The long awaited Android 11 mobile operating system is now live. And with it comes all the features that we saw in its beta from all the way back in June.
As Google explained before, Android 11 is about three things – people, control and privacy. On the very first one, one of the more important features is Bubbles, the messaging feature that’s a lot like Facebook Messenger. The difference here is that Bubbles work across different apps, rather than just a specific one.
You can also mark conversations as important. Doing so puts them at the top of the notification list. This will also allow their notifications to go through Do Not Disturb modes, for messages you don’t want to miss for anything.
Control looks like something that you’ll only need to pay attention to if you have a lot of smart home devices. This allows quick access to all of them by holding down the power button. Beyond that, this is also what you’d use if you have virtual cards in your phone.
On privacy, Google has given Android 11 the ability to “auto-reset” permissions. Apps that haven’t been used in awhile will start asking you for permission to use certain services again, even when you’ve granted them before.
Pixel devices are also getting exclusive features with the Android 11 update. One example is sharing live views of locations to make it easier to arrange meetups. Another is the addition of Smart Reply on the Gboard.
As you’d expect, Android 11 is now live for Google’s own Pixel devices, with the Pixel 2 and newer all getting the update. That being said, XDA says that a new beta build has also been made available for a number of devices by Chinese phonemakers.
More specifically, these are the devices that are getting new Android 11 beta builds:
- OnePlus 8
- OnePlus 8 Pro
- Xiaomi Mi 10
- Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
- OPPO Find X2
- OPPO Find X2 Pro
- OPPO Ace2
- OPPO Reno3 4G
- OPPO Reno3 Pro 4G
- Realme X50 Pro
