The U12 Plus is a flagship from HTC, runs on Android Oreo out of the box and updated to Android 9 Pie in the US recently. The flagship is powered by Snapdragon 845 chipset and also features 6 inch display.
Although, HTC might get slowed down with android updates in recent times, but U11 and HTC 10 were the some of the first flagships which got the Oreo update soon after Pixel devices. So we hope the Taiwanese tech giant speed up the rollout of Android updates with Android 10, because of Project Treble.
The next update for HTC U12+ flagship is Android 10. The Taiwanese tech giant didn’t participate in the Beta program so the early preview isn’t available for U12 Plus. Google released the third Beta cum Preview of Android 10 for registered Pixel devices on May 7th. The partners in Beta program like Sony, LG, OnePlus, Nokia also released the previews for their flagship devices.
Later, Google pushed out the official build of Android 10 on September 3rd for Pixel series devices. The update came with September month’s security patch too. Google announced that there will be no codenames for the tenth anniversary edition and forthcoming updates of Android, so the updates will be called with version numbers only. The tradition of codenaming with famous desserts leads to confusion in users, according to Google.
When will HTC rollout Android 10 for U12 Plus ?
Albeit, it is more than One month since the release of Android 10 by Google, but we haven’t hear anything from the Taiwanese tech giant. According to rumours, HTC already begins the development of Android 10 for its flagships. We hope the soak testing of Android 10 for U12 Plus will begin in the November or December 2019.
The final rollout most probably takes place in Q1 of 2020, at least for unlocked devices of U12. Carrier locked device users have to wait until Q2 of 2020 to taste Android 10. However, in the mean time, Lineage OS and other custom roms based on Android 10 will be available for U12+ users. We will post the official rollout dates here, as soon as HTC has announced them.
What’s New in Android 10 Q ?
The Search giant packed the tenth iteration of Android with many remarkable new features and massive improvements over previous versions. As the development still at third beta stage, more improvements and features may come in upcoming months.
The Dark theme for Android is one of the notable features in the upcoming update. Albeit, the U12+ flagship features Night mode to reduce blue light, the dark theme is much better for eyes and also saves battery. Android Pie features some dark theme elements like Notifications, Quick Settings and navigation bar. But Android Q comes with whole system-wide dark theme without any major bugs.
Inside apps too, Android Q automatically enable the dark theme if the developer designs one or apply its own theme. So there is no need to manually change theme for each and every app.
Native Support for 5G is another landmark in Android’s history. So the android developers can design their apps specifically for very low latency and massive network speeds. Some tech analysts expect that the support for 5G will lead to new innovations like VR and AR, as 4G lead to video streaming and gaming.
The forthcoming Android update features parental controls for Digital wellbeing and focus mode. The parental controls can be used to restrict app usage time instead of just screen-on time. Focus mode is a way to temporarily disable the apps like social media to focus on getting the work done and it is also useful while watching Netflix in downtime without interruptions.
Smart Reply
The Android 10 update came with AI-integrated smart reply feature which provides quick replies for messages using on-device machine learning. The feature works basically in this way : when a new message arrived in Messages or Whatsapp or other chatting apps, along with the message, some quick replies with emojis will appear below it in the notification bar. So user can give reply with just a single tap.
The feature also shows quick action bubbles along with the message in notification bar. For example, when the user received a message which contains address to a location, a quick shortcut bubble to launch Maps app will appear below the message in the notification. So user can navigate to the location with just a single click. The feature may get refined further in future updates.
Fully Gestural Navigation
In the Android 10 update, Google refined the navigation gestures which arrived with Android Pie and removed even Home button. So when user selects the fully gestural navigation option in Settings menu, there will be almost no navigation bar and only a thin bar appears at the bottom of the screen. So user can use whole Display real estate to do multi-tasking in splitscreen efficiently.
To go for Home screen, user just swipe up from the bottom of the screen and to go Back, swipe from either left and right edge of the screen. To switch between apps, user swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold before releasing. There are options in Settings Menu, so user can revert back to Two Button or Three button nav bar.
Support for TLS 1.3
The Tenth anniversary update of Android came with full support for TLS 1.3 protocol which is not only safer and also faster than the earlier versions of TLS. Using the zero-round-trip time and low latency of TLS 1.3, apps will load faster on Android 10.
Google Chrome begins support for TLS 1.3 with 70 version and now all apps on Android can use it for vieweing Web. So we recommend all HTC U12+ users to update their third-party apps after upgrading to Android 10 to ensure that the apps are targetted for Android 10 only.
Native Support for Desktop mode
The Search giant brings native support for Desktop mode with the Android 10 update. However, users need a functional third-party desktop launcher to enjoy desktop mode. Developers at XDA are already developing desktop launchers.
HTC U12 users can connect their devices to a monitor or TV through cable and use it similar to a desktop PC with the Desktop mode. So multi-tasking becomes more efficient and user experience will get enhanced. More details about Desktop mode will be revealed in coming days.
Battery saver Schedule
The Search giant introduced the remarkable battery saver feature with Android Lollipop in 2014 and improved a lot in subsequent updates. In the latest update, Google added a bit of AI to the battery saver feature to save more battery and improve user experience.
In Android 10, there are three options in Battery saver schedule section in the Battery Saver options of Battery section of Settings menu. The three options are No schedule, Based on your routine and Based on percentage. When the user sets the option to Based on your routine, AI will start analyzing the users behavior and charging pattern using on-device machine learning. Then, it will automatically kicks off Battery saver, when the device not in use, so HTC U12 users don’t have to bother about Battery saver. It will turn-on and off itself only.
Update on 19/9/2019 :
The Search giant began the rollout of the latest iteration of Android on September 3rd, for Pixel series devices. The update named as Android 10 without any codename. Prior to rollout, Google announced that they dropped the naming of Android versions with famous desserts. So we will see the next Android updates without codenames.
The official update of Android 10 is very similar to the last beta but includes September’s Security patch, battery charging port notifications and other minor refinements. Essential rolledout the update on the same day and OnePlus started the beta program few hours later. However, till now HTC has made no comment on the availability of Android 10 for its devices. We have contacted them already and awaiting for their reply.
Update on 8/8/2019 :
The final cum sixth Beta of Android Q is now live, Google announces the last Beta of the upcoming Android update, few hours ago. The rollout for Pixel series and Essential Phone has just begun and we are digging inside the latest Beta to know what’s new. Till now, we find no notable changes except the Back button sensitivity option as rumoured earlier. The user interface has been polished and it seems nice compared to the earlier Beta.
In Beta 6, users can find a gear icon besides the Gesture navigation option in System navigation section in Settings menu. On tapping the icon, users can adjust the Back sensitivity through a slider. Other minor changes in the Beta 6 include Darker Autorotate button at the bottom-right corner of the screen, new Emergency button in the Power Menu. Google posted in the official blog that there will be no major changes in the final version of Android Q apart from fixing of any bugs if discovered. In a few weeks, the final version of Android Q and its code name will be announced.
Update on 29/7/2019 :
The Search Giant begins the rollout of fifth beta of Android 10 on July 11th for Pixel series devices. Essential also rolledout the update for the PH-1 flagship. Albeit, this is a marginal update, there are some improvements to Notifications, dark mode, Gesture navigation and also contains some underhood refinements. The version number of the fifth beta is QPP5.190530.014 and not matched with the earlier leaks. The Search Giant is due to release the sixth or final preview in this week or next week with final system behaviours.
As we mentioned earlier, the final version of Android Q is coming in August, so the official codename will be revealed at the time of release.
Update on 5/7/2019 :
It seems that the fifth Beta is leaked early before its official rollout. A Pixel 3 user in Reddit claimed to have received the Android Q Beta 5 update recently and now 9to5Google confirmed that the rollout is legit. The screenshots leaked through 9to5Google reveals that a Back button sensitivity setting is coming to Android with Beta 5. The Pixel 3XL device in screenshots shows that the version number is QP1A.190626.001 which is different from the earlier version number begining with QPP. The device has received even August’s Security patch, according to the screenshot. So it seems the build is a very internal one and leaked accidentally.
The system navigation page in the build shows a Gear icon besides the Gesture Navigation options which seems to be renamed from Fully Gestural Navigation in the earlier beta. Tapping on the Beta shows Back sensitivity slider ranging from low to High and also shows warning that High Back sensitivity will conflict with the Gestures along the edge of the screen. According to the user received the update, Gesture navigation is working much smooth in this update. More details about the feature will be revealed once Google finalized the update and starts rolling out.
We will update this post soon with more details about Android Q update for HTC U12 Plus.
