Next month the Google team should release the first version of Android 12 Developer Preview, thanks to which we can start to get an idea of what should be the main innovations introduced by the Mountain View giant with the next upgrade of the mobile operating system of the company.
Among them, there could also be a feature that is currently called “restricted networking mode”, found by the staff of XDA Developers in the documentation relating to the AOSP code, where there is also a sort of description, according to which it is a solution which should allow users to allow only certain applications to use the network (only those that have CONNECTIVITY_USE_RESTRICTED_NETWORKS permission ).
Since this permission can only be granted to privileged system applications and apps signed by the device manufacturer, this means that network access will be blocked for all user-installed applications.
In practice, the user will still receive push notifications from apps using Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), as these notifications are routed through the Google Play Services privileged app (which has the permission in question) while no other app ( with the exception of some system) will be able to send or receive data in the background.
It is currently unclear where Google will place a switch for restricted network mode in Android 12.
With Android 12 it could improve WiFi password sharing
Another novelty that could make its debut on Android 12 is that concerning a system for sharing a WiFi password even simpler than the current one based on scanning the QR code.
The Mountain View giant is working on a solution that makes it easier to share the generated QR code with others through the Nearby Share feature.
According to what is learned from an AOSP commit, in the page dedicated to sharing the WiFi password a new button could be added that allows you to share the QR code with any friend nearby, all without the need for physical contact but with system security based on the consent of both the sender and the recipient.
Unfortunately, at the moment there are no confirmations on the implementation of this new feature already with Android 12. We’ll see.
