Android has released the developer preview of its upcoming Android 11 operating system that gives us a glimpse into some of the features that could make the users’ experience a bit better.
Currently, the developer preview is only available on Google Pixel smartphones and is intended for developers who are developing apps for Android so it is not recommended that you install this on your Google smartphone. Android 11 will be officially released later this year.
Here’s a look at some of the key updates and features spotted in the preview version of Android 11.
Pesky App Notifications No More
You might have noticed some of those stubborn app notifications that cease to disappear even when you try to swipe them off the notifications bar. The upcoming Android 11 preview had addressed that problem and now gives the users an option to get rid of those app notifications that have operations running in the background.
In the new update, the persistent notifications are listed underneath all the app notifications in the “Apps active in the background” section.
The notifications shade also gets an update where it now adds a “History” button alongside the “Clear All” button which takes you to the notification’s history page.
Larger Previews For Recent Apps
According to XDA-Developers, the new Android 11 update is set to bring larger preview windows for recent apps and there are now “Screenshot” and “Share’’ options at the bottom corner on each side.
While the “Screenshot” option takes a screenshot of the app that’s opened on the recent apps carousel, the “Share” option not only takes a screenshot but immediately opens the quick share section where you can share the image on multiple platforms like WhatsApp, e-mail and more.
New Screenshot Options
As the tech world has been rummaging around the third iteration of the Android 11 developer preview they have also found more options for the screenshot gesture.
If you take a screenshot on Android 11 a new smaller pop-up menu appears on the bottom left corner where you can dismiss the screenshot by pressing the ‘X’ button.
Now you also have the option of editing the screenshot on the phone’s native photo editor while the “Share” option allows you to quickly share the screenshot.
Currently, in Android 10, the screenshot options are shown in the notifications panel with a share, edit or delete option.
New ‘Undo’ Option for Dismissed Recent Apps
This particular feature has been in testing ever since the beta version for Android Q had come out but it’s finally coming to the Android-based operating system.
There must have been times where you accidentally closed an application from the recent apps carousel having to restart it over again. Well, Android 11 adds an undo gesture feature for recently closed apps where, by swiping down on the recent app section, you can bring back any app that you accidentally terminated.
This is what it looks like:
Better App Permissions Management
There are a lot of applications on your phone that you may not be using but still have access to your phone’s data. The upcoming Android update has a fix for such an issue.
Android 11 adds a feature that will ensure that those apps that you don’t use often stop getting access to permissions like contacts, images, and other files.
The “Auto-revoke permissions” feature has been added for extra security and will work on those apps that haven’t been used for a few months.
Other Key Features
Developers are discovering new features as they dive deeper into the UI.
There are some updates that might not be as important as the ones mentioned above but still deserve a mention. Like the fact that the new Android 11 can support ethernet tethering for Android phones. This feature allows you to share your phone’s Internet connection by connecting a USB-to-ethernet adapter and then connecting a device to the adapter.
Also, the Volume menu has been renamed to “Sound” and Caption preferences have been redesigned.
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