ISSUE 88 • ANDROID ADVISOR 25Thefeature– code-named
‘Columbus’(after the Zombieland
character) – was expected to feature
in the public build of Android 11 but
was pulled prior to release, so word of
its resurgence in the Android 12 beta
proved promising.
Sure enough, in Android 12 beta
1, while the feature isn’t yet active, an
entry for double-tap does appear in the
settings menu and also includes the
option to open any app of the user’s
choosing (as well as all the potential
functionality mentioned already).
In its Android 11 beta form, it’s
thought that Columbus was too sensitive
and that the Android 12 iteration will
require far firmer and more deliberate
taps to function. Whether the gesture is
guaranteed to see the light of day and
whether it’s intended to be a Google
Pixel-exclusive feature all remains to be
seen, though.
UNCONFIRMED FEATURES
Even with the public beta now out, some
Android 12 features remain up in the air,
but have been tipped in rumours and
leaks. Here are a few we might still see
turn up in the new OS:
A single, native media-player
Android is a system with many options,
that’s what we like about it, but it also
means there can be a confusing amount
of approaches and apps when it comes
to things like media playback. On the
Reddit AMA the Google engineers
hinted at a single, unified player that
could appear soon.
“We recognize the confusion resulting
from having multiple player options with
different APIs and capabilities. We have
begun efforts to converge them into a
single solution based on ExoPlayer. The
converged player will be full-featured
and easy to use – and we’ll share more
info with the developer community as
this progresses.”Wi-Fi sharing
Keen-eyed devs and fans often find
potential new Android features within the
Android Open Source Project (AOSP),
which often hides code for features
being developed by Google engineers- though doesn’t confirm that they’ll
necessarily end up officially included in
the next OS version.
That’s the case for Nearby Wi-Fi
Sharing, spotted in a submission to
AOSP from Google engineer Abel
Tesfaye. It’s essentially a way to simplify
the process of adding new devices to
your Wi-Fi network through sharing the
network login details. You’ve been able
to do this since Android 10 by sharing
a QR code, but Tesfaye’s submission