Most of Android 12’s visual changes have been pretty well-received overall, but a few of the tweaks have gone just a step too far. With the more prominent focus on widgets, the ability to resize how they appear on your home screen is essential, but if you’re struggling to see an outline on the grid, that’s not doing you any favors. Luckily, the latest Android 12 beta makes the widget resizer much easier to use, though you’ll lose out on some color as a result.
In Beta 3, the outlines surrounding each widget pulled from your device’s backdrop, another example of Material You and dynamic theming in action. While this effect might be cool in theory, the lack of contrast made resizing the image much more difficult than it would be otherwise. You’d be forgiven for not noticing the outlines in the screenshots below — they blur right into the wallpaper.
Android 12 Beta 3 and its hard-to-see resizer.
Beta 4 fixes this by switching back to a standard white or gray outline for resizing at the cost of Material You. Although the grid is still themed based on the current background, the widget’s shadow no longer matches up. Generally, this is a significant improvement — not every aspect of Android 12 needs to pull from your wallpaper, and keeping things simple makes reshaping much easier.
Android 12 Beta 4 and its near-invisible “Remove” pill.
However, on certain backgrounds, the “Remove” space for deleting widgets chooses a color that actually reduces contrast, making it harder to view.
Android 12 Beta 4, but it’s much easier to see.
This issue doesn’t apply to all wallpapers. The correct color is chosen on most darker selections, showing a bright white “Remove” label that you can’t miss. While it’s definitely an improvement, you’ll want to avoid intricate wallpapers if you’re after a strong sense of contrast.
