Android 11 is finally here, and Google has taken things one step further by introducing Android 11 on select phones by third party OEMs, alongside its own Pixel phones. With the most popular phones getting Android 11 right away, the indications suggest that the rollout of Android 11 on phones across the Android ecosystem will happen more frequently than the amount of time that Android OEMs typically take to roll out new versions of the OS. If you are excited to receive Android 11 on your phone soon, here is our lowdown on five of the coolest and most important new features that Android 11 is bringing to the table, and you would love to have on your phone.
Bubble app heads
Facebook Messenger will no longer be the only app that can offer conversations that float around on your screen. Now, with Android 11, phones getting the update will get floating conversation heads for numerous chat apps such as WhatsApp and other messaging apps. This can help overlay an app on top of other apps on your phone screen, which means that you can quickly have a conversation with someone, while using a second app in the background.
Priority notifications
This can be more critical than you can imagine. With Android 11, users can select the priority of notifications, and Android will arrange your notification order in line with those that are the most important. This can really help those who get too many notifications from email, conversation apps and more on a daily basis, and Google will allow users to arrange the priority of notifications within a single notification group as well.
Native screen recording
Finally, screen recording comes to Android natively. Users of phones by many OEMs such as OnePlus have already had screen recording baked into their phones using the custom interface. However, with native recording, you get default integration of the screen recorder into the system. This will allow users to record and live stream their mobile gameplay sessions, without needing to worry about the safety aspect of using third party apps.
Superior privacy settings
Privacy controls have gradually improved over time on Android, and with Android 11, users will get the ability to grant a specific permission to an app only once. This can help make sure that rogue apps do not misuse permissions such as data and location access. This essentially takes a leaf out of Apple’s books. Alongside the one-time permission setting, Google also says that if an app is not used for a long span, its permission settings will be revoked, and users will need to grant it access all over again if they use it after a while. Given that apps may change privacy policies over time, this can be super helpful.
Quick audio output selection
This is yet another small but important update, and also one that borrows a feature from iOS. Finally, you will now get a quick selection button on the notifications panel, using which you can select the output medium of audio on your phone. Right now, the selection process is rather complicated, which means that if you have a Bluetooth speaker and a pair of wireless earphones connected, switching between the two is painful. With Android 11, that is set to change.
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