Quick Settings tiles, as part of the Quick Settings panel, have been around for a long time. Google actually showed off the Quick Settings panel with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which was almost 10 years ago. That being said, Google opened the API to custom tiles with Android 7.0 Nougat. That allowed developers to create their very own Quick Settings tiles, and allow users to utilize them. Not many developers did that, though. Even those that didn’t see much use of it, as users were usually unaware of their availability.
It seems like Android 13 will allow developers to promote Quick Settings tiles
Well, with Android 13, it seems like Google is aiming to allow developers to promote their tiles. The company added a new Quick Settings Placement API to Android 13 Developer Preview 1, suggesting what’s coming with Android 13. This essentially gives developers a simple way to promote their tiles. When an app pings this API, a notification appears in order to encourage users to use the new Quick Settings tile. As you can see in the image below, this notification will include the name of the application that is promoting the tile, in addition to a label and icon provided by it. If you opt to add the tile, a new interface will pop up, allowing you to add it to your Quick Settings tiles.
This will bring new Quick Settings tiles front and center for users. The vast majority of users don’t even mess with Quick Settings tiles, and some of them don’t even know you can edit them to your liking.
Android 13 will do its best not to spam users with this option
Now, if you tap on the “Do not add tile” option, Android will limit further attempts. In other words, it will do its best to prevent apps from abusing the Placement API, and spam you as part of that. It remains to be seen how much will this benefit third-party Quick Settings tiles. It could be a useful addition for developers, though, and as a result, for users. Quick Settings tiles are immensely useful, and if Google can make more use of them, with help from developers, well, why not.
