The first beta for Android 13 just went live, giving users further insight into some new features and what they can expect from Google’s latest endeavor into OS development.
We’ve been working off of developer builds and blueprints for quite a while now, so it’s always more interesting whenever something resembling the final product itself drops by as well; we can compare notes, leaks, what have you. In a prior developer build, we’d seen evidence of Google working on a new API that would allow users to link all of their home devices to one Android mobile phone. What was interesting about this API is that it allowed said devices to be accessed right from the lock screen, provided that some authentication be provided first. Well, it seems that the tech company decided to go all in on this project, because the Beta 1 build unveils a new “control devices from locked screen” settings option, which users can access in their mobile phones.
Almost everything can be linked to a single device nowadays, and almost everything has Wi-Fi. A rather infamous Twitter thread that can be Googled down easily enough has a young girl accessing her Twitter account from her phone, her Nintendo DS, her Wii U, and then her literal fridge. Thermostats, doors, air conditioners, it seems that nothing is safe from the analog-to-digital march of technology. With all of these features being so readily available across a single device, it also figures that users would like accessing them a bit more easily as well. That’s where this new feature comes in. With a single tap on the Lock Screen settings menu, an interface opens up on an Android lock screen, which allows users to tweak devices as they wish.
Of course, there is a catch or two. First of all, not all Device Controls can be accessed via the lock screen, mostly due to a lack of accessibility having been created. The feature is in beta testing, after all, and more and more devices will slowly be added. App developers will also have to decide whether or not they show their full cooperation with such an endeavor. Google itself hasn’t even updated the Google Home app to support the new lock screen feature. At any rate, this is clearly a work in progress, and we should probably revisit this after the public release of Android 13 comes out to play.
H/T: Mishaal Rahman
Read next: Google Says It Blocked 1.2 Million Malicious Android Apps From Its Play Store Last Year
We’ve been working off of developer builds and blueprints for quite a while now, so it’s always more interesting whenever something resembling the final product itself drops by as well; we can compare notes, leaks, what have you. In a prior developer build, we’d seen evidence of Google working on a new API that would allow users to link all of their home devices to one Android mobile phone. What was interesting about this API is that it allowed said devices to be accessed right from the lock screen, provided that some authentication be provided first. Well, it seems that the tech company decided to go all in on this project, because the Beta 1 build unveils a new “control devices from locked screen” settings option, which users can access in their mobile phones.
Almost everything can be linked to a single device nowadays, and almost everything has Wi-Fi. A rather infamous Twitter thread that can be Googled down easily enough has a young girl accessing her Twitter account from her phone, her Nintendo DS, her Wii U, and then her literal fridge. Thermostats, doors, air conditioners, it seems that nothing is safe from the analog-to-digital march of technology. With all of these features being so readily available across a single device, it also figures that users would like accessing them a bit more easily as well. That’s where this new feature comes in. With a single tap on the Lock Screen settings menu, an interface opens up on an Android lock screen, which allows users to tweak devices as they wish.
Of course, there is a catch or two. First of all, not all Device Controls can be accessed via the lock screen, mostly due to a lack of accessibility having been created. The feature is in beta testing, after all, and more and more devices will slowly be added. App developers will also have to decide whether or not they show their full cooperation with such an endeavor. Google itself hasn’t even updated the Google Home app to support the new lock screen feature. At any rate, this is clearly a work in progress, and we should probably revisit this after the public release of Android 13 comes out to play.
H/T: Mishaal Rahman
Read next: Google Says It Blocked 1.2 Million Malicious Android Apps From Its Play Store Last Year
