Android 13 marching towards release with final beta

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Google is moving fast towards the next version of Android. Yesterday the company announced the "final" beta version of Android 13, beta 4, stating that an official version "is coming in the coming weeks".

After the massive redesign of Android 12, Android 13 seems to be a smaller version focusing on various tablet improvements and features. Much of Android 13 builds on the work of Android 12 and the tablet-focused mini-release, Android 12L. There are more Material You color options and more tweaks to the new notification media player. The tablet interface has a new app drawer button for the taskbar and split-screen drag-and-drop support for notifications. You get more control over apps with a top app task manager and a new permission that forces apps to request access to notifications. Under the hood there's some serious virtualization power and support for Bluetooth LE Audio. Finally, there is even a standard QR code reader.

Enlarge / The Android 13 timeline. Google

Android 13 solidified a while ago, and this latest release is just for bug fixes. Google notes that the Play Store is ready to accept your apps compatible with Android 13. If you have a recent Pixel phone, you can sign up for the beta at android.com/beta.

As for the final release, the final beta of Android 12 was released in September, with a final source code release a month later in October. The official builds took a bit longer as Google held them back for the Pixel 6 launch date. It's unclear how the Android 13 release will be handled. Google's timeline, above, is always deliberately flexible on the final release.