Ahead of the public launch “coming very soon,” Google is rolling out Android 11 Beta 3. This is the “release candidate” and very close to what Pixel owners will receive in the coming weeks.
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While Android 11 hasn’t officially debuted just yet, some Android OEMs have been preparing betas ahead of later rollouts. Today, Samsung has announced its first step to Android 11 with a developer beta program for One UI 3.0.
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Android 11 is set to make its debut on Pixel devices in just a few weeks, and after that, we’ll be waiting on OEMs to perform the same update on their own handsets. Today, OnePlus has confirmed it will be launching the final OxygenOS 11 developer preview next week with the Android 11 open beta coming soon.
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From Quick Settings integration to a new design on the lockscreen, Google’s upcoming mobile OS significantly revamps the media playback experience. However, as part of this, Android 11 will stop featuring lockscreen art.
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We all love emoji, especially when we get new options to toy with. The full release of Android 11 is bringing with it 117 new emoji, and we’ve gone hands-on for a “proper” closer look.
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The idea that Google left behind the desert-themed naming convention for its mobile OS is both sad and disappointing. However, the internal desert names live on as Android 11 is known as “Red Velvet Cake” or “RVC” for short.
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After releasing the second Android 11 Beta two weeks ago, Google is rolling out an Android 11 Beta 2.5 update today. This “patch” addresses device crashes and Pixel 4 display issues.
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With Android 9, Google introduced the concept of partitioning work and personal apps in the launcher. Android 11 now brings the “Work” tab to the share sheet, system settings, and file picker.
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Ahead of World Emoji Day tomorrow, Google is sharing the final Android 11 character designs. We previewed them last month, and the company is now providing an overview of the 117 new emoji.
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Following the latest beta on Wednesday, there is only one more Android 11 release before the public launch later this quarter. Google today released a survey asking testers to chime in on Android 11 Beta 2.
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The most important form factor Android operates on is phones, and yearly updates reflect that focus. Following the launch of Beta 2, Google today hosted an Android 11 AMA where they received a number of questions about other platforms. In talking about Wear OS, the company all but confirmed that Android 11 will be the next major wearable update.
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Google has made a lot of quality-of-life changes to Android over the years, but not all of them have been mandatory. Now, though, Google is making Android’s useful “A/B partitions” mandatory for future smartphones, essentially making Seamless Updates a standard feature at the same time.
One of the places where the fragmentation of Android can be felt the most is with how various OEMs tweak core parts of the OS. One of those places that was brought up in an AMA session with Android engineers was how companies tweak Android’s handling of background apps, and Google has a few tweaks in Android 11 that attempt to at least heal the wound regarding this issue.
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Bad news, folks. Despite last year’s promise and some early evidence it might happen, scrolling screenshots aren’t arriving with the final Android 11 release this year.
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Ahead of Android 11’s launch later this quarter, Google is recapping how its partners are releasing device updates faster than ever. Notably, the “adoption of Android 10 has been faster than any previous versions of Android.”
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One big visual change in Android 11 is a revamped screen capture UI where a small preview appears in the bottom-left corner. In Android 11 Beta 2 today, screenshot previews return to the notification shade.
The second proper version of the Android 11 Beta released today, and in it we’ve found that the Android share sheet has been reorganized to only show apps instead of each individual share target.
One of the biggest changes to Android 11 comes in the form of notifications with several useful tweaks. “Conversations” makes Android’s notifications section a powerful tool for messaging, and now there’s a dedicated Settings space for managing the feature.
With last month’s Beta 1, Google debuted a slew of user-facing changes from redesigned media and device controls to bubbles. Android 11 Beta 2 continues introducing new features today and we’re tracking everything new.
One of the features we’ve been watching closely in the Android 11 Beta and Developer Preview period, the new media player controls interface, has gotten a familiar-looking redesign with Android 11 Beta 2.
Android 11 Beta 2 is here today with “Platform Stability” for app developers and a slew of refinements ahead of the consumer launch later in Q3. Media controls in Android 11 are now part of Quick Settings with the design tweaked again for this release. Google also introduced a new ripple gesture that is distinctly not Material and feels widely different for Android.
Android 11 is set to finally debut a native screen recorder to the platform, and in Beta 2, it’s getting an upgrade. With Android 11’s latest release, Google has enabled the ability to capture device audio with the native screen recorder.
Following last month’s launch of the public preview, Google today is rolling out Android 11 Beta 2. This release moves us closer to the consumer launch later this quarter by introducing “final system behaviors” and “Platform Stability” for app developers.
Last month, Google released the first Android 11 Beta with two more scheduled before the mobile OS arrives for consumers later in Q3. The Hey Google Smart Home Virtual Summit last evening might have revealed Android 11’s launch date.
