Android 11: Everything you need to know!

Android 11 continues to push Google’s imaginative and prescient of Android ahead. With Android 11, Google is making a number of tweaks to refine the platform as an alternative of constructing wholesale modifications. Privacy is an enormous focus with Android 11, with Google introducing one-time permissions and granular management over what kind of information you share.

There are new options to get enthusiastic about as nicely — the facility button menu picked up a large overhaul, the Conversations view does a fantastic job highlighting your messages, and there are little tweaks all through the interface that give it an added polish.

Android 11 is powering the best Android phones of 2021, and producers are doing a greater job rolling out the replace to their 2020 telephones. So this is every part you need to learn about all the brand new options in Android 11 and when your cellphone will obtain the replace.

Following months of Developer Previews and Betas, Google launched the ultimate construct of Android 11 on September 8, 2020. The replace was out there for Pixel telephones on day one as per ordinary. This yr, Android 11 was additionally out there on the identical day for choose handsets from the likes of OnePlus, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Realme.

That’s an enormous step ahead for Android updates as an entire, however there’s additionally nonetheless loads of work that is left to be executed. Samsung is now rolling out One UI 3.0 based mostly on Android 11 to its flagships and mid-range units, however the likes of Motorola, Nokia, Sony, and others are but to roll out the replace.

While that is definitely annoying, we’re making issues as simple as potential for you by tracking any and all Android 11 updates as we study extra about them.

What’s happening with Android 11 on non-Pixel telephones?

As famous above, this yr’s Android replace rollout was a bit completely different in contrast to previous releases. Instead of Pixels being the one telephones handled to the brand new software program, handsets from different choose producers had been additionally handled to Android 11 in some kind.

Let’s first take a look at Samsung, which is advertising its Android 11 replace as One UI 3.0/3.1. Most of the core design rules stay in place, however there’s a lot that is new to try. Samsung’s touting issues like an improved lock display screen, a extra customizable always-on show, new accessibility instruments, and extra.

Samsung has already delivered the Android 11 replace to most of its 2020 telephones, and is now working its approach down the record to its 2019 telephones. It shifted to the One UI 3.1 construct in current months that debuted on the Galaxy S21 series.

We must also point out OxygenOS 11, which is the Android 11 replace for OnePlus telephones. OxygenOS 11 launched a serious design shift for OnePlus, with the corporate shifting away from its inventory Android aesthetic and embracing design components present in Samsung’s One UI interface. OnePlus rolled out the OxygenOS 11 steady construct with the 8T, and the Android 11 replace is now out there for the OnePlus Eight sequence, 7 sequence, and set to make its approach to the 6/6T. The steady construct can be making its approach to the Nord shortly.

Nokia has additionally kicked off its Android 11 replace rollout, with the Nokia 8.3 5G selecting up the steady replace beginning February 8. HMD has lagged behind on this space over earlier years, however with the Nokia 8.Three now on Android 11, we should always see the replace rolling out to different Nokia units within the coming months.

Then there’s Xiaomi. The steady MIUI 12 replace based mostly on Android 11 is now rolling out to the Mi 10 sequence and Redmi Note 9 units and may make its approach to different Xiaomi telephones very quickly. We’ve rounded up Xiaomi’s Android 11 rollout timeline to make it simpler for you to study when your cellphone will get the replace.

Motorola has kicked off the Android 11 replace to the foldable Razr 5G beginning April 15. LG has additionally began to roll out the Android 11 replace, with the V60 and the Velvet receiving the steady construct. Although LG will now not make telephones, it has acknowledged that it’ll ship the Android 12 and Android 13 updates to its present portfolio.

Lastly, we have now ColorOS — the customized Android interface used on OPPO smartphones. ColorOS 11 is rolling out now to OPPO units, and it affords loads of thrilling enhancements. In addition to the same old Android 11 goodies, another highlights embody a customizable darkish mode, a power-saver mode to prolong battery life, and a brand new characteristic known as OPPO Relax 2.zero that goals to assist you unwind and go to sleep at night time.

Where can I study extra about Android 11?

We’ll dive into a few of Android 11’s greatest options under, however earlier than we do any of that, we should always handle the elephant within the room — is Android 11 any good? The quick reply, sure — it is extremely, superb, as per our Android 11 review.

Understandably, some individuals might discover Android 11 boring or not very completely different from Android 10, however the truth of the matter is that Android now not wants large overhauls yearly the way in which it used to. The core Android expertise is darn good, and Android 11 elevates it much more. All of the dialog enhancements are nice for streamlining notifications, extra highly effective permissions are at all times one thing we’re pleased to see, and the brand new energy button menu provides a ton of additional performance.

There are a few modifications we aren’t fully in love with (specifically the brand new multitasking window and Suggested Apps characteristic for the house display screen), however these issues are simple to overlook. The overwhelming majority of what Google did with Android 11 was for the higher, and the result’s software program that is extra useful and gratifying to use.

How do Android 11 chat bubbles work?

As talked about above, there is not one single overhaul or large change discovered with Android 11. Instead, it is a mixture of many small tweaks right here and there. Just a few of them deal with bettering your messaging expertise, with Google providing quite a bit on this division.

First on the record, we have now chat bubbles. Similar to what Facebook’s supplied for years with its Messenger app on Android, chat bubbles in Android 11 conceal your ongoing conversations in little bubbles on the facet of your display screen. You can transfer the bubbles round, and tapping on them reveals that particular dialog. The Bubbles API is on the market for all messaging apps, with Google encouraging builders to undertake it.

In one other effort to ensure you can get to your messages as rapidly as potential, Android 11 introduces a devoted conversation section in your notification shade that gives immediate entry to any ongoing conversations you have. It additionally makes it simpler on your messaging notifications to stand out from others, making certain you by no means miss an necessary textual content ever once more.

Speaking of messages and notifications, Android 11 makes it potential to ship photos immediately from the notification shade when replying to a message.

What’s new with permissions in Android 11?

Looking again on Android 10, one in every of its highlights was its improved dealing with of app permissions. Android 10 gave customers extra management over purposes and what they might entry, and Android 11 retains this prepare rolling with a beautiful new addition.

Now, when an app asks for permission to use delicate options like your location, microphone, or digicam, you can select to solely grant it entry on a one-time foundation. The app shall be in a position to use that permission throughout that occasion of you utilizing the app, however the permission is revoked as quickly as you go away it. The subsequent time you use the app, and it needs to use that permission, it wants to be granted entry once more.

Giving apps permission to these points of your cellphone shouldn’t be taken calmly, so we’re thrilled to see Google giving customers extra management over their information like this.

On the topic of permissions and privateness, we had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Charmaine D’Silva — Product Manager and privateness specialist over at Google. She helped give us a deeper understanding of how a few of these options got here to be and why they’re so necessary. If you have a couple of minutes to test it out, the interview’s undoubtedly price a learn.

Does Android 11 have a built-in display screen recorder?

For the previous few Android releases, we have been patiently ready for Google to add a built-in display screen recorder. It’s not one thing you’ll use each day (if ever for some individuals), however the truth that such a primary perform is not baked into Android at its core is getting annoying.

Thankfully, Android 11 lastly modifications that. This Android model does embody the characteristic, accompanied by a clear UI and toggles for recording audio and exhibiting touches together with your recording. If you need to know the way, this is our information on how to record your phone screen on an Android phone.

There’s not a lot else to say about this, apart from the truth that we’re glad we are able to lastly put this characteristic request to mattress.

Is Android 11 appropriate with folding telephones?

If there’s been a spot of notable development within the Android house, it has been with shows. Companies are doing what they will to supply the perfect and most enjoyable smartphone display screen potential, and as nice as that is, Android wants to meet up with higher help for all of those developments.

Folding telephones are proving to be fairly well-liked to this point, and particularly with units just like the Galaxy Z Flip and Motorola RAZR which have the “flip cellphone” folding design, Android 11 provides the “hinge angle sensor API” so apps can simply detect the hinge of those folding telephones. With this info, builders can adapt their apps to work across the hinge and create distinctive experiences due to that (like how Google Duo modifications its UI when you do a half-fold on the Z Flip).

The different huge improve shows have seen has to do with sooner refresh charges. It’s now not unusual for telephones to ship with screens that refresh at 90Hz or 120Hz, and Android 11 permits builders to take higher benefit of those highly effective shows. Developers can choose which refresh price their companies ought to run at, and if the developer determines their app appears greatest at 90Hz or 60Hz, they will make that call and have the cellphone’s show change its refresh price accordingly when utilizing that app.

How does Android 11 work with 5G?

5G is lastly beginning to make its approach to individuals, and increasingly people have began connecting to the subsequent era of wi-fi information. To ease the transition, Android 11 provides a vital “Dynamic Meterdness API.”

That might not sound very thrilling on paper, but it surely basically permits telephones to take full benefit of all the facility 5G brings.

If the API detects that you’re related to an infinite 5G sign, you’ll entry the best potential high quality for movies and graphics. The potential for 5G is fairly darn cool, and this API ensures you take full benefit of the speeds out there to you.

What cellphone ought to I get for the perfect Android 11 expertise?

Whether you need to be among the many first to get Android 11 or expertise it the way in which Google meant, the Pixel 5 is the cellphone for you. It’s the most recent flagship Pixel at present out there, and if you want steel over plastic or glass, it is a laborious cellphone to ignore.

The Pixel 5 is all about delivering a flagship-quality Android expertise for a comparatively low value, and in these regards, it succeeds tremendously. Google crammed quite a bit into the Pixel 5, together with phenomenal cameras, an OLED show, good efficiency, lengthy battery life, and extra. The design is a bit plain, however the cellphone’s additionally a fantastic measurement for one-handed use.

Best of all, the Pixel 5 and different Pixel units get quarterly Feature Drops from Google, bringing new options to the Android 11 expertise with out requiring a full-scale platform replace. The most up-to-date Feature Drop was delivered on December 7, 2020.

When is Android 12 coming?

Google served up the primary Android 12 developer preview on February 18, and there are a number of user-facing modifications. The notification shade has a cleaner design, and there is a devoted snooze button that lets you mute notifications with ease.

Android 12 can be set to add scrolling screenshots, however the characteristic is not fairly stay at this second. And whereas the house display screen UI itself is unchanged from Android 11, there’s now an possibility to set a 4×5 grid. You may also simply share Wi-Fi with Nearby Share, making it simpler for others to join to your Wi-Fi community.

Interestingly, a brand new change in Android 12 is Silky Home, a hidden characteristic flag that drastically alters the look of the Settings web page. In quick, it makes the Settings web page look comparable to what Samsung affords with One UI, with giant headers and menu components sitting additional under on the web page.

The first public beta of Android 12 is about to debut at Google I/O — scheduled for May 19 — with the steady construct coming someday after August. We’ll have extra to share round Android 12 and when your phone will get Android 12 within the coming months. For now, the main focus for system makers is getting the Android 11 replace out the door.

MAX-imum streaming

These are the best shows on HBO Max right now

HBO Max offers subscribers with entry to each HBO classics and new Max originals, that means there’s tons of content material to select from. With that in thoughts, this is a choice of the perfect reveals on HBO Max proper now.