A new game mode has been discovered in Android 12 and it seems to be accessible in the beta as well. Since the beta is a public build of the Android 12 software, that means you can check it out for yourself if you install the software.
And if you like your mobile games, you may want to do just that. The Android 12 beta game mode is no different from the version found in the developer preview. However, there is a difference. You can actually enable it here.
If you are running the beta version of Android 12 and want to enable the game mode feature, this handy guide will tell you how to activate it. Enabling the feature doesn’t take long and once you know where it is, you can turn it on and off as you please.
How to activate game mode in Android 12 Beta
First, you need to activate the beta. You can do this by following this guide here. You also need to make sure your device is compatible with the beta version or you won’t be able to install it. While Google sends the software via an over-the-air update.
Once the beta is installed, there are a few menus to explore to access the game mode feature. Given that Google hasn’t made it a featured thing in the beta. However, it most likely will once the software is finalized and distributed to all users in a stable version. That said, go ahead and move on to the first step.
Open the settings menu on your device
After installing the beta version of Android 12, you can find the game mode starting from the settings menu. As noted above, you probably won’t have to go to settings to enable this in the stable build. But for now, this is where Google hid it.
Find the Digital Wellness menu
Scroll down the settings menu list to find Digital Wellbeing. If you are not familiar with this submenu, this is where you find the settings to limit screen usage time and set schedules. As well as checking how much time you spent using the device. Google also breaks down everything by app. This way you can take a more granular look at your usage.
It will also show you things like how many times you have unlocked the device and how many notifications have come. Things are also broken in the day.
Tap Do Not Disturb
At the bottom of the digital wellbeing screen, there is a menu for Do Not Disturb settings. Tap that menu and inside you’ll find a list of people you can stop when Do Not Disturb mode is on, as well as apps and alarms that can do the same thing. There are also options for schedules, a duration for quick settings, and display options for hidden notifications.
Timetables are the option you want. Then tap on that next menu.
Check the Game Mode box
From here all you have to do is check the Game Modes box. This will ensure that it is enabled every time you activate Do Not Disturb mode. So when you open the games, you can have the floating menu with the game mode options available. However, you will need to enable these options first. And unless you always want the floating menu present, you’ll have to toggle these options on and off every time you want to use the floating menu.
Enable your chosen game mode options
To bring up the floating menu, you need to tap the settings gear next to the game mode schedule box. Within this game mode settings menu you can enable the different options. You have an FPS monitor, a quick access screenshot button, screen recording, and finally a button to enable and disable Do Not Disturb.
These are just the floating menu options though. You will find two more buttons within this menu. One for game optimization and one for YouTube Live. Game optimization does not appear to be active yet. So there’s no change from the developer preview as it wasn’t even live back then.
It is also possible that it is not usable for League Of Legends Wild Rift, as it says not available for this game when I open the menu with the game open in the background.
The floating menu snaps to the left or right side
One last thing worth noting is that you can move the floating menu. But it only snaps the left or right edges of the screen. It doesn’t matter if you are in landscape or portrait mode.
And that’s it to enable game mode on your Android 12 Beta device. Google is likely to delve further into this as it approaches the full release of Android 12, so if this is a feature that excites you, keep an eye on it.
