Without sugar-coating it, Android 12 is a bit of an acquired taste. It was cool to see Google revamp the UI appearance and take it even further into that Material You direction. But some choices struck us a bit odd.
Specifically the size and shape of the quick toggles in the notification shade — these now take a lot more space and let you store a lot less quick functions on one page. No idea why, but it seems that — at some point — Google also saw this as a problem... and decided to combine the Wi-Fi and Mobile Data toggles within one quick tile — the controversial Internet tile.
A lot of users are disgruntled — it's not a huge problem, but why mess with something that worked quickly and effortlessly? In the past, you had dedicated toggles for Wi-Fi and Data, so it was only a matter of a swipe and a tap if you wanted to enable / disable one. Now, you need to swipe down, tap on Internet, then make your pick from an extra window, which pops up at the bottom of the screen. Extra points — there's a bit of lag as the Internet pop-up loads up available Wi-Fi networks. Yeeey.
Sony to the rescue
Sony started rolling out Android 12 updates to its Xperia flagships earlier this month. And users were quick to notice that, despite the fact that Sony's Xperia UI usually sticks close to the stock Android experience, Sony actually decided to keep the Wi-Fi and Data toggles separate, leaving them at one-tap distance. Nice!
Early builds of Android 12 also had the Wi-Fi and Data tiles separate
However, here's the weird part — users don't see the split-up toggles, but instead get the new Internet tile. Turns out, if you have this, you need to perform a factory reset of your Xperia to get the old style toggles.
This begs the question — is the old style a bug introduced by factory-resetting an Xperia with a fresh Android 12 update? Or is the Android 12 update slightly bugged and requires the factory reset to straighten out?
We asked Sony and will post an answer as soon as we get one.
[Spot reserved for comment from Sony. Check back later]
But not all that is old is gold
Sadly, users are also noticing the lack of a highly-praised privacy-oriented feature. Android 12 introduced new quick toggles to globally disable your phone's camera and microphone — just in case you are worried someone or some app might be... "listening in". It seems that these toggles were not included with the current build of Android 12 for Xperia flagships, which is a perplexing disappointment.
Note: status bar indicators for Microphone or Camera use will still work! This means that if any app on your phone is using your camera or microphone, you should see a persistent green or yellow dot in the top-right of your display.
Of course, we have asked Sony about that as well. We will update this bit as soon as we get an answer.
Which Xperia phones are getting Android 12?
As of right now, only the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III are getting the newest Android build. Plus, rollout is still a bit slow, so you may not have it, depending on where in the world you are. It's a bit disappointing that the $1,800 Xperia Pro-I came with Android 11 out of the box and isn't getting Android 12 just yet, so let's hope that's also coming soon. Of course, we would expect the slightly older Xperia 1 II and Xperia 5 II, as well as — at the very least — the midrange Xperia 10 III to get Android 12 soon-ish.
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Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.
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