Android 12’s New Restricted Networking Option Fails to Meet Expectations

Google is about to release the latest version of Android, right now only being termed Android 12 since Google has yet to announce an official name for it, and one of the new features, as per XDA, that are going to be incorporated into this latest operating system has been internally called the restricted networking mode. When this mode is operated, only apps that have the specific required permission are going to be able to access the network which is going to make it so that malicious actors would have far fewer entry points that they can use to gain access to your device and what’s more is that you would end up using a lot less data on a regular basis as well which is another thing that makes this a unique and beneficial update.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that some are criticizing this update saying that it doesn’t go far enough. It doesn’t incorporate a lot of the firewall safety mechanisms that many people were hoping they’d be able to end up gaining access to, and this means that we might have to wait for the next update in order to see something like this. Updates take quite a long time to be developed and rolled out so the fact that people have to wait to see a feature they have been eager to utilize is one major downside of Android 12.

Another thing that remains uncertain is what kind of toggle you would get that would give you the chance to use restricted networking mode. This toggle needs to be well placed, and while a toggle at runtime option has already been seen this won’t be nearly enough to give people the kind of accessibility they might have been hoping for from these kinds of things.


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