With the Android 12L update, Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 look more like Windows
Microsoft has taken advantage of Android 12L’s advanced theming system to make the interface look more like the Fluent UI used on Windows 11. Windows for smartphones may be dead and buried, but its ghost haunts Android. The Microsoft Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 both receive this update simultaneously.
Microsoft’s launcher now features a notification shade, Settings screen, and activity feed that are uniform with their Windows counterparts. Everything from the icons to the colors to the user interface controls are now consistent with the Windows aesthetic. Blur is a common UI component and standard in Windows design.
The new program has all the Windows backgrounds and the ability to select an auxiliary hue to match:
Atop the Surface Slim Pen 2 (which is supported on the Duo 2) is a button that, when tapped, reveals a quick launch bar with shortcuts for relevant apps, just like on Surface PCs.
Upgrades were also made to Microsoft Teams, allowing you to move a meeting between teams using the Time widget and boosting performance and battery life by shifting workloads to hardware acceleration.
Additionally, you can now pin specific discussions directly to the home screen with the help of the new conversations widgets. Photos from OneDrive are displayed in yet another new widget.
Along with the typical Android 12L enhancements, such as status bar indicators for the camera and microphone, and a privacy tracker that retains a list of apps that have used the camera or microphone, or accessed your location in the past 24 hours, are all present and accounted for.
In order to install Android 12L on a Surface Duo, you’ll need to download around 2.6GB of data; on a Surface Duo 2, you’ll need to download around 3.2GB of data. The October security patch is also a part of the updates. Check if the update has been rolled out to your location by going to System > System Update.
