Home Technology Android 11 Developer preview arrives early

Android 11 Developer preview arrives early

1 min read
2

To prepare developers for a new version of its Android operating system, Google typically releases developer versions for them to experiment with every year around mid-March. This year, though, Google has released its developer version for the next iteration of its Mobile OS a little early with the developer preview of Android 11 for Pixel phones, already available.

The Verge has provided a new video on the potential changes coming in the new Android version, which look set to offer some interesting background enhancements to the operating system. The new developer preview doesn’t include any additional UI or UX changes though it is believed that those will only be revealed at the Google I/O Conference in May, which is more focused on the end consumer than developers.  

The new OS will support new technologies like 5G bandwidth and metering, enhancements for foldable screens, support for SHAKEN/STIR call screen authentication, better low-latency video decoding for streaming game services like Stadia, better HEIF support, and a new version of Google’s neural networks API.

There will also be a new location permission option where users can grant one-time location access to an app instead of granting it while the app is open. It will mean those location apps have to keep asking if they want your location, but it will also mean you won’t have to do an audit of what apps have your location as often. Google is also introducing scoped storage,” which limits apps’ ability to look at storage outside of their own silo, something which the iPhones do and could help enhance performance even further across different apps. There will also be a number of key security updates around biometric security, storage of personal IDs, etc.

For a full list of all the features and changes coming to Android, you can read Google’s latest blog post about it.

Last Updated: February 20, 2020

2 Comments

  1. Yozzie

    February 20, 2020 at 15:15

    If the Pixel was actually available in SA i would not be part of the iOS master race in the first place.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Samsung shows off new Google-based Watch OS

Samsung has unveiled how their new Google-based smartwatch OS will look when it releases l…