Google today released the first public Android 11 Beta. The update brings with it several important new features. Below are some of its best ones.
To start off, the new update is bringing a huge change to the way notifications are displayed on a smartphone. Android 11 will let the user keep the conversation notifications separate from other notifications.
The user will also have control over prioritizing certain notifications over others. Moreover, these conversations can be turned into what could be called a floating bubble, and the user can access it any time they want to.
The bubble notification is very similar to Facebook Messenger. However, with Android 11 conversations, any app could be turned into floating bubbleheads.
Another major change will come in the media control departments. The new update will provide more extensive media controls for interacting with music in the notifications shade.
For example, you can now resume a music session right from the said menu, and there is no need to scroll over to the music app after it has been closed. Google says you’ll be able to switch between apps in the order they were last played.
The new update will make accessing and interacting with various smart home objects easier; a long press on the power button will bring up controls for the various devices in your home. It will also show the credit cards and other payment methods added to Google Pay.
As for security, Google has certainly tightened it up because now it lets the users provide apps one-time access to certain features. If any app has not been used in a long time, the device will “auto-reset” all of the permissions associated with that app, and the users will get a notification in return.
As usual, Google is rolling out the beta to Pixel devices first; it’s compatible with the Pixel 2 and later. Interested people can head on over to the Android Beta Program page and opting-in the device. Google will then release it to devices from a few other manufacturers in the coming weeks.
