Android 4.3 with revamped camera interface caught in action

Google I/O was great for a lot many things, but we are still a bit cross about not seeing a new device or the new version of Android. But that doesn’t mean there’s no Android 4.3 Jelly Bean in the works. And it's popped up on video now to prove its existence.

At the Thailand Mobile Expo, an eagle-eyed visitor spotted a Nexus 4 running Android 4.3 and decided to take the camera interface for a spin. Given the point upgrade, there was never any reason to believe that 4.3 would be a major change for Android, but at least the camera app has been given a spruce up by Google. We also know that an update to Gmail for Android is in the works. The build number of the version spotted here is JWR45B and the kernel was compiled on May 14, which means this is quite a recent build.

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The video shows the cosmetic changes in the camera app, with the circular touch menu being replaced by one where the icons are presented in an arc, which looks at first glance to be a more elegant solution. Navigation is done by holding a finger over the menu item, which opens up deeper settings. Even when the user moves into deeper levels of the settings, they can easily come back to an earlier stage by sliding the finger down. As seen, it takes a bit of learning, but certainly seems more elegant than the current circular menu where your thumb can sometimes block the view of certain settings.

With Google I/O over and done with, we really don’t have a marker to speculate on when we might see Android 4.3. But given that display models – presumably the most recently manufactured ones – are running that version, we can expect an unveiling soon.