Google's Android 13 update is rolling out to Pixel devices now. Android 13 expands upon features introduced with last year’s Android 12, in addition to bringing new tools and quality-of-life tweaks.
With privacy on everyone’s mind, one of the most interesting changes is the inclusion of encrypted 1-1 message conversations. Photo picker, a feature similar to Apple’s photo selection function on iOS, now lets you select which app has access to which photos, rather than giving each app your full album. Much more has been announced beyond privacy tweaks, though, including a handy wallet function, expanded Material You functionality, emergency SOS expansions, and awesome new per-app language settings.
As mentioned, Pixel users can get the official Android 13 update now, while everyone else will have to play the waiting game. No matter what device you have, we've gathered a list of our favorite features in Google's latest OS for you to check out as soon as the update comes your way.
1. More Material You
Material You is a unique way of personalizing your user interface (UI) based on your wallpaper, which influences Android’s color palette. Put simply, Android adopts a color scheme to match your wallpaper. New premade color variants introduced in Android 13 give you more expressive options to choose from. This feature is also being expanded to include third-party app icons, where previously it was limited to system apps only. If developers opt to use this feature, it lets apps adopt a tint respective to your wallpaper and color preferences.
Google has also expanded Material You to cover media controls. When listening to music, the player window takes color from the album artwork of whatever you’re jamming to, and the progress bar turns into an audio wave that moves to the music.
2. Per-App Language Personalization
For those multilingual Android users out there, you can now set your preferred language on a per-app basis. Unfortunately, this cannot be applied to all apps, as was suggested during betas: developers must opt-in to allow this function. This limits the usefulness of the feature somewhat, but it still shows promise, and we hope this gets iterated upon in the future. After all, some folks use different languages in different situations: My dad speaks in English but writes in Spanish, for instance. Now he can find and use his messaging apps in his preferred language, and still enjoy silly meme videos in English.
3. RCS Messaging Improvements
As mentioned earlier, Google has been working with carriers to upgrade its short message service (SMS) to Rich Communication Services (RCS), which provides much better privacy features including end-to-end encryption for 1-1 conversations. Later this year, group chats in messages will also be encrypted. Beyond mere privacy, RCS also provides support for higher-quality photo sharing and larger file sharing.
4. Android Photo Picker
Android 13 is adopting photo-picking options similar to iOS. With this new feature, you can select which photos and videos an app has access to, rather than giving said app access to your entire photo library. This feature isn't exclusive to Android 13, either. The photo picker functionality works on most devices that receive Google Play system updates running Android 11 and up.
5. Google Wallet Gets an Update
Google Wallet has been expanded beyond mere service-oriented payment methods. Wallet includes a new generic card tab that lets you save anything not covered by earlier pass types, such as membership cards and reservations. Alongside Google Wallet’s already robust filing system for payment cards, gift cards, transit passes, and vaccine cards, Android 13 makes this function an excellent digital alternative to physical cards.
Another major improvement comes with the inclusion of digital IDs. Google has been working with US states as well as foreign governments to support digital IDs for Google Wallet, and this feature is expected to roll out later this year.
Most importantly, Google Wallet stores everything on your phone, and it doesn’t share data with Google Services.
6. Emergency SOS Expansion
Phones and technology are crucial during an emergency. We hope you’ll never be in a situation where you need to call for help, but your phone is a vital lifeline should it ever happen. To that end, Google rolled out Emergency SOS with Android 12, letting you contact a trusted person and share emergency information without the need to unlock your phone. This function is being expanded with Android 13 to work on Wear OS watches.
Google is also expanding Early Earthquake Warnings to more high-risk regions across the globe. The tool lets Android crowdsource earthquake warning signs from phones, letting Google analyze the data and send alerts to people in the vicinity. Combines with Android’s Emergency Location Services function, which helps first responders find you when you call for help, you can rest much more securely at night knowing you’re connected to a network actively working to keep you safe.
We're in the process of testing Android 13, so make sure to check back soon for our full review.