Google Rolls Out Android 13 for Pixel Smartphones; Fixes Issues With the Fingerprint Scanner: All Details

Google announced the rollout of Android 13 to Pixel smartphones on Monday. The company announced that the new OS version will be rolled out on Samsung, Xiaomi, Nokia, and more smartphones later this year. The Android 13 will let multilingual users assign specific languages to individual apps. It also comes with an updated media player that changes its appearance based on the music or podcast a user is listening to. According to the company, Android users will soon be able to mirror a messaging app from their handset to their Chromebook with the new OS version.

Android 13 availability

Google has announced that the tech giant has started rolling out the stable version of the Android 13 to its Pixel smartphones starting Monday. According to the changelog, the Pixel phones that are getting the update are Google Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 5a 5G, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Pixel 6a.

The Google Play Services website reveal that the Android 13 rollout for Google Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Pixel 6a contain a bootloader update that increments the anti-roll back version. This means that once updated, a user will not be roll back to Android 12. “After flashing an Android 13 build on these devices, you will not be able to flash older Android 12 builds,” the company said.

The company also said that later this year, the Android 13 update will be rolled out to other smartphones from brands including Samsung Galaxy, Asus, HMD (Nokia phones), iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, Vivo, Xiaomi, and more.

Android 13: What's new

Android 13 update for Pixel smartphones brings with it several bug fixes related to apps, Google Assistant, Audio, charging, and more. The most notable fix with the update seems to be for the Biometrics. Google said that the update fixes issue where the app crashes during fingerprint unlock, an eroor that occasionally didn't allow users to use fingerprint unlock when the notification shade was down. The company has also fixed an issue that didn't allow the face unlock feature to trigger. The update also includes improvements for the performance, stability, and reliability of the fingerprint scanner and its enrolment.

The Android 13 update for the Google Pixel phones also adds support for NFC payments in secondary profiles. It gets fixes for connectivity over Bluetooth, and for the camera. The company said that the touch screen palm detection and response has been improved with Android 13 on Pixel handsets. In the user interface, Google has worked on gesture navigation support with third-party launchers, along with the phone setup experience, according to the changelog.

Google revealed that the Android 13 update brings an “evolved look and style that builds on Material You”. This allows users to customise third-party apps to match the theme and colour with the wallpaper. The company is also adding the ability to assign specific languages to individual apps with the Android 13 update. Moreover, there is an updated media player with the latest OS update that changes its “look and feel” based on the type of music and podcast a user is listening to.

Android 13 brings more customisation features for Bedtime mode. In addition, it will enable users to choose specific images and videos they wish to let apps access. Now, with the new Android OS version, apps will have to seek “explicit” permission of the user to send notifications. The company has also announced that users will be soon able to mirror a messaging app from their phone to their Chromebook. Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) audio has too been added to Android 13 that allows a user to hear better synced audio with reduced delay, according to the company.

The new Android OS version brings the HDR video support for third-party camera apps. Users will now be able to copy-paste content from a phone to a table or vice-versa with the Android 13 update. For tablets, the Android 13 update brings a new, updated taskbar that is said to make multitasking easier. With the update, the tablets will now register touches from a user's palm and a stylus pen separately.