Android 12 is going to get you gaming faster — here’s how

Android 12 is going to become you gaming faster — hither's how

(Image credit: Google)

Android 12 will offering games a new feature of interest to gamers when it lands on your Android phone later on this year. You'll be able to play games before they've even finished downloading to your device.

The announcement, made during this week's Google for Games Programmer Summit, finer removes a stumbling block from the Google Play games ecosystem. It volition too brand information technology easier for players to find a new game and start playing it (about) immediately to see if they enjoy it — a huge deal for gamers too as app makers.

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For gamers, information technology means downloading and playing games with hefty file sizes will exist a niggling more enjoyable with Android 12. Games must apply Google'southward Play Asset Delivery System in order for this new functionality to work; those that exercise won't require whatever boosted labor on devs' part to enable the "play mid-download" feature.

⏱️⬇️ "Play as you download" reduces download times, lets your players into games sooner, and requires minimal engineering changes! Come across how it's bachelor in #Android12 now at this LIVE #GoogleforGames session → https://t.co/REy73uWEVU film.twitter.com/HvL7YKqyFvJuly 12, 2021

In improver to the ability to play games mid-download, Google confirmed that Android 12 will bring a new game dashboard to "select devices" that will give you lot the ability to practise things similar enable screen recording, adjust brightness, or switch between multiple optimization modes (to prioritize battery life or game operation, for case) while you're playing a game. We haven't heard any details nevertheless on which devices will get this new game dashboard, but it's a safety bet that Google's flagship hardware (similar the Pixel phones) will be among the first — especially the Pixel six since it's likely to transport with Android 12 installed this fall.

Android 12 game dashboard — Android 12's upcoming game dashboard in action (Image credit: Google)

These are significant improvements to Android as a game platform, and nosotros expect to see even more before the last version of Android 12 debuts in tardily summertime/early autumn. The ability for players to start playing games mid-download should likewise exist a small-scale boon to Android game developers, as there's less of a take chances someone will download your game and never become around to playing it.

While nosotros'll have to wait a few months to run across how this feature looks in the final version of Android 12, beta versions of Google'due south next big Android release are already bachelor — and they reveal some stunning visual changes that make Android 12 feel like the biggest Android design overhaul since 2014. Read our Android 12 beta hands-on to get a glimpse of the next large thing in Android, check out our guide to how to install the Android 12 beta right now if you're curious to see it for yourself, and stay tuned for our full review later this yr.

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Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than than a decade of feel roofing both for outlets like Game Developer, Black Hat, and PC World magazine. He currently serves as a senior editor at Tom'due south Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.