Android 13 Released to AOSP

What happened

Android 13 was released to the Android Open Source Project on August 15, 2022, and began rolling out to Google Pixel devices the same day, with other manufacturers following later. It was previewed and beta-tested earlier in the year in the usual Android release cycle.

Privacy and permissions

According to the official Android Developers site, Android 13 was built with user privacy in mind. It introduced a system photo picker that lets users share specific photos and videos with an app without granting access to their entire media library, and a new runtime notification permission so apps must ask before sending notifications, giving users more control over interruptions.

Personalisation and standards

Android 13 added themed app icons that adopt the colours of the user's wallpaper for a more cohesive look, per-app language preferences for people who use different languages across apps, and a clipboard preview. It also embraced modern standards including Bluetooth LE Audio and MIDI 2.0 over USB, and continued improving the experience on tablets and large screens.

Why it mattered

The photo picker and notification permission were meaningful privacy wins that reduced how much apps could access and interrupt by default. Combined with per-app languages and themed icons, Android 13 made the platform both more private and more personal, setting expectations that later releases would build on.

Related on Skillo

See also: Android 14.

Sources

• Android 13 (Android Developers)
• Android Releases (Android Developers)

Published date reflects the original event date (2022-08-15). This article is original Skillo editorial written from the sources above; facts were verified in September 2026.