Android 12 Beta 2 is officially here. We have already taken a deep dive into the new software and uncovered all the new features and changes that Google has made since Beta 1. The second beta is a big step forward as it brings many of the marquee features of Android 12 to life that were hidden or work-in-progress in the previous builds. For example, the new privacy dashboard that Google showcased at Google I/0 2021 is now fully functional in Beta 2. In addition, Material You’s dynamic theming capabilities are also live, along with the new notification redesign and a revamped power menu.
Since this is beta software, after all, some features are still work-in-progress and not user-accessible. One such in-development feature is a new status bar indicator for calls. We spotted this feature while digging into the code of Android 12 Beta 2. This feature is actually enabled by default, but since Google Phone doesn’t support it yet, it’s not accessible to the end-users. But thanks to Android developer @kdrang0n, we now have the first look at Android 12’s new ongoing call chip.
As you can see in the screenshots above, when a call is going on, and the user leaves the main calling screen, Android 12 will show a prominent chip in the status bar that shows the duration of the call. Android 11 currently doesn’t show the duration of your ongoing call in the status bar. To check the call duration, you have to either return to the main calling screen or pull down the notification tray.
As mentioned above, the new call chip is already implemented in Android 12 Beta 2. So once Google updates the Google Phone app, it should go live for everyone on Android 12 Beta 2.
