Google released Android 12L Beta 3 today — and the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are eligible. There are plenty of tiny new tweaks, many of which are solely for the purpose of making it nicer to use your phone. To that end, Google's refreshed the Pixel 6's unlock animations, and the new versions look pretty slick.

Now, in the new Android 12L beta, there's a wavy animation around the illumination for the phone's optical fingerprint sensor. Previously, there was only a very subtle animation — a sort of halo effect. The difference is most noticeable when unlocking from the always-on display. It's a small change, but a welcome one.

But the fresh animations don't stop there! There's also an improved slide effect when unlocking into an open app, new to Pixel 6 in this update. Before, the app would just slide up from the bottom of the screen. Now, there's a slight depth effect — the app looks like it's moving along two axes rather than just one.

Left: Old animation. Right: New. It's pretty subtle.

There are sure to be tons of tiny tweaks in this new beta release — tweaks like, for example, a new grid size option for your home screen. They may seem unimportant individually, but small changes add up.

Thanks: Nick Cipriani