The feature will be arriving “soon.” | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Google’s Material You dynamic color theming, which lets you more easily match your phone’s color palette with your wallpaper, is one of the standout features of Android 12, and it will be available on more devices from top Android phone makers “soon,” the company announced in a post on its Android developers blog Thursday. Devices from Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, Xiaomi, Tecno, “and more” will all be getting the feature.
So far, the dynamic color theming has been available mostly on Pixels, though Samsung and Xiaomi have recently introduced theming options as well. However, given the many different OEM-specific flavors of Android, it seems like there is still some work to do to make sure that the feature works well across this broader range of devices.
“As more Android 12 devices land in the next couple months, our OEM partners are working with us to ensure that key design APIs, especially around dynamic color, work consistently across the Android ecosystem so developers can have peace of mind and users can benefit from a cohesive experience,” Rohan Shah, a product manager on Android, said in the blog.
Image: Google
Here are some examples of how the color themes will appear on different phones.
While it might be disappointing that there’s not a firmer timeline for when the dynamic color theming is available more widely, Android 12 has already been the rockiest Android release in years, so it’s likely a good thing that Google and its partners are taking the time to make sure the feature works well.
Google’s announcement follows an Android Police report from this week that said dynamic color themes will become a requirement for phones getting Android 12. “Referencing internal Google documentation, our source says that starting on March 14, Google will require that any new Android 12-based software builds submitted for Google Mobile Services (GMS) approval implement a dynamic theming engine that meets certain requirements,” Android Police reported.