Android 12's last beta build released: new animation and Material You makeover

Google has released the final beta build of Android 12 adding a couple of changes to the overall design of the OS. A new lock screen shortcut, a new clock widget, and a redesigned calculator app, a new widget called “Paint Chip” are some of the headline features of the Android 12 Beta 5 update.

As pointed out by 9to5Google, the Clock app now respects the Material You colors — it’s now responsive to your wallpaper’s color. The Clock app also has a revamped timer, and it looks beautiful. The final beta update extends the availability of the Material You design to the Calculator app as well. The buttons in the Calculator app are now circled, and that makes it a lot like the iOS Calculator app.

Apart from extending the availability of the Material You design to some of its stock apps, Google has also added changes to other areas of the OS. For example, the final beta build adds a universal search bar within the app drawer of the Pixel launcher, enabling users to search for items like system settings, apps, contacts, and pretty much everything that’s in your phone. Also, the final beta update has added some changes to the lock screen. The updated lock screen now has all your smart home shortcuts and Google Wallet shortcut.

Talking about the Paint Chip widget, it can only be unlocked after dialing the clock in Android 12’s Easter egg to midnight(via XDA). It shows you the color palette, which is generated by monet, of your wallpaper. Tapping on each item will show you the exact color value and framework entry.

The latest beta update also includes other minor changes, you can learn about them in this post published by XDA-Developers. Meanwhile, Google will release the stable Android 12 update in a few weeks, but if you cannot wait to try out the latest version of Android, you can install the beta update on your supported Pixel smartphone. You can follow The Verge‘s guide on how to install the beta update.