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

Android 12 is going to get yous gaming faster — here's how

(Image credit: Google)

Android 12 will offer games a new feature of interest to gamers when information technology lands on your Android telephone later this yr. You'll be able to play games before they've even finished downloading to your device.

The announcement, fabricated during this calendar week's Google for Games Developer Summit, finer removes a stumbling cake from the Google Play games ecosystem. It will also make it easier for players to notice a new game and start playing it (almost) immediately to meet if they savour it — a huge deal for gamers as well as app makers.

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For gamers, information technology means downloading and playing games with hefty file sizes will be a little more enjoyable with Android 12. Games must use Google's Play Asset Delivery System in order for this new functionality to work; those that practice won't require any additional labor on devs' part to enable the "play mid-download" feature.

⏱️⬇️ "Play every bit you lot download" reduces download times, lets your players into games sooner, and requires minimal technology changes! See how it'southward bachelor in #Android12 now at this LIVE #GoogleforGames session → https://t.co/REy73uWEVU movie.twitter.com/HvL7YKqyFvJuly 12, 2021

Run across more

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 the power to do things like enable screen recording, adjust brightness, or switch betwixt multiple optimization modes (to prioritize bombardment life or game operation, for case) while you're playing a game. Nosotros haven't heard any details yet on which devices will get this new game dashboard, but it'southward a safety bet that Google'south flagship hardware (similar the Pixel phones) volition be amid the offset — especially the Pixel vi since information technology's likely to transport with Android 12 installed this fall.

Android 12 game dashboard — Android 12'due south upcoming game dashboard in activeness (Image credit: Google)

These are significant improvements to Android as a game platform, and we expect to encounter fifty-fifty more before the final version of Android 12 debuts in tardily summer/early on fall. The ability for players to start playing games mid-download should too be a pocket-sized benefaction to Android game developers, as there'due south less of a chance someone will download your game and never get around to playing it.

While we'll take to expect a few months to see how this feature looks in the final version of Android 12, beta versions of Google's next big Android release are already available — and they reveal some stunning visual changes that make Android 12 feel like the biggest Android pattern overhaul since 2014. Read our Android 12 beta hands-on to go a glimpse of the next big matter in Android, check out our guide to how to install the Android 12 beta right now if you're curious to run across it for yourself, and stay tuned for our total review subsequently this yr.

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