News on Mobile OS Releases, May 2021

Android 12 

Android 12 Public Beta Now Available

Android 12 introduces the biggest redesign in history, which is based around "a new way to think about design", called Material You. It's all about personalization, and the main feature consists of dynamically made themes based on your wallpaper. There are also redesigned widgets. In Settings you'll find a new Privacy Dashboard that gives you a single view into your permissions settings as well as what data is being accessed by what apps and how often. You can easily revoke permissions right from the dashboard.

Full content and details (external sources): XDADevelopers, GSMArena, Gadgets

Android 12 will let third-party stores update apps without constant user interaction

This change would allow a third-party store, such as the Epic Games Store, to behave much like Google Play does today. Instead of the user getting pop-ups during install or having to manually update apps from a third-party store, these processes will be automatic.

Full content and details (external sources): 9to5Google

Apple iOS 

iOS 15

A new sketchy rumor suggests that Apple is working on improved notifications, new food-tracking features, and more for iOS 15. The rumors come from Connor Jewiss, who has no track record when it comes to rumors and leaks about Apple. According to what he heard from sources, iOS 15 is expected to have “new notifications settings” and a new look on the lock screen.

Details on this are unknown, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported earlier this year that Apple wants to implement new notification options in iOS this year, which includes a feature to customize alerts, depending on current activity or time. Gurman even seems to have corroborated Jewiss’s leaks in a tweet today saying, “Don’t forget updated Notification banners.”

Full content and details (external sources): 9to5Mac

Apple releases iOS 14.6 with Apple Card Family support

Apple has released iOS 14.6 for iPhone 6s and beyond and it brings some new features that were announced at the company's April event. It includes Apple Card Family, Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, AirTag related changes, and more. It seems that Apple has also quietly made improvements to the Shortcuts app, which now runs actions faster on the iPhone and iPad with the latest version of the operating system.

Full content and details (external sources): GSMArena, Gadgets, 9to5Mac

HarmonyOS 2.0 

Huawei HarmonyOS Launch Date Set for June 2 Amid US Sanctions

Huawei said it will launch its new HarmonyOS operating system for smartphones on June 2, its biggest move yet aimed at recovering from the damage done by US sanctions to its mobile phone business. The use of its own operating system will mean it will no longer be reliant on Android. US sanctions banned Google from providing technical support to new Huawei phone models and access to Google Mobile Services, the bundle of developer services upon which most Android apps are based.

Full content and details (external sources): Gadgets

Huawei HarmonyOS developer beta 3 version 2.0.0.115 brings universal card update

The version was pushed on May 28 for all compatible models. This is the fourth update in the same month. Huawei only revealed that this update of the universal card has added a display prompt bar setting switch to optimize the display effect of the universal card.

Full content and details (external sources): HuaweiUpdate

New video reveals major features and design of Harmony OS

Huawei is expected to start pushing Harmony OS to its devices as early as June. While the in-house system is still in beta, a four-minute video appeared on Weibo, revealing all major improvements the Chinese company has introduced. The most drastic change is a new control center, dragged from the top right corner. The top left corner brings a search engine within the phone, while a basic down gesture anywhere on the screen reveals notifications.

Full content and details (external sources): GSMArena

EMUI11

EMUI 11 and Magic UI 4 Eligible Devices

Huawei has officially rolled out EMUI 11 for some devices in China. The global users now began to get the latest EMUI version.

Full content and details (external sources): HuaweiCentral

May 2021 Huawei EMUI Security Patch details are here

Huawei opened the HarmonyOS 2.0 public developer beta program with 19 devices including Mate X2, models from Mate 40 series, and more. After that, the company is rapidly working and continuously extending the test pool for more of its devices. In this line, on May 9, the company announced second phase testing for the mid-range Nova 6, Nova 7, and Nova 8 series. To date, the Chinese tech giant released the 3 developer beta builds of HarmonyOS 2.0, 4 test versions of Huawei DevEco IDE for HarmonyOS app developers, and recently pushed OpenHarmony 2.0 package with added new lines of codes.

Full content and details (external sources): HuaweiCentral

Huawei HarmonyOS vs EMUI 11 latest boot speed comparison in phone

The HarmonyOS's booting speed was measured faster than EMUI 11. The video demonstration shows the result in favor of HarmonyOS and proves that Huawei has worked hard in developing HarmonyOS and tries to beat Android because it is the largest mobile operating system in the world.

Full content and details (external sources): HuaweiCentral