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Google Pixel 6 running Android 13 pre-release
Photo: Matthias Kremp / DER SPIEGEL
"As punctual as the masons," one might say.
Almost exactly a year after the first preview version of Android 12, Google released the first developer version of its successor on Thursday evening.
In the current version, the software should give developers the opportunity to adapt their apps to the new functions and capabilities of Android 13.
Above all, the company is asking for feedback from the testers.
"Tell us what you think of it," says Google's developer website.
Following a long tradition, the software was named after a sweet delicacy.
The tasty system started with Android 1.5, the third public version, which was called "Cupcake".
Since then, the company has followed the alphabet in finding a name.
Attempting to end that tradition with Android 10 didn't sit well with the scene, which is why Android 11 was dubbed the "Red Velvet Cake" and Android 12 the "Snow Cone."
Consequently, Android 13 is called "Tiramisu" in the settings.
An innovation that catches the eye after installing the software are the so-called icon designs.
They make it possible to select one of several standardized looks and a color that matches the screen background for app icons instead of the well-known individual designs.
This option is already available for Google apps in Android 12, and in Tiramisu it is now being extended to third-party apps.
Developers must submit a monochrome version of their icon with their app.
Whether this option, which deprives the symbols of their uniqueness, will be well received remains to be seen.
It is already foreseeable that Android 13 should bring improvements in the protection of privacy.
For example, apps can be granted access to individual photos without giving them access to the entire photo library.
Another improvement: apps that need access to the WiFi hotspot currently in use can access it in future without having to grant them access to the location data.
A more cosmetic innovation: A new hyphenation should make text on the screen easier to read.
And the first adjustments are already included for foldable smartphones.
This can be seen as an accommodation to companies like Samsung and Oppo, which already offer such devices - but also as an indication that Google is planning a Pixel smartphone with a folding screen this year.
If you now feel like trying out the preliminary version yourself, you should pause for a moment.
For one thing, the software is currently only available for Google smartphones starting with the Pixel 4.
Second, it is potentially full of bugs that can corrupt data.
And last but not least, installing the software will erase all data on the device.
If you have a little patience, you will be able to get Android 13 on smartphones from other manufacturers as early as April as a hopefully more stable beta version.
From June, around the time when Google will hold its I/O developer conference, work will then be carried out on the stability of the update before the final version is released in late summer or autumn.
The company doesn't want to be that specific.