Updated or revamped features
- Revamped power menu: Android 11 will have a wildly revamped power menu that gives you quick access to smart home controls, your Google Wallet cards, and (obviously) power options.
- Revamped overview menu, screenshot shortcuts: In Android 11 Developer Preview 3, Google revamped the overview menu (recent apps screen) to show larger cards as well as two new screenshot shortcuts. However, it also removed the ability to access the app drawer from the overview menu.
- New text selection mode in overview menu: In the fourth Android 11 Developer Preview, Google added a “Select” button to the overview menu. Tapping it allows you to quickly select text inside an app and paste it into another app.
- Media players now head to quick settings: If you’re listening to music on your phone, you’re used to finding a media player in your notification shade. In Android 11, the player will move to the quick settings area and get a few more tools, including the ability to easily pick an output device. However, even in the first beta, this feature is switched off in development options.
- Undoing recently cleared apps: Speaking of the revamped overview menu, you can now also undo an accidentally cleared app by quickly swiping down on the screen.
- Update: With the fourth Android 11 Developer Preview, Google removed the ability to undo recently cleared apps in the multitasking menu.
- Ability to dismiss persistent app notifications: If you’ve ever used Android, you’ve probably run into a persistent notification (one that you can’t easily swipe away). In Android 11 Developer Preview 3, Google lets you clear all notifications. Don’t worry — you can quickly bring persistent notifications back if you swiped them away by accident.
- Update: This feature was removed in Android 11 Developer Preview 4.
- More granular back gesture tweaking: The back gesture can be a little frustrating at times, as you perform a similar gesture to activate hamburger menus. Fortunately, Android 11 has two sliders to let you control the sensitivity of the back gesture — one for the left side of the screen and one for the right. This is a welcome change from the single sensitivity slider in Android 10.
- Airplane mode doesn’t kill Bluetooth: Previously, turning on airplane mode would also kill Bluetooth on your phone, which doesn’t make much sense. People who use airplane mode might have Bluetooth headphones connected, resulting in having to turn on Bluetooth again. In Android 11, Bluetooth stays on when airplane mode is activated.
- Pixel Themes gets clock tweaks: In the Pixel theming section of Settings, you will likely be able to customize how your clock looks on the AOD and lock screen. However, in the first beta, there is only one clock option available.
- New Motion Sense option for Pixel 4: We’ve been complaining for a few months that Google seems to be neglecting Motion Sense on the Pixel 4. In Android 11, the company is adding a new way to control your phone without touching it. In Android 11, you can tap the air above the phone to pause your music.
- Pixel 4 Face Unlock will require you to open your eyes: Speaking of the Pixel 4, it looks like Android 11 will offer users the ability to require their eyes be open for Face Unlock to work. This might make unlocks less efficient, but it will certainly make your phone more secure.
- App pinning in the share menu: Android used to let you pin your most frequently used apps to the share sheet, but that option was removed in Android 10. Now it’s back.
- Enhanced notification shade conversations: When you get a text, you can see the most recent message in your notification shade under a new Conversations tab. Not only will you be able to see more of the thread but you’ll also have richer ways to compose messages, including a way to send picture messages right from the notification. Notifications will also look a lot more organized thanks to a revamp of how they look.
- Upgraded Voice Access capabilities: Previously, Android’s Voice Access labelled all the actions on the screen with a number, allowing you to call out the number to perform said action. Now, Android 11 can read what’s on your screen and let you say the action instead, being a rather cool accessibility upgrade. An example shown by The Verge‘s Dieter Bohn includes saying “Instagram” to launch the app rather than saying the corresponding number.
- Conversation bubbles: This was actually a feature Google launched in Android 10. However, Google is including it within its own wrap-up of Android 11 features, which leads us to believe Google is going to push harder for this to be adopted by more developers and OEMs.
- Context-aware dark mode: The system-wide dark mode launched with Android 10 will get a “new” trick with Android 11: the ability to automatically activate or deactivate depending on the time of day. As spotted by Android Police, this is actually a feature OEMs such as Samsung have already integrated on their own, but now it will be baked right into Android.
- Enhanced one-time permissions: You know how in Android 10 you can tell apps to grab your location, microphone, or camera data only while the app is open? Now, the OS can let you approve those permissions just a single time and will revoke the permission later.
Features Android 11 hints
- Scrolling screenshots could be coming: It’s not active in the first Android 11 beta, but it looks like Google will finally bring scrolling screenshot support to Android!
- Reverse wireless charging for Pixel 5? In Android 11’s settings, you’ll find a feature called Battery Share. This could mean Google is prepping reverse wireless charging for the Pixel 5.
- Multi-colored Quick Settings icons: Through some ADB commands, it turns out you can change the colors of individual Quick Settings icons. This could just be a weird aspect of Android 11 or it could be a sign that Google is testing a UI-based way for users to do this.
