We can safely say that the Android 12 Beta 2 build improved the Settings menu, in comparison to the previous build. This build brings information density back to the Settings menu. If you use Android 11 at the moment (at least on a Pixel), you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.
Android 12 Beta 2 improves the Settings menu, after Developer Preview 3 made it worse
Android 12 Developer Preview 3 brought forth a redesigned Settings menu. In it, Google removed additional information for each category. So, for example, the first option in the settings just says ‘Network & Internet’, without any additional information.
Well, with the Android 12 Beta 2 build, Google added more information there. In addition to ‘Network & Internet’, you’ll also see the contents of it below. So, it says: “Wi-Fi, mobile, data usage, and hotspot”.
This is a far better solution as you’ll know exactly what lies in each of the menus listed in the Settings. Well, it doesn’t reveal every single option, but it does list the most important ones. That way it’s easier to navigate the Settings, and find what you’re looking for.
We didn’t know if Google plans to bring this back, but it did. Chances are that the company won’t mess around with the Settings menu all that much before the Android 12 stable build arrives, and that’s a good thing.
The search bar is still available
That is the only thing Google changed in regards to the Settings menu, nothing else really needed changing. You still get the search bar here, so that you can quickly find what you’re looking for, without navigating the menus manually.
Android 12 Beta 2 build dropped yesterday. It did bring quite a few changes in comparison to Beta 1, and we’ve already talked about many of them on the site. Well, more information keeps on surfacing, so you can expect more information to follow. As a reminder, the Android 12 stable build is expected to land at some point in August.