If you’ve got the news about Google Pixel smartphones receiving stable Android 12L builds, try pushing your OEM to be quicker to roll out the update to your device. Alternatively, you can follow our custom ROM coverage, where we highlight the Android 12L ports from the community. More users are invited to this party as source-built Android 12L custom ROMs are now available from Descendant and Pixel Experience project maintainers.
Descendants
The custom Descendant ROM is known for offering a new offering on AOSP with lots of unique features. Back in December 2021, the developers behind the project released the first official builds based on Android 12 and continued to update them until February. After a short break, the team is now back with Descendant 12.1 Android 12L as a base, a host of device-specific fixes and several new features.
The first notable change is the Descendant Restore: a custom minimalist custom restore that is now available for most supported devices. You can download it in the form of a standalone recovery or a boot image along with the flashable ZIP package for your smartphone. Face unlock is now integrated into the ROM and there is a built-in weather app with feed support. The build list this time also offers GSI targets.
The complete change log for Descendant 12.1 is as follows:
Descendants 12.1 Change log
- Bug fixes
- Fixed an issue that caused collision between Sony’s styled watch and the weather
- Resolved an issue that caused incorrect vibration icon scaling in the volume bar
- Fixed an issue that prevented Sony’s styled watch from updating the time correctly
- Fixed a typo in Settings for the word “lock screen” in English localization
- Improvements
- Improved fingerprint processes haptic feedback
- Improved Gestures Magic function with clean installation
- Improved amount of available apps toned icon for launcher
- Interface changes
- The transition to the brightness bar from the expandable panel with quick settings to the fully expanded panel with quick settings has been improved
- New features
- Face lock has been added
- Full screen gestures, added in: Settings> System> Gestures> System navigation> Motion navigation (gear icon)
- What’s new can now check and notify about Descendant system updates
- Weather app has been added and will provide weather information to the system and users
- Level of security patches
Download Descendant 12.1 based on Android 12L for your phone
Pixel Experience
As the Pixel Experience is one of the most popular custom ROMs out there, the Pixel Experience is sought after by many Android enthusiasts to emulate the Google Pixel software experience. Although the project started offering official Android 12 builds in December last year, fans of the ROM have asked the developers to add some extra features and release a separate “Plus” variant. After rebasing the code base on top of Android 12L last month, maintainers are finally ready to deliver Pixel Experience Plus releases from this month’s update.
In addition to moving the level of security fix to April 2022, the Pixel Experience team now offers a number of adjustments through the “Plus” version. For example, you can access the network traffic monitor and volume settings per call. app that are not available in the regular build. The goal was always to focus on stability and porting over Pixel features, so the overall experience does not differ too much from the vanilla variant.
You can find the comprehensive change log below:
Pixel Experience April 2022 Changelog
- Vanilla version
- April security patch
- Directed charging animation is not displayed
- Fixed unlock sound is played repeatedly
- Updated translations
- Other corrections
- Plus version:
- LiveDisplay (color profile, display mode, read mode, color calibration)
- Hide Notch support
- StatusBar shortcuts
- Rotation settings
- Lock screen (media cover, music visualization, on / off menu)
- Volume settings per app
- Increases the ring volume
- Different movements
- Adjust power and volume buttons
- Network traffic monitoring
- Brightness (brightness slider, automatic brightness, brightness control)
- Quick settings (quick drop-down menu, title visibility, touch vibration, rows, columns)
To date, more than 50 devices have received official Pixel Experience Plus support on top of Android 12L. Over time, more developers are likely to expand the list as they complete the device’s mission.
Download Pixel Experience 12 and 12 Plus based on Android 12L for your phone
It goes without saying that you should back up your data before attempting to flash any of these builds or other custom ROMs. If its loss will affect you, back it up – no excuses. These builds are primarily aimed at users who want to try the latest version of Android, Android 12L, and understand the risks associated with aftermarket software.
Source: Descendant Telegram Channel, Pixel Experience Blog