Android 13 brings background effects, new media controls, foreground manager

Google released Android 13 Developer Preview 2 last week and we’re now seeing the beta’s new features being dug up one by one.

Starting with the redesigned media controls. They’re in their usual place between quick settings and notifications, but their widget is now bigger. The title and description of the track can fit inside.

The media output selection has also been redesigned to match Android 13’s design language. There is also the option to pair a new device directly in this menu.

New playback control and output selection

Android 13 offers users new background effects. Called Cinematic Wallpaper in the developer preview, it allows users to apply effects to their wallpaper. It’s now clear what the effects will be, but the images below show that you can dim your wallpaper. Some variants of Android already allow this, like Samsung’s OneUI and Xiaomi’s MIUI.

darken wallpaper

Finally, the Foreground Services task manager sits at the bottom of the quick settings and notification panel, and puts the currently running apps in the foreground. You can monitor which apps are currently actively running and stop them.

FGS notifies you when an app has been running for more than 20 hours.

Closing an app from the FGS task manager is more like force closing it, rather than simply swiping it from the recent apps menu. Here’s a detailed comparison of which action does what.

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