How a bug in Android 12 beta made me think I was seeing a new behavior with the Notification Shade

2 years ago 250

Android 12 beta 4 solidified the diagnostic acceptable for the platform, but that doesn't mean bugs won't wound you.

The Android 12 beta programme has been a rousing occurrence for the platform. Not lone did it bring to beingness the new Material You interface, but it's besides been arsenic stone coagulated a beta arsenic I've ever experienced. But marque nary mistake, it's inactive a beta release. Nothing is much indicative of that than what I experienced aft my Pixel 5 was updated to beta 4.

In the portion that follows beneath published connected Aug. 24, 2021, I outlined what I believed to beryllium a caller method of interacting with the Android Notification Shade. This caller behaviour began erstwhile the 2nd beta 4 was installed connected my device. It took maine a fewer days to acclimate to the change, but eventually, I started to think, "Yeah, this makes sense."

And then, past night, immoderate 8 hours aft I'd submitted the station below, the UI connected my Android instrumentality recovered itself precocious for a precise important date, donned its Mad Hatter headdress and mislaid its mind–it was arsenic though the UI wholly restarted. Once everything had returned to normal, truthful excessively had the Notification Shade behavior.

SEE: Samsung Galaxy S21 Series: A cheat expanse (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

What I thought was a caller "feature," turned retired to beryllium a bug–one that I had not seen reported. That's the happening astir beta software–it's not acceptable for the masses, and I get and respect that. But sometimes it's casual to hide thing is beta erstwhile it runs and behaves truthful well. Even the behaviour I picture beneath performed with specified regularity, it was incredibly casual to beryllium fooled into reasoning it was the caller satellite bid for the Notification Shade. Lesson learned.

But what was that unusual behavior? Read connected to find out.

Editor's note: The pursuing station was published connected Aug. 24, 2021.

I've been utilizing Android since mentation 2. That maths retired astatine astir 10 years, which means galore habits are profoundly ingrained. One specified wont is interacting with the Notification Shade. For the longest time, that enactment has hardly changed, with possibly a tweak present and there, successful however you interact with notifications.

But arsenic you know, Android 12 has brought on with it immoderate large changes to the UI. Thanks to Material You, Android feels similar an wholly caller beast. It's much polished, much animated, much performant and modern. One alteration that volition travel up respective users retired of the gross is however you telephone up the Notification Shade.

Prior to Android 12, you simply dragged from the apical borderline of the show to unfastened the Notification Shade. Pull down doubly and you tin summation entree to the Settings fastener and the Quick Tiles. This is precisely however we've each utilized the Shade for years. But erstwhile I opted into the Android 12 beta, that each changed. Yes, you resistance down to unfastened the shade, but there's a subtle difference, and it'll instrumentality immoderate clip to shingle escaped from the bonds of musculus memory.

Let maine explicate this caller method. Are you acceptable for it?

How to unfastened the Notification Shade connected Android 12

The quality is simple. Instead of dragging down from the apical borderline of the screen, you request to commencement the resistance conscionable nether the time/date/weather widget (Figure A).

Figure A

When you correctly unfastened the Shade this way, your notifications volition look precisely arsenic you expect (only with the caller overgarment of overgarment that comes on with Material You: Figure B).

Figure B

How to entree the Settings fastener and Quick Tiles

To get to the Settings fastener and Quick Tiles, you could either resistance the notification shadiness down again (with the notifications already open) oregon you could spell backmost to the aged schoolhouse method and resistance down from the precise apical of the screen. This enactment volition bypass the Notifications and spell consecutive to the Settings/Quick Tiles shadiness (Figure C).

Figure C

To recap:

Drag down erstwhile from beneath the Date/Time/Weather widget to unfastened the Notification Shade.
Drag down erstwhile from the apical to unfastened the Settings/Quick Tiles Shade.

This is not a monolithic change, but it's 1 that volition travel you up rather often erstwhile you archetypal commencement utilizing Android 12. I'll beryllium honest, this is 1 of those changes that caught maine disconnected defender rather often. I'd propulsion down from the apical to presumption my notifications, lone to person to disregard the Settings/Quick Tiles and effort again. Hopefully, present that you've been warned, you won't endure the aforesaid vexation arsenic did I.

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