Google launched the first Android 12 preview a few weeks back, but many of the most interesting features were hidden behind flags. With a little tinkering, it was possible to unlock Google's new One-handed mode, but there's no modding required in the just-released DP2. Just head into the gesture settings and flip on One-handed mode to get started.
Google published the first developer preview of Android 12 this week, and XDA's Mishaal Rahman has already been digging deep into the code to unearth new features that aren't meant for our eyes just yet. It looks like Google is working on a Samsung One UI-inspired redesign of the system settings that moves interface element closer to the thumbs, and you can activate it via an ADB shell command.
Phones just keep getting bigger, and there's no sign things will change anytime soon. As such, one-handed modes are a common add-on from Samsung, Motorola, and other OEMs, but Google hasn't implemented its own version until now. Android 12 has a one-handed mode as rumored, and it's reportedly fully functional. However, it's not exposed in the settings in the first preview build.
OxygenOS Beta 5 and Beta 15 have started rolling out for the OnePlus 7T and 7 series, respectively, delivering a handful of new features, the latest security patches, some updated branding, and a pile of smaller fixes. Among the headlining changes are a "notification bar" shortcut for Dark Mode, tweaks to the default dialer app's interface to surface frequently called contacts, and Bluetooth hearing aid support, plus the latest patches. Note: Although the changelog claims that this update brings back the one-handed mode that OnePlus has been testing since the beginning of the year, the company says that is incorrect, and the feature is not included in this build.
While large displays can be beautiful, using them in everyday scenarios can be anything but. This is particularly the case if you're holding yourself steady on a bus or train with one hand while browsing your smartphone with the other on a daily basis. To address this potential hazard, Samsung, LG, Huawei, Motorola, and other manufacturers offer a one-handed mode on some of their phones, and now a new XDA app called (wait for it) "One-Handed Mode" is bringing the helpful feature to any smartphone running Android 4.3 or higher.
The English alphabet only includes 26 different letters, but for many other languages that are not descendant from Latin, the number of valid characters is much larger. It turns out that this can make creating a keyboard that works well in those languages a bit difficult — imagine having a keyboard with hundreds or thousands of keys and you begin to get the picture. That's why Google has developed dedicated keyboard apps with alternative input methods specifically designed for languages such as Pinyin or Cantonese to make is easier for many (or maybe even most) users around the world to type in their native tongue.