In addition to the pattern-based tweaks we covered yesterday, Android 12 Developer Preview 2 also a few more lock screen-related adjustments, including a bigger and brighter emergency call button that follows your system accent color and a new enter button that conversely loses its accent color highlight. The lock icon at the top of the keyguard (which disappeared in DP1) is also back, and the break separating the number pad from the bulleted input field has been removed. Corner indicators for the Assistant are also now present on the lockscreen and keyguard. Together with those changes, everything has been shifted up just slightly.
Left: Android 11. Middle: Android 12 DP1. Right: Android 12 DP2.
All of these changes are visible in the comparisons above. In Android 11 (and in Android 12 DP1), the enter button was round and pulled the system accent color while the emergency call button was simply outlined mostly transparent — and frankly a bit difficult to spot. On Android 12 DP2, the two icons have basically switched styles: The emergency call button is now big and bright, picking up on that system accent color, and the enter button is plainer and matches the other items on the keyguard number pad.
Left: Android 11. Right: Android 12 DP2. Note the new indicators in the bottom corners for the Google Assistant.
The break that separated the number pad from the sort of entry indicator above it has also been removed, and the lock icon at the top of the keyguard, present in Android 11 but missing in Android 12 DP1, is back in DP2. Visible in the bottom corners, Android 12 also now has a persistent indicator for the Assistant gesture on both the lockscreen and keyguard. Android 10 and later show a similar indicator on the home screen for triggering the Google Assistant ever since we got the feature — but that fades out after a short time, and this is persistent. And accommodating all of this is a general slight shift up for content on the keyguard.
So far, Android 12 has quite a few changes meant to accommodate accent color tweaks, from the media player to the thicker pattern unlock trail and the hotly anticipated “monet” feature, which could bring wallpaper-based accent colors to Android 12 (if and when it lands).
For more about Android 12, check out our ongoing series coverage here, or bookmark our regularly updated changelog and check back in later. If you want to install the developer preview on your own device, find out how in our Android 12 download guide.
