Google has finally released beta Android 11 to developers. Developer Previews, as a rule, are intended for testing and adaptation of applications by developers for a new version of the operating system. On the update site, Google has divided the innovations into 3 sections. In this article, we will consider each of them in more detail, and also share a link to download images of the new version Android.
Google has released beta version Android 11. You can download it now
Behavioral changes
These are system changes that can affect the operation of applications. Let's start with the permissions changes. In Android 11, users can fine tune location, microphone and camera permissions. To be more precise, now the user can only grant access to the above listed objects once. Nowadays it is possible to grant access to an application forever, which, of course, is not very good in terms of security. In addition, if the user has denied the permission request twice, the system will display a 'Don't ask again' button to avoid spamming the user with modals.
Developers also need to change how the app accesses the location in the background. Now the application cannot access using the modal window. To do this, a message should appear on the screen explaining the need for this permission, and only after that the user must independently grant the application rights.
Now it is difficult to get the rights to the system files. To do this, the application will also need to provide a link to the corresponding internal menu, in which the user must independently provide access to the files.
Safety
Released Android 11
Android 11 uses Scoped Storage as standard. We have already written about this solution. It allows an application to request access only to specific files, and not to the entire file system. In addition, each application has a separate area of memory in the system that is isolated from other applications. This way, no application will be able to access the files of another application. One-time permission and background location access are also part of the security section. We have already described the essence of these changes above.
API
Some monitors have built-in means to improve the picture, but the data transfer rate suffers – there is a noticeable delay. New displays with HDMI 2.1 support have an Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM) that minimizes latency by disabling post-processing. Android 11 can now understand if the TV supports this mode, and will offer to activate it when connected. This is especially useful for gaming and video conferencing where every millisecond counts.
In Android 11, the API for working with neural networks was also improved, and the work with biometrics was also improved. A nice innovation in the update will be a new file system:
Google is working on a new – incremental – filesystem for Android, which will debut in future updates Android. This is an advanced analogue of the virtual file system Linux. It will allow you not only to use applications during the installation of updates, but also to activate them during the initial download. That is, in order to launch the game, it will be enough just to click on the download button in Google Play, and the game world will begin to load gradually as you progress.
We talked about it in more detail in a separate article.
Already, the update can be installed by owners of smartphones Google Pixel 2/2 XL, Pixel 3/3 XL, Pixel 3a / 3a XL, Pixel 4/4 XL. Using this link, you can go to the download images page.