With Android 12 finally fast approaching, more features, tweaks, and additions are beginning to be unveiled, and while Google hasn't announced anything yet, there is a lot of commotion in the next version of the popular mobile operating system.
In recent years, Google has reduced the amount of new stuff for users in its Android releases; we get a few things here and there, like Android 11's media controls moved to the Quick Settings panel.
But Google may finally be trying to tackle a big problem with large phones: operating a large device like the Galaxy S21 Ultra with one hand can be difficult for many people. Android 12 may address this by introducing a native one-handed mode. may address this.
This upcoming one-handed mode, discovered by 9to5Google, will be rather well integrated into Android itself. current one-handed modes, like the Galaxy S21, need to be enabled by going into settings. can activate the new one-handed mode with a gesture.
But what does that look like? Most one-handed modes shrink the user interface to make it easier to reach out. This usually results in a small screen in the corner of the display, selected according to the dominant hand. However, Google may shrink it vertically, making the interface quite cramped. Other handset makers, like Samsung, might be able to customize how this looks.
It appears that one-handed mode can be easily exited by touching the outer area of the shrunken screen, etc. 9to5Google also reports that there will be a timeout option that will automatically deactivate the mode after a certain amount of time has passed. Finally, switching between apps or opening the keyboard may also disable the mode.
We expect Google to release the first Developer Preview of Android 12 soon and we can dig into what's new.
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