Samsung confirms what’s new in Android 12L for Galaxy Tab S8 as rollout hits the US [Video]

Ben Schoon | Sep 1 2022 - 6:15 am PT

After hitting other regions earlier this week, Samsung has officially announced that Android 12L is now rolling out to the Galaxy Tab S8 series in the United States. Here’s a quick look.

Samsung’s take on Android 12L comes with One UI 4.1.1, which first debuted on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and is also confirmed to be coming to the Galaxy Z Fold 3. The biggest addition, of course, remains the new taskbar at the bottom of the screen, which works with different navigation forms and can be minimized when using gestures.

Beyond just the taskbar, the update also retains Samsung’s usual multitasking tools such as using up to three apps on screen at once.

Samsung explains:

A notable change the 12L update will bring to the Galaxy Tab S8 series is the addition of a taskbar at the bottom of the screen, making the tablet’s UI more intuitive and user-friendly than ever before. Going forward, Galaxy Tab S8 series users can enjoy swifter, more intuitive app switching, more customizable layouts, frictionless multitasking and applications that render better than ever on large screens. Split Screen View can support up to three screens, the taskbar can be temporarily hidden for a more immersive screen view,notifications can be dragged straight into split screen, and all apps can be viewed in a grid-style layout, to name a few of the changes users can expect.

Also new in Android 12L for the Galaxy Tab S8 is a “Swipe for Split Screen” gesture in Advanced Features > Labs, as well as “Peek-Through” for pop-over apps. By touching and holding the screen around the pop-over app, the pop-over app will turn transparent to let you see the app underneath quickly, as seen below.

From what we can tell, Android 12L is now widely available for the Galaxy Tab S8, S8+, and S8 Ultra in the United States – 9to5Google‘s Abner Li was able to install it on his device earlier this week. Eventually, the update should also be headed to other Samsung tablets, including the Galaxy Tab S7 series, but there’s no confirmed timeline on that just yet.

The Galaxy Tab S8 series is available now from $699, and Samsung.com is currently offering up to $350 in trade-in credits on devices with cracked screens.