Android 13 features and changes list

The following table lists all documented features and behavior changes that might affect app developers. Use this list to find changes that affect you, and then click on the corresponding link to read the documentation.

Category Type Name
Camera New features and APIs HDR video capture
Apps can use Camera2 APIs to capture and preview HDR video content.
Connectivity Change (apps targeting 13+) BluetoothAdapter#enable() and BluetoothAdapter#disable() deprecated
For apps targeting Android 13 (API level 33) or higher, the BluetoothAdapter#enable() and BluetoothAdapter#disable() methods are deprecated and always return false.
Core functionality Change (all apps) Legacy copy of speech service implementation removed
Apps should use the device's default provider for SpeechService, rather than hard-coding a specific app.
Core functionality New features and APIs OpenJDK 11 updates
Android 13 includes a number of updates to align with the OpenJDK 11 LTS release.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Themed app icons
Apps can provide monochromatic app icons that can be styled on a user's device using Material You dynamic color.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Per-app language preferences
Apps can use new platform APIs to set or get a user's preferred, per-app language.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Faster hyphenation
Android 13 drastically improves hyphenation performance for TextView instances.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Text Conversion APIs
In Android 13, apps can call the new text conversion API so users who speak languages with phonetic lettering input methods can find what they're looking for faster and easier.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Improved line heights for non-latin scripts
Android 13 improves the display of non-Latin scripts (such as Tamil, Burmese, Telugu, and Tibetan) by using a line height that’s adapted for each language.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Improved Japanese text wrapping
TextViews can now wrap text by Bunsetsu (the smallest unit of words that sounds natural) or phrases—instead of by character—for more polished and readable Japanese applications.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Unicode library updates
Android 13 adds the latest improvements, fixes, and changes that are included in Unicode ICU 70, Unicode CLDR 40, and Unicode 14.0.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Color vector fonts
Android 13 adds rendering support for COLR version 1 fonts and updates the system emoji to the COLRv1 format.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Quick Settings placement API
Apps that provide custom tiles can make those tiles available in Quick Settings.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Clipboard preview
Starting in Android 13, apps utilize a standard visual confirmation whenever content is added to the clipboard.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Predictive back gesture
Android 13 introduces a predictive back gesture for Android devices such as phones, large screens, and foldables.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs Bluetooth LE Audio
Android 13 adds built-in support for LE Audio, so developers should get the new capabilities for free on compatible devices.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs MIDI 2.0
Android 13 adds support for the new MIDI 2.0 standard, including the ability to connect MIDI 2.0 hardware through USB.
Developer productivity and tools New features and APIs ART optimizations
Android 13 improves performance and efficiency for all apps through updates to the ART runtime.
Graphics New features and APIs Programmable shaders
Apps can use programmable RuntimeShader objects to create advanced effects.
Graphics New features and APIs Choreographer improvements
Additional methods in the Choreographer and ASurfaceControl APIs provide apps with more information about the possible frame timelines and add more context to SurfaceFlinger about the frame lifecycle.
Media New features and APIs Anticipatory audio routing
Apps can use new APIs to identify how their audio is going to be routed.
Performance and battery Change (all apps) Task Manager
Android 13 allows users to stop foreground services from the notification drawer, regardless of target SDK version.
Performance and battery Change (all apps) Improve prefetch job handling using JobScheduler
In Android 13, the system now tries to determine the next time an app will be launched, and uses that estimation to run prefetch jobs.
Performance and battery Change (all apps) Battery Resource Utilization
Android 13 introduces Battery Resource Utilization, which provides several ways to better manage device battery life.
Privacy and security Change (all apps) Runtime permission for notifications
Android 13 introduces a new runtime notification permission: POST_NOTIFICATIONS.
Privacy and security Change (all apps) Hide sensitive content from clipboard
Apps that allow users to copy sensitive content to the clipboard must add a flag to hide that content from clipboard content previews.
Privacy and security Change (all apps) Migrate away from shared user ID
Apps that use the deprecated android:sharedUserId attribute and no longer depend on the attribute's functionality should migrate to other mechanisms.
Privacy and security Change (apps targeting 13+) New runtime permission for nearby Wi-Fi devices
When using certain Wi-FI APIs, apps that don't require access to a device's physical location should strongly assert this using a new permission.
Privacy and security Change (apps targeting 13+) Use of body sensors in the background requires new permission
If your app targets Android 13 and requires access to body sensor information while running in the background, you must declare the new BODY_SENSORS_BACKGROUND permission.
Privacy and security Change (apps targeting 13+) Granular media permissions
Apps must now use separate permissions to request access to different types of media, instead of the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.
Privacy and security New features and APIs Safer exporting of context-registered receivers
To help make runtime receivers safer, Android 13 allows you to specify whether a particular broadcast receiver in your app should be exported and visible to other apps on the device.
Privacy and security New features and APIs Photo picker
Apps should use a new photo picker to provide a safe, built-in way for users to select media files without granting access to their entire media library.
Privacy and security New features and APIs New runtime permission for nearby Wi-Fi devices
Apps can request a new permission to discover nearby Wi-Fi devices without accessing the device's location.
Privacy and security New features and APIs New permission to use exact alarms
When targeting Android 13, apps such as calendars and alarms can use the new USE_EXACT_ALARM install-time permission to set exact alarms.
Privacy and security New features and APIs Developer downgradable permissions
Starting in Android 13, your app can revoke access to runtime permissions that it was previously granted, either by the system or by the user.
Privacy and security New features and APIs APK Signature Scheme v3.1
APK Signature Scheme v3.1 allows apps to support original and rotated signers in a single APK and also supports SDK version targeting.
Privacy and security New features and APIs Better error reporting in Keystore and KeyMint
For apps that generate keys, Keystore and KeyMint now provide more detailed and accurate error indicators.
Tablets and large screens New features and APIs Improved support for tablets and large-screen devices
Android 13 builds on the tablet optimizations introduced in Android 12 and the 12L feature drop—including optimizations for the system UI, better multitasking, and improved compatibility modes.
User experience Change (apps targeting 13+) Media controls derived from PlaybackState
The system now derives media controls from PlaybackState actions instead of MediaStyle notifications.
User experience Change (apps targeting 13+) App color theme applied automatically to WebView content
For apps targeting Android 13 (API level 33) or higher, the setForceDark() method is deprecated. Instead, WebView now always sets the media query prefers-color-scheme according to the app's theme attribute, isLightTheme.
Google Play services Change (apps targeting 13+) Permission required for advertising ID
Apps that use Google Play services advertising ID and target Android 13 (API level 33) and higher must declare the AD_ID normal permission in their app's manifest file.
Non-SDK interface restrictions Change (apps targeting 13+) Updates to non-SDK interface restrictions
Android 13 includes updated lists of restricted non-SDK interfaces based on collaboration with Android developers and the latest internal testing.
Media New features and APIs Spatial audio
An immersive audio experience for more realistic-sounding content.

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