Google Officially Launches Android 11 for Smartphones

Yesterday, Google announced a stable update of Android 11 for eligible Pixel phones. Select phones from other manufacturers will get open betas soon, in line with previous launches which also occurred in the same time frame in previous years. The developer preview of the said OS was launched in February this year.

What’s New?

Most of the features that the stable version of Android 11 brings are similar to what we saw in the developer’s preview earlier.

Here are some of the prominent features:

• Chat bubbles similar to Facebook Messenger’s chat heads.
• A native screen recorder that will discard the need for third-party screen recorder apps.
• A power menu to easily manage all the connected smart devices. The menu can be accessed by pressing and holding the power button.
• One-time permissions for applications to access the camera, microphone, and location.
• Permission auto-reset, which means app permissions will be automatically removed if an app is not used for a while.

You can learn more about Android 11 in the video below:

Availability

The update is already being rolled out for all Pixel smartphones save for the first-generation of Pixel phones, unlike last year, when the stable version was readily available for some other non-Pixel phones such as the Essential PH-1 (whose support has ended) and the Redmi K20 Pro.

Apart from this, the open beta is available for these phones:

• OnePlus 8
• OnePlus 8 Pro
• Realme X50 Pro
• Xiaomi Mi 10
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
• Oppo Find X2 Pro
• Oppo Find X2
• Oppo Ace 2
• Oppo Reno 3 4G
• Oppo Reno 3 Pro 4G

Smartphone OEMs are expected to announce roll-out update plans for eligible devices in the coming days.