Android 11: Developer Preview 2 released
Developer Preview 2 on Android 11 is now available to developers and curiosities. Users of Pixel 2 or Pixel devices on their emulator can now get updates. If you are already using Preview 1, you should be able to use the Over-The-Air (OTA) update. New users can use the Android Flash Tool. Google explicitly warns that this version is not used every day yet. The new preview has some interesting new features.
Best of all, there is an interface that shows if the smartphone has dialed the 5G network. Then the app can react according to that information.
For folding, like the Galaxy Flip, you can read the angle of the folding device using the appropriate angle sensor. As far as I know, Z Flip uses this in apps like Google Duo to properly adjust the screen surface.Android 11 should have the right information for every developer.
In terms of data protection, there are also innovations to be announced in the new version.
. Future camera and microphone data has an option to grant app permissions only when the app is in the foreground.
For data protection, the new “scope storage” plays an important role in better protecting your app and user data. Then some applications can only access their app data and no longer have access to the entire storage space of their smartphone. The second preview version supports migrating files from the old storage model to the new range storage model.
Basic support for variable refresh rates should also be interesting. Last year we mainly saw devices with displays with refresh rates of 60Hz and 90Hz, so this year the bandwidth has increased to over 120Hz. Now the app developer has an interface with the best update rate available depending on the app used. A display with a high refresh rate may show better with Android 11.
So far, even if something went well in terms of speed in the past with A / B partitions, you had to restart your Android smartphone for updates. Apple can still learn a lot about iOS. Android 11 allows you to receive a message right after restart without providing user confirmation.