are coming to Motorola phones. This includes the new Privacy Dashboard, so you can get a glimpse at how much your apps are trying to access things like the camera and microphone. You’ll also be able to quickly toggle access for those apps, so you can turn off the camera if a random app tries to use it.
Motorola also shared that it has plans to integrate more features into its software, such as improvements to the My UX experience and Ready For. However, those details were not shared, and will become available sometime in 2022.