Android 13 may surprise you

Google’s next big Android version is expected to be ready to roll out any moment now — but when the software shows up on your phone, you might be left scratching your head.

Android 13 really is one of the strangest Android versions to date. It’s both one of the most shape-shifting updates in Android’s history — and one of the most subtle sets of changes we’ve ever seen from a major Android release.

• On the phone front, where most of us will experience Android 13 first, you probably won’t notice much of anything different when the rollout reaches you.
• It’s with foldables and tablets where the software’s most dramatic enhancements will be apparent — but barring some unprecedented miracle with Android upgrade delivery, we won’t get a glimpse at any of that for a while yet, since the companies responsible for the current crop of those devices tend to be a bit poky with their rollouts.
• That creates an unusual situation where Google’s putting one of its most ambitious Android software updates out into the world, and we’re likely still months away from being able to experience its most significant elements. So, yeah: pretty awkward, to say the least!

Your phone’s back gesture is about to get better

One of the most intriguing ideas we heard about early on in the Android 13 development process was a new “predictive back gesture” that’d make it more obvious where the system-level back command would take you. And now, we’re getting a clearer picture of what the enhancement’s all about and when we’ll actually see it.

Few folks noticed, but Google quietly revealed this week that the new system won’t be visible to regular ol’ phone-totin’ schmoes like us in Android 13 — but that it is available for developers to start testing as of the latest (and final) Android 13 beta.

• The new setup will eventually let you see what exactly a swipe-in back gesture is gonna do before you finish the action.
• Android’s back command has always been a little inconsistent and confusing, so this should be a pretty big improvement.
• Google’s asking all developers to get their apps ready now so the feature can become available to everyone in a “future Android release.”

Take a peek at this Android Developers Blog post for a detailed overview of what’s happening now and what’s next.

A core Android app is about to get a new identity

The confusing transition of Google’s Duo Android app is officially underway — and that means a new name will be showing up in your phone’s app drawer any day now.

Google announced its plan to merge Meet and Duo about a month ago, and this week, the first signs of the transition started appearing on Android devices around the world.

• If you open the Duo app on your phone, you’ll probably see a message alerting you to the coming change.
• Some folks are also now starting to see the existing Duo app fully morph into Google Meet — a change that’s seemingly showing up at a slowly phased-in pace.
• The change is expected reach everyone by sometime next month, at which point the app formerly known as Duo will be Google Meet and the only official Google video calling service.

If you want to try to wrap your head around this amusingly ridiculous rebranding mess, this article has a simple rundown of what’s going on and what you can expect.

Find a handy new Android search shortcut

Search, more than anything, is Google’s core strength. And one of the company’s most impressive search systems lives in a nifty little service called Google Lens.

• Lens, if you aren’t familiar, is a real-world search tool that lets you do everything from copying text off a physical paper to grabbing words out of images and even scanning QR codes.
• It’s built directly into Android, and you can get to it in a variety of ways.
• At some point in the recent past, Google quietly added in an extra-convenient shortcut to reach Lens for real-world searching from right within Chrome.

So try this: Open up Chrome on your phone and tap the address bar at the top. See that little camera-like icon all the way over at the right of that line?

Tap that, and you’ll be taken immediately to Lens, where you can use your phone’s camera to do all sorts of time-saving stuff.

Try out a nifty new YouTube zooming feature

Ever find yourself watching a Youtube video on your phone and wishing you could zoom in a little closer to one specific part of the screen?

A new experimental YouTube Android feature lets you do exactly that. And if you subscribe to Google’s YouTube Premium service, you can try it out this second.

Provided you have YouTube Premium, head into the YouTube app on your phone — then:

Step 1: Tap your profile picture in the app’s upper-right corner.

Step 2: Select “Settings” followed by “Try new features.”

Step 3: Look for the “Pinch to Zoom” card and tap the Try It Out button within it.

And that’s it: From that point forward, you should be able to pinch on any actively playing full-screen video with two fingers to zoom in anywhere you want.

One quick tip: After activating the option, you’ll probably have to restart the YouTube app completely — either by swiping it away from your Recents screen or by backing all the way out of the app and then reopening it — before it’ll work.

Check out Android’s latest music-surfacing gem

One of the coolest parts of YouTube Music is the way the service integrates seamlessly with YouTube itself. That makes it possible for you to listen to a sprawling library of live user-uploaded performances right alongside your regular recorded music collection.

Now, Google’s making it even easier to discover live versions of your favorite tunes within the YouTube Music app.

The next time you’re playing something in YouTube Music on your phone, try tapping the “Related” tab at the bottom of the playback screen — then look for a newly added section called “Other performances.”

Take note: The section will only appear when the system actually finds a fair amount of live performances for the specific song you’re playing, so if you don’t see it right away, try it with a handful of other tracks.

When that section does show up, it’s an awesome way to find interesting alternate versions of your favorite music — and especially if you love listening to live music as much as I do, it’s a spectacular new option to have.

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