24 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 88ANDROID 12
Separately,Googleexplainedthat
appstoreswishingtoofferfeatureslike
automatedappupdateswhichdon’t
requireuserpermissionwillhavetofollow
strictguidelinesin ordertodoso.Such
functionalitywillalsobeopt-in(inother
words,notautomaticallygranted)andan
‘updatepackageswithoutuseraction’
permissionwillneedtobeobtained.One-handedmode
Muchlikescrollablescreenshots,one-
handedmodeis anotherfeaturethat’s
alreadywidelyavailableonAndroid
handsets,butasofyetdoesn’thavean
officialGoogleversion.XDADevelopersreported
thata one-handed mode is on
the way to Android 12, which
will make the feature available
to every handset manufacturer –
though that doesn’t necessarily
meanthateveryOEMwill
includeit on their phones.
Having tested an
implementation in Android 12
beta 1, the OS’s native one-
handed mode is arguably more
like iOS’s Reachability feature,
pulling whatever is on-screen
downbyabout45 per cent so
thatelementsatthe top of the
displayarepulled within reach.
Thisis differentto the many
one-handedmodesfrom other Android
phonemakers,whichusually scale the
entireinterfacedowntowards one of the
bottomcornersofthescreen temporarily.Backdouble-tapgesture
9to5Googleclaimedtohave seen
informationsuggestingthe return of the
double-tapgesture,available within beta
releasesofAndroid11,last year. When
enabled,userswouldbe able to double-
tap with a finger on the back of their
devicetoactivatetheGoogle Assistant,
takea screenshot,playor pause media,
open the notificationsshade or open
therecent apps view.Android 12 promises better compatibility with third-
party stores, such as Samsung’s Galaxy store.