Google has released the first Developer Preview of the next Android version. Android 11/R is now available as Developer Preview 1 for developers. Google is offering improved support for 5G, improved privacy features and a few other notable features.
Android 11 Developer Preview is available for Google Pixel 4 / 4XL, Pixel 3a / 3a XL, Pixel 3 / 3 XL, and Pixel 2 / 2 XL. You need to manually download and flash it if you have the mentioned device. Download the Android 11 DP1 full factory images here, and OTA files here.
The most notable thing in Android 11 is going to be 5G. Even if Android 10 also supports 5G, the new version will take the more advantage of speed and latency that 5G offers. App developers can check of the data connection is unmetered to offer higher-res images. Google has also updated the API to make it easier for apps to check the downstream/upstream bandwidth.
Android 11 also supports Pinhole and waterfall screens natively. So, companies won’t have to do extra work in adding support to these things. App developers can manage pinhole and waterfall screens using display APIs.
Dark theme on Android 11 can now be scheduled for sunset, custom time.
Screen recording was added to early versos of Android 10 but it couldn’t make to final build. Now Screen recording is back.
Google has also updated the notifications and added the dedicated conversations section in the notification area. Users can instantly check the ongoing conversations in notifications. If the app supports image copy/paste, you can do that directly into notification inline replies.
Google has also added bubbles in UI for messaging apps that lets you keep several conversations accessible through a floating bubble. So, any app can now use this to make Facebook’s chat heads kind of bubble conversations.
You can now pin up to 4 apps to the share menu.
Google has also improved privacy. Now you can give one-time permission to apps for using location, microphone, and camera. So, next time if the app wants to use any of these, it needs to ask again. Apps that need location access in the background will also have to take Google’s permission.
Android 11 also discourages repeated requests of permissions. If you tap Deny twice for any permission, the app won’t be able to ask for that permission again. In case you change your mind and wish to give permission to deny for a lifetime, you will have to go into settings and do that manually or reinstall the app.
It is worth noting that the developers preview can only be installed with a full flash. It will wipe all your data and there could be several bugs. So, you should install only if you have a test device, not on your primary one.
