Small update with some useful features!

This week, Google released the stable version of Android 13 for various Pixel devices including my phone, the Pixel 6 Pro.

I must admit, I wasn’t really following the news of its release until I noticed people talking about it on Twitter. This is highly unusual for me, as I’m usually one of the first to download the update and try things out!

Anyway, after spending a few hours refreshing the updates page and rebooting my phone, the update finally came!

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This is my review of the update…

Not as big as I was hoping

I never had a chance to try out Android 13 during the beta stages, I guess I just didn’t want to risk bricking my only Android phone, which also happened to be my main phone.

When I initially saw that the update was barely above 1 GB, I knew it wasn’t going to be massive, definitely nowhere near as big as the Android 12 update was anyway.

However, the update has included some useful features, starting with a notification that pops up when you install an app asking you whether you want to allow notifications.

Android 13 asks whether you want an app to send notifications!

This is something that iOS users will be very familiar with and that, I think, is very useful. I know that on previous versions of Android you could disable notifications by going into the settings menu, but this is way more convenient!

I find that being able to silence notifications whilst you are setting up the app initially saves a lot of time, which makes the system generally more user-friendly.

It’s worth mentioning that this change only affects newly installed apps, so the pop-up won’t appear on apps that are already installed, just the ones you download after the update.

You can now set languages per app!

This option allows bilingual users to set a specific language on a per-app basis, separately from the system-wide language.

This addition may not be too significant to you, particularity if you speak English. However, there are uses for it and just on a side-note, as a bilingual English speaker, I’m really struggling to find a use case for this feature.

It took me a while to think about ways I may use this feature as a bilingual person who speaks English. I think the only times I would make use are to communicate to people in Poland with a specific app, or for nothing else I use for Poland.

There really isn’t anything else I can think of! Maybe you can give me an idea in the comments!

The one downside of this feature is that not all apps support it.

New QR Code Reader Tile

Android 13 has introduced a new quick setting tile called QR code reader. Whilst it’s a nice addition to the menu, I can’t quite understand why they decided to do this when the Camera app already has a QR code reader built in!

I have to admit, the dedicated app does seem to perform better than the default camera app but, from my experience, only just.

If you’re a Pixel user, how does the app camera app perform with QR Codes for you? I’m interested in finding out!

An improved media player

The Android media player is one that constantly seems to be changing and improving, which is a good thing!

The latest change has brought forward a new design which is not only ascetically pleasing but also more functional, with features being added to allow you to control your music even easier.

My one complaint about this new media player is that the Spotify icon doesn’t seem to be working, and yes, I have tried checking for updates and reinstalling the app. It just leaves a blank square.

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Android 13 will warn you if an app is causing too much battery drain!

This is a feature I find incredibly useful. Too many times I’ve been caught short with an app using far too much battery without me realising it until it’s too late.

I think that in this day and age, this is a critical feature that should be implemented on all smartphones!

As phones get more powerful, they tend to use more battery, and being able to see what apps are using all the battery without going into the setting’s menu is a real treat! Particularity for those who aren’t too technical and don’t go into the settings very often.

In Summary

In summary, this latest update, which by the way is only presently available on certain Pixel devices, has brought some really new cool features to my Pixel 6 Pro. I don’t think it’s fair to discuss all the features, as I haven’t yet had a chance to use them.

However, the changes made in this latest update, are still rather small compared to previous updates, mainly the Android 12 update.

One significant change I have noticed, is that my Pixel 6 Pro seems to be performing considerably better than it did on Android 12, but it’s still early days. I think the animations run a lot smoother too!

One thing I am disappointed with is that Google still haven’t released face unlock, which I really find is a shame!

Have you upgraded to Android 13 yet? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.