Here’s everything new in Android Q Beta 5 [Gallery]

Abner Li | Jul 10 2019 - 11:12 am PT

Android Q Beta 5 brings us even closer to the official launch of Google’s next mobile operating system in the coming months. We’re enrolling in the Beta Program and sideloading the OTAs right now to explore all the tweaks and near final iterations of the UI and features, so stay tuned to our updating (reverse chronological) list below.

With every beta release, Android Q is nearing its finalized state. Many new tentpole features — like dark mode and gestural navigation — were announced at I/O 2019, with these upcoming updates focussed on optimizing for the consumer launch.

For reference, here’s our everything new in Android Q Beta 1, Beta 2, Beta 2 patch, Beta 3, and Beta 4.

Apps are granted full location access in deliberate test

Notification channels can now be turned off w/ a pop-up panel

Password Autofill gets a slight redesign w/ rounded corners

‘Force Dark’ Mode setting returns, no longer darkens some Google apps

Active Edge feedback

Setting up Active Edge has been tweaked to account for gesture navigation in Android Q. During past betas, the only feedback you received was a vibration and the strength slider briefly flashing. In Beta 5, blue visual feedback radiates from both sides as you squeeze and test different sensitivity levels on the customization page.

Accent color applied Mobile data tile, Material icon for data signal strength

Notification snoozing can be disabled, now off by default

How ‘peeking’ in app navigation drawers works

“Squeeze to talk”

When enabling Google Assistant via Active Edge, a “Squeeze to talk” prompt appears just above the navigation bar. It’s very subtle and only shows up on slower squeezes.

Screen pinning now works with Gesture Navigation

Pixel Launcher Suggestions

The Pixel Launcher regains a setting to disable suggested apps in Recents and at the top of the All Apps list. “Overview selection” allows users to turn off OCR and Google Lens capabilities from the multitasking view, but the latter feature is still broken. The “Share Event Database” testing preference has also been removed.

: Beta 4

: Beta 5

: Beta 5

At a Glance bug

In what’s likely a bug, “At a Glance” loses the line separating the day/date from weather condition/current temperature. While missing from the Pixel Launcher, it’s still present in the Google app widget version.

Silent Notifications split into bottom section of shade

Assistant gesture hints

The new gesture navigation conflicts with the long-standing way to launch Assistant by tapping and holding the home button. Android Q Beta 5 makes it clear that the new method involves a diagonal swipe from either the bottom-left or right corner of the screen. White gesture “handles” occasionally appear to direct users where to swipe up.