Google launches the first Android 12 Developer Preview

Android 12, code-named Snow Cone, will be released in late summer or early autumn. As usual, Google has begun to provide developers with models for testing and gradually expand the supported models.

At present, the first development preview version of this version, Android 12 Developer Preview 1, has been provided to developers who have Google Pixel devices.

After all, the new features are currently only the first development preview version, so there is no noteworthy feature. Google is currently mainly improving device security.

For example, Google adds a more modern password restriction method for users of work data equipment, which can provide different levels of password restrictions to prevent users from forgetting their passwords.

Simplifying password complexity

For users on work profile devices, we’re introducing a more straightforward, modern approach to password restrictions. Instead of granular requirements that often result in easily forgotten passwords, we’re establishing pre-set complexity levels of high, medium or low that will be used to access the device.

Easily set up a work security challenge

We’ve improved the device setup process to prompt employees if their provided password doesn’t meet complexity requirements set by their admin. Users who receive a prompt can simply choose to increase the strength of their device password or set up a work security challenge to access apps in the work profile. If approved by IT, employees can also switch back to one password for both work and personal if they change their mind.

Certificate management on unmanaged devices

In Android 12, we’re streamlining credential management for unmanaged devices by making the process available to apps beside the device policy client. With this expanded credential management, more companies can extend secure access to employees regardless of their location, a key requirement in the COVID-19 era. Additionally, employees can avoid the cumbersome, manual process of installing certificates themselves.

Enrollment-specific IDs for personal devices

For employee-owned managed devices, we’re creating a new enterprise-specific device identifier that may help enhance privacy in the event an employee leaves their current employer. Instead of relying on hardware identifiers such as IMEI or serial numbers, personal devices will get a new identifier derived programmatically during enrollment.

The above are just the updates publicly disclosed by Google. In fact, many new features have been discovered by Android developers, so more will be discovered in the future.

At present, the Android 12 DP version is only available for Pixel devices, and Google will expand to support more devices in the future. Ordinary users can also participate in the test at that time.