Tablets have existed long before cellphones, first as unwieldy Windows-based tablet PCs before being supplanted by Android and iOS. While Android tablets have been on the market for a long time, the user experience was still lacking. Although Google’s mobile platform improved the usability of phone apps, especially compared to iOS before the iPadOS, the experience was still sub-optimal. Few developers went out of their way to improve it. However, with the impending Android 12L feature release, Google emphasizes large screens and provides developers with everything they need to make apps perform better on them.
Of course, large screens don’t solely apply to iPads, and Android 12L also covers foldable phones and circumstances where Android apps run on a separate external display. This is true when using an external display or, more importantly for Google, while using Android apps on Chromebooks.
Google informs developers of the new tools and capabilities available with Android 12L in its recent blog post for developers. Updates to Android’s design principles and tooling will help them be aware of concerns relating to the scenario above, while it won’t be like magic.
Google will also showcase apps that have been optimized for large screens on the user side. When utilizing a tablet, a foldable, or a Chromebook, Google Play search results and ratings will reveal such apps. Multitasking, which is easier to do when you have more space for more than one program, is one of the main themes of such apps.
To lower the entry hurdle even further, Google reportedly offers a discount on the new Lenovo Tab P12 Pro, which was unveiled in September. The tablet is yet to be released in the United States, but according to 9to5Google, the promotion will last until February 2022.
Source: android-developers.googleblog | 9to5google
