Google’s Android 13 mobile operating system will make it easier for users to prevent bombardment by unwanted notifications, by forcing apps to ask permission to send them in the first place.
The latest Android 13 developer preview is out for Pixel devices and brings Android fans a feature iOS device owners have relied upon for years.
If Google carries the feature through to the consumer version of the software, it’ll save Android users having to delve into the settings to manually turn off or limit the notifications from eager app developers.
The feature will work similar to its iOS counterpart in that users will be presented with a persistent notification that will require them to allow or don’t allow an app to send you notifications.
“Apps targeting Android 13 will now need to request the notification permission from the user before posting notifications,” said Dave Burke, a VP of engineering for Android, says in a blog post explaining the change to developers.
Beyond the new notifications upgrade, Google has confirmed Android 13 will have Bluetooth Low Energy Audio, which promises more efficient data transmission at higher quality.
“It’s designed to ensure that users can receive high fidelity audio without sacrificing battery life and be able to seamlessly switch between different use cases that were not possible with Bluetooth Classic,” Burke adds.
There’s also support for MIDI 2.0 hardware through a USB connection. “This updated standard offers features such as increased resolution for controllers, better support for non-Western intonation, and more expressive performance using per-note controllers,” this says.
Google is still in the developer preview stage for Android 13, with public versions not available until the summer. We can expect to hear much more about what Android 13 has to offer at Google I/O, on May 11.
