When it comes to Android version names, we’re no longer in the tasty land of candies, cookies, and sweets. Like most other software, Google’s mobile operating system now goes by dry, numbered monikers, and we just got the first developer preview of Android 11.
5G support aside, Android 11 swaps big-ticket updates with tweaks for security, app features offered through APIs, and compatibility with existing apps. Of course, this is only the first developer preview, and by the time we get to public beta in May, there may be more fun in terms of user-facing features. The full release won’t happen until the third quarter.
Google's timeline for Android 11.
How to Get the Android 11 Developer Preview
If you’re just a curious end user and not an actual app developer, it’s a good idea to hold off on trying to install the preview. For one thing, you won’t see anything new unless you’re a developer with an app that uses new APIs added in Android 11. Installing the preview is also no simple matter; you need to erase everything on the device and flash a system image file.
Android 11 Emulator on Windows 10 (left), Only Once location permission (center), Phone bubble (right)
When the beta drops in May, interested users will be able to install Android 11 over the air, without the need to flash a system image. You’ll also need Google Pixel 2 or above, though it’s also possible to set up the system in an emulator on your computer (which is how we installed it to test for this article).
To install the preview on a compatible phone, you’ll have to download the OS image file and flash it to your device. You can find instructions on this Google Developers page.
New Support for 5G
5G is all the rage in tech land, and as the predominant purveyor of web content in the world, as well as of devices and browsers that access the web, Google is all in when it comes to 5G. Though its latest Pixel phones don’t yet support 5G, you can bet that will change.
In the meantime, Android 11 (so far) adds two 5G APIs developers will be able to use in their apps: Dynamic meteredness API and Bandwidth estimator API. The first enables apps to offer, for example, higher quality video to unmetered 5G-connected devices. The second lets the system determine the connection bandwidth, saving the app from performing its own connection speed tests.
Neural Networks
If anything comes close to the buzzworthiness of 5G, it’s AI and machine learning, and Android 11’s support for neural networks aligns with that. Most AI machine learning takes place on powerful servers, but the mobile OS will let apps use mobile hardware to run these computationally intensive operations.
Three new capabilities help developers pull this off: Quality of Service APIs, Memory Domain APIs, and Expanded quantization support. The first offers the needed resources for the operations, the second optimizes memory operations for consecutive executions, and the third enables smaller, faster computing models.
Privacy and Security
A new privacy choice for apps is the "Only This Time" option when you’re allowing an app access to your location, microphone, or camera. The other big privacy advance involves storage permissions. Apps will be able to ask for batch permission to a bunch of media files, and new requirements for accessing root directories in both internal and external storage.
Security options have been augmented with new support for biometric authentication using BiometricPrompt APIs, platform hardening with new "sanitizers," and new secure storage features, including support for IDs such as mobile driving licenses.
New Screen Types
Android 11 adds support for two newish screen types: pinhole and waterfall. The new APIs basically allow developers to tell their apps to work with that camera pinhole on some phones and the edge displays on waterfall-type screens, like we saw on the Oppo prototype below.
Oppo waterfall screen prototype
Notification Bubbles
Facebook’s Android app has long offered persistent chat heads; Android 10 introduced them for built-in apps like Phone and Messaging, and now any other app developers will be able to add similar functionality using a new API. If you’re one of those people who can’t stand bubbles, the API requires apps to make them opt-in, letting users decide whether they want the bubbles or not the first time one appears. Messaging apps will also get a new notification shade section dedicated to ongoing conversations. Notification inline replies will support inserting images in replies, too.
Camera and Photo Updates
With its Pixel smartphones constantly vying with Apple iPhones for the distinction of best camera options, its no surprise that Google is adding more camera and photo support in Android 11. New features include a bokeh, decoders, HEIF animated drawables, native image decoders, muting during capture, and HEIF drawables. That last one is a more efficient replacement for animated GIF functionality.
Low Latency Options
In support of its Stadia online gaming platform, as well as video-streaming apps, Android 11 adds low latency support in new MediaCodec APIs. There’s also new support for low latency mode over HDMI, which is useful for use on external displays and televisions.
Those are some of the high points of Android 11 based on the first developer preview. There are a few more new tools and conveniences for developers, and we’ll certainly see more features for them and end users as the OS makes its way to full release later this year. For more on Android, check out PCMag’s stories on the 100 Best Android Apps and the Best Android Phones.
Further Reading
- Windows 10 Icons Get a New Look
- Windows 7 PCs Can't Shut Down or Restart
- Developers Can Now Sell One App for All Mac/iOS Platforms
- Notepad, Paint, WordPad Are Optional in Windows 10 Preview
- More in Android
- More in Operating Systems