Android 13 officially arrives on Google Pixel phones

Android 13, this year's main Android upgrade, is now officially available for Google's Pixel phones. The yearly upgrade is released a bit earlier than normal, after the October 2021 release of Android 12 and the September 2020 release of Android 11.

Android 13 new features

Android 13 has the ability to modify non-Google app icons to match your homescreen background, as well as a new permission to reduce notification spam and a new option to limit which of your photographs and videos an app may access.

The update also adds support for spatial audio with head tracking, which is meant to make sounds appear to come from a fixed place in space when you move your head while wearing compatible headphones, similar to a feature available on Apple's AirPods.

Also, like iMessage on the Mac, you can stream texts from apps like Google Messages directly to a Chromebook. In addition to its own Messages app, one of Google's promotional images shows the feature operating with the messaging service Signal, and the firm claims the functionality will work with many of your other favourite messaging applications.

The update also adds the ability to copy material from an Android phone and paste it on an Android tablet, and vice versa.

Other Android 13 features include the ability to set languages per app, a redesigned media player that adapts its appearance based on what you're listening to, Bluetooth Low Energy support for better sound quality at lower bitrates and lower latency, improved multitasking on large-screen devices with drag and drop support for multitasking, and improved palm rejection when using styluses.

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