Read update
- Updated to the final release
Android 11 has been out for a while now, and though things might look pretty similar coming from Android 10, there are plenty of changes inside, from revamped privacy and security to partitioning "conversations" into their own new notification category. Now that you've had some time to play with this latest version and you've read our review, here's the Android Police changelog for Android 11.
Google's revamped Android 11 release timeline, following earlier delays.
Before we dive in, we'd like to thank you: our tipsters and readers. Our job would be so much harder if it weren't for you helping us spot new stuff to look into, and AP ❤️s you.
UPDATE: 2020/11/17 11:42am PST BY RYNE HAGER
Updated to the final release
Our list has been updated to include all spotted changes up until Android 11's final, stable release, and you might notice a few items have been removed from the master list, not just added. Turns out, some features previously thought to be part of Android 11 later also trickled down to earlier versions via other means, so they've been crossed out and shuffled off to a separate section — which may yet be tweaked slightly over time.
Also, sorry for the delay in our final changelog. I've been buying a house.
The "What's new" section below includes all changes since Android 11 Beta 1, and also notes item removals at the bottom.
What's new?
New features added since our last update/Beta 1:
- Better access to simultaneous camera streams for apps: API refinements in Android 11 let developers query which camera combinations can be simultaneously streamed, and use more and different combinations.
- Per-process network access for apps: This sounds minor, but it's good for user security, essentially letting developers limit which processes have network access, potentially protecting user data in the event of a bug or some exploits.
- Conversations get a bubble shortcut icon: Whether you have them enabled or disabled, if the app supports bubbles for a conversation, you can turn them on with a single tap and open the bubble mode.
- "All files" access permission for scoped storage won't be supported until 2021: As part of the scoped storage changes in Android 11, developers won't have access to the planned all files permission until 2021. If it is required, developers are told to stick to targeting earlier API levels for now.
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Improved media controls: The new Quick Settings media controls, which first appeared as a developer option in Beta 1, are now enabled by default as of Beta 2 and later, with some layout improvements that make it an even better experience.
- As of Beta 3, you can swipe to dismiss them, they have a new divider, and there's a "hide player when media session has ended" option.
- Disable auto-reconnect for specific Wi-Fi networks: Android 11 lets you disable a new "Auto-connect" setting on a per-network basis, preventing you from joining it as soon as it's discovered.
- Now Playing gets a history button.
- Built-in screen recorder now records audio: Fixing one of the last few omissions in Android 11's screen recorder, it can now also capture audio.
- Swiping up on secondary home screens takes you to the primary home screen: This may end up being Pixel-only (or only arrive on phones that use launchers based on the AOSP Launcher 3), but the home gesture now takes you to the first page of your home screen — like how the non-gesture home button works.
- New 'Allow screen overlays on Settings' developer option lets apps draw on top of Settings screens.
- No scrolling screenshots in Android 11: Google said they were coming, but the company wants to do things right rather than just implement a "hack" like most other software skins with the feature use. When it comes, we'll get a proper framework that should work better than current implementations.
- Device Drop Monitor: New app present on the Pixel 4 gathers data regarding phone drops, potentially following up what it captures with a survey asking for more information about the surface it hit and if your phone had a case on it. This is almost assuredly a Pixel-exclusive feature.
- Power menu tweaks: Google subtly tweaked some of the power control options in Android 11, limiting you to three and placing additional options based on custom settings into sub-menus or an overflow menu.
- New screenshot markup interface: Google has adjusted the native screenshot editor in Android 11 to add a delete option, as well as a handful of other graphical tweaks.
- New captive portal API for public Wi-Fi: Though it might take a while for access points to be tweaked to support it, Android 11 makes way for a better, more standardized way of logging into public Wi-Fi connections.
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Android 11 Easter egg do-over: Android 11 brings back the classic cat-collecting Easter Egg from Android 7.0 Nougat, but this time it uses the new Bubbles and smart home controls in the power menu.
- Together with the Easter egg is the new Android 11 logo in settings.
- Option to force high refresh rate returns with a more general name: Google killed the old "Force 90Hz" developer option, replacing it with a new, more generic "Smooth Display" setting that implies compatibility with even higher refresh rate displays.
- New and redesigned emoji: Android 11 delivers 117 new emoji and redesigns several older ones — though we find the changes less "Google-y." (Bring back the blobs, you cowards.)
- Improved password autofill: Thanks to some behind-the-scenes tweaks in Android 11 to the autofill process, passwords and other sensitive autofill data can appear in keyboard suggestion strips rather than in a drop-down menu, and Gboard takes advantage of it.
- All phones with Android 11 and 5GHz Wi-Fi will support Wireless Android Auto.
- Camera nerfing: Android 11 adjusts a handful of camera "intents" actions to only work with the pre-installed system camera in the name of privacy and to prevent concerns regarding surreptitious gathering of location data. Third-party camera apps will still work, but they won't be selectable as actions for certain workflows inside other apps.
- Sideloading app restart tweak: When you grant permission to an app in Android 11 as a source to sideload from, Android will now restart the app in the background rather than taking you back immediately to where you were, though the sideloading process itself won't work any differently. This is a result of filesystem and storage changes with Scoped Storage in R that require the app restart to take advantage of the change in permissions granted.
- Android 11 supports separate Google Assistant volume, but it isn't live yet.
- Firm Presses can expand notification bundles.
- Android 11 fixes the stupid default app link handling setup process: Android 10 changed how default apps were set of certain links or intents, making it convoluted and down-right stupid. Android 11 reverts to more rational behavior, so you can tap "always" and not have to putz around in settings. Low-key one of Android 11's best features.
- Android 11's sound output picker can list cast devices: Apps don't support it yet in our testing (they need a new library), but you'll be able to pick cast targets like Chromecast and Assistant smart speakers from the Android 11 sound output picker.
- Quick settings shows fewer tiles on Android 11: Perhaps the most unloved change in Android 11 restricts the number of quick settings tiles that are visible, even in the expanded menu. By default, the most you can see at any time are two rows (or six icons), but in certain configurations like with a VPN connected on certain aspect ratios, you may only have one row of expanded tiles visible, which is ridiculous.
- "Remove permissions if app isn't used" is the new name for the auto-revoke permissions setting in the final release.
- Permissions tweaks to accommodate COVID exposure notification apps: Google broke out Bluetooth scanning permissions from general location permissions to ensure exposure notification apps can't collect too much data, starting in Android 11 Beta 3 and presumably present at launch.
"Removed" or not actually Android 11 features
These features ended up landing on earlier Android versions via other means, like Play Services updates, or they're Pixel-specific features not explicitly tied to Android 11 itself. However, they're still worth pointing out, as many features may make their way from Pixel devices to other phones, and some devices may not get them until they receive an Android 11 update.
- Power menu wallet: while some things in this menu are new in Android 11 (and noted in the full list below), the wallet itself landed on Pixels for Android 10 in March.
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Rear double-tap gesture for Pixel phones: Android 11 DP1 has a hidden feature that creates a new double-tap gesture, customizable for a handful of features, giving Pixels (and perhaps other Android phones) a brand new gesture/trigger for actions.
- Rear double-tap gesture gets new features, works better: The base feature first arrived in DP1, but DP2 adds some extra functionality, like the ability to take screenshots, and better rejection/tuning for the gesture itself.
- This never landed in a user-facing way with Android 11's final release, so we have to assume it's still a work in progress — potentially coming to a future Pixel feature drop.
- Android 11 broke some of the Pixel 4a's fun hole-punch wallpapers, but that was fixed.
- The pause gesture for the Pixel 4's motion sense also rolled out to Android 10 as part of the March update/2nd Pixel Feature drop, so it's not an Android 11 exclusive feature.
- The "Require eyes to be open" setting for the Pixel 4's face unlock is probably a Pixel-exclusive, but also it landed on Android 10 later.
- Scrolling screenshots didn't happen.
- Hiding persistent/ongoing notifications in DP3 wasn't a feature; it was probably a bug, and it's gone.
- Pinning apps to the share sheet (again) also came to Android 10.
- Changing touch sensitivity for the Pixel 4 also landed in the March 2020 feature drop.
- The gesture to bring back a closed app in recents/multitasking was probably a bug, and it's gone.
- Intent/"Open links with" hand-offs are just one tap rather than two, but that also came to Android 10 as part of the March 2020 feature drop.
The Android 11 feature list
Entirely new Android 11 features
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Power menu stuff
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Wallet
- Digital driver's licenses are coming to a power menu wallet: Support for "secure storage and retrieval of verifiable identification documents," including driver's licenses, is coming in a later release.
- The power menu wallet itself trickled down in Android 10 with the March update/2nd Pixel Feature Drop. That means it's not technically part of Android 11.
- Third-party apps may also be able to add stuff like cards, loyalty programs, and tickets to your wallet.
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Smart home controls
- Long-press power menu smart home controls might be coming: Nothing user-facing has changed, but a series of hidden tweaks implies we might get smart home device controls built into the power menu.
- Power menu smart home controls: Still not live in DP2, but there's enough on the back-end now for XDA to put together a video that demonstrates what it might look like.
- Smart home controls debut with Android 1 Beta 1: Though they mostly worked in DP4 courtesy of a Google Home app update, the power menu smart home controls are finally formally live as of Beta 1
- Power menu tweaks: Google subtly tweaked some of the power control options in Android 11, limiting you to three and placing additional options based on custom settings into sub-menus or an overflow menu.
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Wallet
- New refresh rate overlay developer option looks like Fraps: On Android 11, you can trigger an overlay that shows your current refresh rate — useful for things like debugging issues with the new super-smooth high refresh rate displays. Also, it looks kind of like Fraps.
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Screen recording
- Built-in screen recording comes to Android again: It's still a bit buggy, but the built-in screen recording first revealed (then disabled) back with Android 10 is back as of the first Android 11 release.
- Screen recording gets a new UI: We had guessed that the interface was incomplete when the feature landed with DP1, and DP2 delivers an updated look to the built-in screen recorder.
- It now records audio: fixing one of the last few omissions, it can now also capture audio.
- Context-aware Bluetooth airplane mode: If you're playing music over Bluetooth headphones and you toggle airplane mode, then — gasp — Bluetooth won't turn off, and your headphones will continue to get tunes. That's one of the biggest travel frustrations eliminated. (Technically, this is a modification to an existing feature, but it's a big enough deal that I do not care.)
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Pause gesture for Pixel 4's Motion Sense: A new "dip" gesture that lets you play/pause media was added in Android 11 for the Pixel 4, though the app that delivers the update may end up being distributed outside of the Android 11 previews.-
Motion Sense gestures as a whole also seem way better in Android 11. - This trickled down to Android 10 as part of the March update/2nd Pixel Feature drop, so it's not an Android 11 exclusive feature.
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- "Battery share" hints at reverse charging for Pixel 5: A hidden detail in the first Android 11 release shows a new "battery share" feature for reverse charging other devices using your phone — probably wirelessly, like with Samsung's Wireless Powershare. If they're adding it now, there's a decent chance we'll see it debut with a future Pixel.
- Shows you your headphones' Bluetooth codec support: Rather than trusting spec sheets or sniffing around with Wireshark, Android 11 simply shows you which audio codecs your headphones support (via a developer options codec selection menu).
- Notification History: Google's working on a new way to view past notifications as part of the overall notification revamp in Android 11.
- Multiple audio device playback might be coming: Nothing is user-facing or working yet, but details found deep in DP2 imply we might get simultaneous audio playback from multiple output devices in a future Android 11 release.
- Call recording for third-party apps might be coming: Teardown details indicate we might get system-level support for call recording in third-party dialer apps.
- Android 11 gets a trashcan: Apps can throw away files without actually deleting them, allowing you 30 days to change your mind or recover them before they're really gone.
- Devices launching with Android 11 will require seamless updates: Phones that debut running Android 11 have no choice but to support seamless updates and A/B partitioning to pass Google's Vendor Test Suite and ship with Google apps, effectively making it a requirement.
- Block Store will make logging in to all your accounts across apps and services on new phones a one-tap deal — if developers implement it: Android 11 has a new "Block Store" API (together with a "One Tap" cross-platform sign-in system) which will make signing in to all your stuff on a new phone as easy as pulling down your cloud backup during the setup process. That is, if developers actually use it.
- Ethernet tethering: You can share a tethered internet connection via a USB Ethernet dongle, rather than just over a USB cable.
- Device Drop Monitor: New app present on the Pixel 4 gathers data regarding phone drops, potentially following up what it captures with a survey asking for more information about the surface it hit and if your phone had a case on it. This is almost assuredly a Pixel-exclusive feature.
- Improved password autofill: Thanks to some behind-the-scenes tweaks in Android 11 to the autofill process, passwords and other sensitive autofill data can appear in keyboard suggestion strips rather than in a drop-down menu, and Gboard takes advantage of it.
- Android Auto 5GHz Wi-Fi: Every Android 11 phone that supports 5GHz Wi-Fi should work with Android Auto's wireless mode.
- Android 11 supports separate Google Assistant volume, but it isn't live yet.
Visual tweaks
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Android 11's massive notification overhaul
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Conversations
- "Conversations" get their own notification group: A new "Conversations" section for notifications from messaging apps now gets priority over other notification types.
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They also get a different long-press menu compared to other types of notifications,
including the option to move a given notification into a bubble (ew).- More conversation notification tweaks: The long-press options have changed, also removing the ability to break out a notification as a bubble.
- Notification counts are now shown in the preview as well.
- "Important" contacts replace app icons with avatars in notifications: It might end up being app-specific, but DP2 delivered a tweak where contacts/conversations labeled as "important" have the contact's avatar replace the app icon in notifications.
- "Manage conversations" setting: New section controls the behavior of those "important" contacts you've configured.
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Notification History
- Notification history now accessible without workarounds: First appearing in DP1, DP2 gives the useful new notification history feature a dedicated location in Settings, plus an easy shortcut from the notification shade itself.
- Hidden notification log gets a new look: It's a little less useful (right now), but Google rolled out a redesigned notification log with Android 11.
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Bubbles
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Bubble notifications are back: Teased back in Android 10, chat head-style "bubble" notifications are in Android 11, giving you big icon-like non-transparent obstructions to deliver immediate notice of messages and other content.
YayEw. - Bubble notifications get more settings in Beta 1: It's probably just a reshuffling of options elsewhere, but the "Bubbles" section for notifications in each app now allows you to set details on a per-conversation rather than a global basis.
- Messages will soon support Android 11's bubble notifications.
- You can enable bubbles for a given conversation and open them with a single tap of a new notification icon, as of Beta 2.
- Bubbles hide in full screen as of Beta 2.
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Bubble notifications are back: Teased back in Android 10, chat head-style "bubble" notifications are in Android 11, giving you big icon-like non-transparent obstructions to deliver immediate notice of messages and other content.
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Media controls
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Media control tweaks: This is a developer option as of Beta 1, but Google is bringing a smaller version of the media control notification to the quick settings section of the notification shade, plus an expanded set of controls to the expanded quick settings shade. It also brings a carousel for multiple sets of simultaneous controls and quick access to a (slightly redesigned) output picker. The standard lockscreen media controls have also been tweaked with a new layout featuring rounded album art and controls on the right side.
- As of Beta 2, it's on by default, and the layout has been improved.
- In Beta 3, you can now swipe them away, they have a new divider, and there's a "hide player when media session has ended" option.
- They are a little buggy sometimes, though, and the animations aren't material.
- Firm Presses can expand notification bundles.
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Media control tweaks: This is a developer option as of Beta 1, but Google is bringing a smaller version of the media control notification to the quick settings section of the notification shade, plus an expanded set of controls to the expanded quick settings shade. It also brings a carousel for multiple sets of simultaneous controls and quick access to a (slightly redesigned) output picker. The standard lockscreen media controls have also been tweaked with a new layout featuring rounded album art and controls on the right side.
- Hidden test splits notifications from Quick Settings: Like the olden days of Android 4.X, Google is apparently testing splitting notifications off from Quick Settings, though the change isn't user-facing yet, and may not go anywhere.
- Notifications pick up extra padding, slightly tweaked look: Android 11 DP2 increased padding between notification sections, giving bigger gaps between labeled notification types.
- Option to hide silent notifications in the status bar: If you hate the icons that still appear from silent notifications in the status bar, they can be turned off in DP2.
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Persistent/ongoing notifications can be hidden: Notifications in DP3 can be swiped away, where they'll appear sort of minimized inside an "apps active in background" section.- This has been disabled in DP4.
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Conversations
- Do Not Disturb menu gets reorganized: It's a new Android version, and Google wouldn't be Google if they didn't find a way to tweak something about Do Not Disturb again. This time it's a reorganization around three types of notifications: from People, Apps, and "Alarms and other interruptions."
- Hidden option to change Quick Settings icon colors: With an ADB command, you can enable/disable the feature, and additional commands can assign specific colors. More on that here.
- Updated wallpaper picker in "styles & wallpaper" menu: DP2 adds a gallery-like interface for choosing wallpapers in the styles & wallpaper menu in settings.
- Force full-screen apps option: New "tap to restart this app and go full screen" option for apps that don't properly scale to taller aspect ratios.
- New and redesigned emoji: Android 11 delivers 117 new emoji and redesigns several older ones — though we find the changes less "Google-y." (Bring back the blobs, you cowards.)
- Quick settings shows fewer tiles on Android 11: Perhaps the most unloved change in Android 11 restricts the number of quick settings tiles that are visible, even in the expanded menu. By default, the most you can see at any time are two rows (or six icons), but in certain configurations like with a VPN connected on certain aspect ratios, you may only have one row of expanded tiles visible, which is ridiculous.
Privacy and security changes
- Temporary/one-time app permissions: Android 11 adds the option to grant some permissions "Only this time," so you can continue to decide on a case-by-case basis.
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Scoped Storage is back: Introduced in Android Q, we got a one-year reprieve before Scoped Storage goes into effect, and it will debut with Android 11. It may be slower, and it will interfere with some legacy operations, but Google champions the effect it will have on user privacy, sandboxing app storage better. Some apps may also be able to secure exemptions, like file managers and backup apps.
- "All files" access permission for scoped storage won't be supported until 2021: As part of the scoped storage changes in Android 11, developers won't have access to the planned all files permission until 2021. If it is required, developers are told to stick to targeting earlier API levels for now.
- Repeatedly denying permission requests will block them: If an application requests a permission twice, and it's denied by the user both times, the app will be blocked from requesting the permission again.
- Extra tap to grant overlay permissions: Overlay-based attacks are a serious concern for the Android platform. Starting in Android 11, apps that need you to grant it can't simply take you to the toggle, they can only dump you to the level before it, where you have to then navigate to the option and turn it on yourself. It's just one extra tap, but it might make a difference for those blindly granting permissions to malware.
- No more background location access: Although apps can request an exemption, Google is pressuring developers to stop letting apps request continuous location access, so they can't gather that information in the background, only while they're running and you are aware of them. All new apps must meet this requirement by August, and in November, any that don't meet the requirement will be booted from the Play Store.
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"Require eyes to be open" setting for face unlock on Pixel 4: This showed up in Android 11 DP2 first.- It trickled down to Android 10, so it's not an exclusive feature (just noted in the timeline for posterity).
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Unused app permissions are automatically revoked after some time: If you don't use an app for long enough (and we don't know how long that's supposed to be yet), it will eventually lose permissions you've granted it.
- Furthermore, all permissions are set to revoke in this manner by default as of DP4. The change may have reverted in Beta 1, but it seems to be live again as of the final release.
- This setting is now named "Remove permissions if app isn't used" in the final Android 11 release, and it isn't present for all apps.
- Per-process network access for apps: This sounds minor, but it's good for user security, essentially letting developers limit which processes have network access, potentially protecting user data in the event of a bug or some exploits.
- Camera nerfing: Android 11 adjusts a handful of camera "intents" actions to only work with the pre-installed system camera, in the name of privacy and to prevent concerns regarding surreptitious gathering of location data. Third-party camera apps will still work, but they won't be selectable as actions for certain workflows inside other apps.
- Permissions tweaks to accommodate COVID exposure notification apps: Google broke out Bluetooth scanning permissions from general location permissions to ensure exposure notification apps can't collect too much data, starting in Android 11 Beta 3 and presumably present at launch.
Modifications to existing features
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Pixel Launcher changes
- Teardown/tweaked app reveals piles of potential changes: Google may be planning or at least testing a ton of other Pixel Launcher changes, including actions replacing the app suggestion row in the overview/multitasking menu, hiding specific app suggestions, and automatic folder naming.
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Pixel Launcher teardown shows coming "hotseat" tweaks: A teardown of the Android 11 Pixel Launcher shows we might get suggested apps in the "hotseat," the area above the Google search widget on the Pixel homescreen — perhaps like the suggested apps already present at the top of the app list in the Pixel Launcher.
- And here they are. Pixel Launcher's new app suggestions for the home screen: Some of the details for this were spotted in the seemingly accidental early Beta 1 rollout. Now you can add a set of app suggestions to the persistent bottom row of the Pixel Launcher's home screen.
- Jiggly Pixel Launcher animations: Android 11 gives you that jello feel scrolling through your homescreen.
- Darker elements for dark theme on the Pixel Launcher, and dark icons in Settings.
- Swiping up on secondary home screens takes you to the primary home screen: This may end up being Pixel-only (or only arrive on phones that use launchers based on the AOSP Launcher 3), but the home gesture now takes you to the first page of your home screen — like how the non-gesture home button works.
- the Pixel Launcher's app drawer lost its tiny bit of transparency at some point in Android 11.
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Screenshots
- An updated screenshot interface: It's pretty hot, with a new ribbon on the bottom with the share and edit buttons, plus a floating screenshot preview, and a big obvious X in the corner to close/dismiss it with.
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Scrolling/extended screenshots: Although Google first labeled the idea "infeasible," the company later agreed to add the feature, and the first hidden signs of it have appeared in Android 11 — though it doesn't work yet.- Going against its original promise, Google has decided this feature needs an extra year of work to be done right, with a proper framework rather than simply a "hack," as Google calls other Android implementations of the feature.
- Rear double-tap gesture gets new features, works better: The base feature first arrived in DP1, but DP2 adds some extra functionality, like the ability to take screenshots, and better rejection/tuning for the gesture itself.
- You can take screenshots from the recents menu.
- New screenshot markup interface: Google has adjusted the native screenshot editor in Android 11 to add a delete option, as well as a handful of other graphical tweaks.
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Dark theme picks up sunset and custom time triggers: When Google finally gave Android a dark theme last year, it was missing a much-needed option for an automatic trigger — you know, so your phone doesn't blind you at night, but you can still have that white-on-black theme for easier daytime visibility. Well, it's a thing now.- Most of this (barring one trigger) trickled down to Android 10 as part of the March update/2nd Pixel Feature drop. It might not make its way to other phones until Android 11, but technically Android 10 got it as well.
- Apps using the camera can mute notifications: To prevent a rogue vibration or notification sound from ruining a long-planned shot or clip, camera-using apps can prevent your phone from firing off a notification.
- Project Mainline upgrade: The system Google introduced last year with Android 10, which enabled system components to be updated via the Play Store, is expanding to support updating more different system modules, bringing the count to 20. The non-technical summary is that even if you don't get Android updates from your phone's manufacturer, your phone can stay secure and get some new features separately.
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Share Sheet
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Pinning apps in the share sheet/menu is back: Introduced with Nougat and killed with Android 10, now that the share sheet has been redesigned, you can pin apps for frequent use again.- This also tricked down to Pixel 4s on Android 10 as part of the March update/2nd Pixel Feature Drop.
- Pinned apps get an icon to indicate they are, and app targets are now grouped by app with a drop-down menu for individual targets.
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Option to increase touch sensitivity for Pixel 4: This may end up being exclusive to the Pixel 4 (so far, it is), and it may not work right now, but Android 11 brought us a toggle to increase the sensitivity of the touch screen for use with things like screen protectors. Other phones by other manufacturers have had similar settings for some time.- This also tricked down to Pixel 4s on Android 10 as part of the March update/2nd Pixel Feature Drop.
- Hidden test integrating media controls into Quick Settings: A manually enabled test in Android 11 shows that Google might be experimenting with moving media controls into the Quick Settings menu. It looks... pretty weird right now.
- Back gesture sensitivity setting changes: It might not actually do anything yet, but a hidden activity showing sensitivity options for the "fully gestural navigation" back gesture was spotted in Android 11, similar to the one that leaked in Android 10, and which was later removed.
- Car crash detection comes to older Pixels via Android 11 app: Thanks to the version of the Personal Safety app included in Android 11, you can sideload car crash detection functionality onto older Pixels. We even tested it as working in a "simulated" crash, though it might still be geographically restricted, or have other limits in functionality.
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Opening links in another app is just one tap now, not two: Settings for "open links with" still don't stick if an app updates, but opening a given link/intent in an app is now just one tap, instead of two taps (i.e, tapping the app's name then tapping "just once").- As with many other features on this list, Android 10 received this feature as well as part of the March update/2nd Pixel Feature Drop, though many phones may not get it until Android 11.
- New volume key magnification shortcut.
- DNS server issues get labeled as such: Rather than simply give you an unhelpful "no internet" notification, Android 11 lets you know if your custom DNS server might be the culprit behind connectivity issues.
- Files by Google replaces the old Files app (but not entirely): Though the old original AOSP files app still handles some file-picking duties and a few other things, it's lost its place in the app drawer. The only user-facing file manager in DP2 is Files by Google.
- File picker gets new sort options: Again, though it was replaced in the app drawer, the AOSP file app still handles some things like file picking, and it picked up two new sort options in DP2: "Large files" for sorting by chonk, and "this wee" for sorting by recent creation/modification.
- Confirm SIM deletion toggle: DP2 adds an option to confirm deleting eSIMs.
- Picture-in-picture resizing: A teardown of DP2 indicates we might be able to resize picture-in-picture windows in the future.
- Volume key accessibility lock screen shortcut: It's labeled as "experimental," but a new accessibility shortcut that uses the volume keys from the lock screen has been added in DP2. That could make the process of unlocking your device easier if you rely on accessibility tools to use your phone.
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4GB filesize limit for videos is gone: Apps may not take advantage of it yet, and there can be other device-specific limitations, but the ancient and arbitrary limit is no longer present.
- Google's Camera app still has its own file size limit, but it's higher (10GB).
- Files app on Android 11 picks AOSP file manager features: It's not an Android 11 feature, per se, but the Files app has picked up the AOSP file manager's ability to access storage sources in other apps like Dropbox.
- Voice Access improvements: Android's accessibility feature now understands the context for your commands. It can read you the content on your screen, and respond to commands based on that content contextually, rather than through numbers for interactive elements, as it did previously.
- Emergency alerts in Spanish, plus Do Not Disturb alert exceptions: You can configure in Android 11 Beta 1 to receive alerts in Spanish (when possible), and a new setting explicitly allows alerts to be exempt from Do Not Disturb (though they sometimes were before, it wasn't something you could adjust).
- Sideloading app restart tweak: When you grant permission to an app in Android 11 as a source to sideload from, Android will now restart the app in the background rather than taking you back immediately to where you were, though the sideloading process itself won't work any differently. This is a result of filesystem and storage changes with Scoped Storage in R that require the app restart to take advantage of the change in permissions granted.
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Gesture to bring back a closed app in recents/multitasking: A swipe down from the top of the menu restores the most recently cleared app, if you're quick.- This has been disabled, though you may still be able to re-open apps by quickly re-opening the recents menu again — we can't tell if it's a bug or not.
- Independent left/right gesture navigation sensitivity setting: You can fine-tune it to make the edge gestures fit your use better.
- Recents/multitasking loses app suggestions, gets screenshot, share, and select buttons: This gives faster access to those features, but we lose the old app suggestions.
- Volume menu renamed: It's "Sound" now.
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Pixel Themes
- Flower and Hexagon icon shapes
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Always-on display clock style customizations: Only one option as of DP2, but the "styles & wallpaper" menu in settings now has a tab for customizing the clock visible when using the always-on display.
- This was removed in a later release — maybe bound for a future Pixel Feature Drop?
- Disable auto-reconnect for specific Wi-Fi networks: Android 11 lets you disable a new "Auto-connect" setting on a per-network basis, preventing you from joining it as soon as it's discovered.
- Now Playing gets a history button.
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Android 11 Easter egg do-over: Android 11 brings back the classic cat-collecting Easter Egg from Android 7.0 Nougat, but this time it uses the new Bubbles and smart home controls in the power menu.
- Together with the Easter egg is the new Android 11 logo in settings.
- Option to force high refresh rate returns with more general name: Google killed the old "Force 90Hz" developer option, replacing it with a new, more generic "Smooth Display" setting that implies compatibility with even higher refresh rate displays.
- Android 11 fixes the stupid default app link handling setup process: Android 10 changed how default apps were set of certain links or intents, making it convoluted and down-right stupid. Android 11 reverts to more rational behavior, so you can tap "always" and not have to putz around in settings. Low-key one of Android 11's best features.
- Android 11's sound output picker can list cast devices: Apps don't support it yet in our testing (they need a new library), but you'll be able to pick cast targets like Chromecast and Assistant smart speakers from the Android 11 sound output picker.
- Custom volume key actions may be coming.
Under the hood/developer/API changes
- Developers will get a bit more time to fix things for Android 11: Google is giving them an extra "platform stability milestone" with final SDK/NDK APIs changes, so developers rushing to build for Android 11 have until June before things are finalized. Apps on the Play Store also don't have to be updated to support the changes until the end of 2021.
- Better support for "waterfall" curved-edge displays: A new API augmenting the existing display cutout API will help developers better build apps for phones with curved screens, letting them exclude certain elements from hitting those curved, prone-to-accidental-touch sides when required.
- More restricted and undocumented APIs getting the boot: Developers using non-public APIs for stuff will need to make sure their apps keep working with new restrictions in Android 11.
- A new Bluetooth stack is in development as of Android 11, called Gabeldorsche.
- "Overscan" ADB command doesn't work in Android 11: We aren't sure if it's an intentional change or not (Google hasn't answered our inquiry), but Android 11 has killed the ADB overscan command, used by many third-party apps that modify the navigation bar.
- Support for "soft" reboots: It doesn't save that much time right now, but a slightly faster way to restart userspace software while keeping lower-level systems running has been added in Android 11. This could be related to...
- A "Resume on Reboot" feature that allows your phone to install OTAs and resume apps in the background before you unlock it, so you don't miss notifications.
- Generic System Image/DSU installer: It doesn't seem to work right now, but a built-in installer for GSIs is present in Android 11.
- Built-in app compatibility tester: Android 11 has tools to better help developers test platform changes, individually enabling and disabling them to see how they might interact with apps.
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Wireless ADB: Non-developer-types won't care, but Android 11 added proper wireless debugging with code- and QR-based pairing.
- This has an optional quick settings tile now, as well.
- GPS improvements: We knew it was coming to the Pixel 4 with Android 11, and Google says Android 11 will deliver enhanced GNSS performance for even greater location accuracy.
- More display cutout options for developers: Adding onto the notch cutout option Android P got, Android Q DP2 gets "Punch Hole" and "Waterfall" cutout settings, which developers can use to emulate those obstructions on other devices. Good for playing with layouts and designs without having every type of device on-hand.
- Android Flash Tool compatibility: DP2 picks up support for the new Android Flash Tool for relatively easy installation from a browser, no ADB required.
- Expanded support for authentication prompts: It's pretty technical, but Android 11 DP2 adds "Expanded support for authentication prompts," which we think means that apps can use more types of authentication mechanisms to secure user data.
- New IPSec VPN options: Additional encryption options for VPNs are available in DP2.
- ANGLE preferences return: DP2 adds preferences for Chrome's ANGLE WebGL/OpenGL ES.
- New "Enhanced Connectivity" toggle: Does nothing yet as of DP2, lives in developer options.
- New "HD audio toggle: Currently switches between SBC and AAC audio codecs in developer options.
- Wireless debugging quick setting tile.
- 5G state detection API that will let apps know if you're connected to a 5G connection.
- Hinge angle detection API so apps can better support UI tweaks in different configurations on foldables.
- (Better) variable refresh rate support for high framerate displays.
- Neural network API improvements.
- Developers can better see how and why their apps crashed thanks to a new "Crash Reasons Reporting" in the exit reasons API.
- ADB Incremental makes it easier and faster for developers to push updates and tweaks to in-development apps over ADB.
- Data access auditing: New APIs developers can use to follow permissions access below the granularity of the app and track down which bits of the app (like third-party libraries) might be abusing those permissions.
- Disable ADB authorization timeout: A setting in developer options that lets you disable the automatic revocation for ADB authorizations after 7 days.
- New 'Allow screen overlays on Settings' developer option lets apps draw on top of Settings screens.
- Better access to simultaneous camera streams for apps: API refinements in Android 11 let developers query which camera combinations can be simultaneously streamed, and use more and different combinations.
- New captive portal API for public Wi-Fi: Though it might take a while for access points to be tweaked to support it, Android 11 makes way for a better, more standardized way of logging into public Wi-Fi connections.
- All Android 11 phones will need to support fs-verity and camera beauty modes have to be outside the camera pipeline.
Thanks: Mishaal Rahman