Android 13’s first beta is here, and it’s ready to try on your Pixel smartphone. The beta comes to us after two developer previews, and though some of the kinks have been worked out enough to use this version of the software as a daily driver, remember that the code is still under construction.
Note that this isn’t the final version of the beta software and that we’ll have at least two more updates before the full release of Android 13 sometime this fall. If you don’t want to install it now, you can wait until things get a little more refined in the next update.
If you do go for the beta, take some time to try out what’s new. Some of the changes are obvious, like Android’s improved media playback window and more options for Material You. And many parts of the interface have been slightly tweaked for a better user experience, like bringing smart home controls to the lock screen. I went through the Android 13 to find all sorts of these big and little feature changes. Here’s what’s struck me so far.
