The Android team at Google LLC today announced the fourth beta of Android 12, which brings platform stability and will lock in all the app-facing behaviors of the operating system.

The company said this is a major milestone leading up to the official release of Android 12 later this year. It means that developers now have the ability to test and update their apps knowing that future releases of Android 12 will remain fully compatible. App development can now focus on compatibility, security and polish for the final release of the platform.

Testing app compatibility for Android 12 Beta 4 was designed to be easy. Developers need only download their production app from Google Play onto any device or emulator running the beta and run through all app’s workflows while watching for user interface issues.

Android 12 has seen a number of behavior changes for apps, many of which are focused on user privacy and user interface design changes. For developers, it’s a good time to review the behavior changes that affect Android 12.

For example, the Privacy Dashboard in Settings now lets users see which apps access which type of data and when. Users can adjust permissions if needed and can request details from apps on the reason for access. Apps can also be written to provide a rationale for access to explain to users why they should provide permission.

Android 12 also now shows an indicator in the status bar when an app uses the microphone or camera and new toggles in Quick Settings that let users disable microphone and camera access for all apps. And there are clipboard read notifications when apps read data unexpectedly.

Google also asked developers to test the libraries and software development kits that they use for compatibility as well. If any SDK issues are discovered, they should try updating them to the most recent versions or reach out for help.

Beginning with Android 11, Google provided developer tools for testing and debugging against behavior changes in newer versions with the compatibility framework tools. With these tools, developers can rapidly discover any interface or compatibility issues before the final release.

To get started with Android 12 features and testing apps with today’s beta release, developers can enroll on any supported Pixel device for over-the-air updates. It is possible to get Beta 4 on devices from ASUS, OnePlus, Oppos, Realme, Sharp and ZTE. And for developers without a device, it’s possible to test on the Android Emulator.

Beta 4 is also available for Android TV, so it’s possible to check out the latest TV features and test apps for Google TV as well.

Image: Google