Google will going to launch the new Android 11 Beta on June 3rd 2020.
Welcome to Android 11 Developer Preview, a program that gives you everything you need to make your apps compatible and build for the next version of Android. The program is free, and you can get started right away by downloading the Developer Preview SDK and tools.
Hardware and emulator system images
A runtime environment to test your apps on Pixel devices and the Android Emulator.
Latest platform code
We’ll provide regular updates, so you’ll be testing against the latest platform code.
New behaviors and capabilities
Pinpoint the behavior changes that will affect your apps, and build with the latest platform capabilities.
Feedback and support
You feedback is critical! You can report issues using our issue tracker. Connect with other developers in the Developer Community.
Available of preview in smartphone
Android 11 Developer Preview is available on Google Pixel 4 / 4 XL, Pixel 3a / 3a XL, Pixel 3 / 3 XL, and Pixel 2 / 2 XL.
Developer Preview releases are early baseline builds for developers only. Because they’re not suitable for daily use by early adopters or consumers, we’re making them available by manual download and flash only. To flash these builds, note that you’ll need to do a full reset, so make sure to back up your data first.
At each milestone, we’ll offer system image downloads that you can download and flash yourself. To make manual download and flash easier, we’re also offering preview system images through the Android Flash Tool, just connect your device by USB and go.
Timeline, milestones, and updates
The Android 11 Developer Preview program runs from February 2020 until the final public release to AOSP and OEMs, planned for Q3 2020. At key development milestones, we’ll deliver updates for your development and testing environments. Each includes SDK tools, system images, emulators, API reference, and API diffs. The milestones are listed below.
| Timeline | Build | Type | Developer actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | Developer Preview 1 | Early baseline build focused on developer feedback, with new features, APIs, and behavior changes. | Priority window for feedback on APIs. Explore new APIs and behavior changes and report any critical issues or requests to us during this time. |
| March | Developer Preview 2 | Incremental update with additional features, APIs, and behavior changes. | Give us feedback as you work with APIs and behavior changes. Begin early app compatibility testing. |
| April | Developer Preview 3 | Incremental update for stability and performance. | Get apps ready for consumers Beta. Continue compatibility testing, publish updates without changing targeting. Notify SDK and library developers of any issues. |
| May | Developer Preview 4 | Incremental update for stability and performance. | Continue compatibility testing, start early testing with targeting Android 11. |
| June | Beta 1 | Final APIs. Play publishing opens. | Start final compatibility testing for apps, SDKs, and libraries. Release compatible versions, watch for feedback from Android Beta users. Continue work to target Android 11. Build and test with official APIs. |
| July | Beta 2 | Platform Stability milestone. Final system behaviors. | Continue final compatibility testing for apps, SDKs, and libraries. Release compatible versions. Continue work to target Android 11. |
| August | Beta 3 | Release candidate build. | Release compatible updates for apps, SDKs, and libraries. Continue work to target Android 11. Build with new features and APIs. |
| Q3 | Final release | Android 11 release to AOSP and ecosystem. | Release compatible updates for apps, SDKs, and libraries. Continue work to target Android 11. Build with new features and APIs. |
Platform Stability milestone
New in Android 11 – We’re introducing a milestone called “Platform Stability” to help you plan your final testing and releases. This milestone means that Android 11 has reached final internal and external APIs, final app-facing behaviors, and final non-SDK graylists. We expect Android 11 to reach Platform Stability at Beta 2 in July 2020. From that point, you can expect no further changes affecting your apps.
We encourage all app, game, SDK, library, and game engine developers to use the Platform Stability milestone as a target for planning final compatibility testing and public release. Using Platform Stability instead of final release gives you several additional weeks before consumers can receive the new platform on their devices.
Privacy update in Android 11
Android 11 builds upon earlier versions of Android, adding features and updates to keep users secure and increase transparency and control.
All developers should review the privacy features and test their apps. Impacts can vary based on each app’s core functionality, targeting, and other factors.
To learn more about the key changes taking place in the upcoming release of Android, look through the following sections.
Top privacy changes
This table summarizes the key changes related to privacy that are taking place in Android 11.
| Privacy change | Apps affected | Mitigation strategy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoped storage enforcement Apps targeting Android 11 are always subject to scoped storage behaviors | Apps that target Android 11, as well as apps that target Android 10 and haven’t set requestLegacyExternalStorage to true to opt out of scoped storage | Update your app to work with scoped storage Learn more about the scoped storage changes | |
| One-time permissions Users can grant temporary access to location, microphone, and camera through a one-time permission | Apps that target any version and request location, microphone, or camera permissions | Check that your app has a permission before attempting to access data that’s guarded by that permission Follow best practices for permissions | |
| Background location access Android 11 includes changes to how apps can request background location permission from users | Apps that target Android 11 and need all-the-time access to location | Request foreground (coarse or fine) and background location permissions incrementally in separate calls to the permission request method. Before each request, use a fullscreen view to explain the benefits that users receive for granting that permission Learn more about background location access | |
| Package visibility Android 11 changes how apps query and interact with other installed apps on the same device | Apps that target Android 11 and interact with other installed apps on a device | Add the <queries> element to your app’s manifestLearn more about package visibility | |
| Foreground service types Android 11 changes how foreground services can access camera and microphone data | Apps that target Android 11 and access the camera or microphone in a foreground service | Declare the camera and microphone foreground service types in services that access camera data and microphone data, respectivelyLearn more about the new foreground service types |
Get started with privacy updates
- Review the privacy features: Assess your app. Look for how your app stores files and user data, requests permissions, requests location, and interacts with other apps and new types of foreground services.
- Test your app on Android 11: Get the Developer Preview as soon as possible, test, migrate as needed.
- Update your app: Targeting Android 11 if possible, test with users via beta channels or other groups.
Features and APIs update in Android 11
Android 11 introduces great new features and APIs for developers. The sections below help you learn about features for your apps and get started with the related APIs.
For a detailed list of new, modified, and removed APIs, read the API diff report. For details on new APIs visit the Android API reference — new APIs are highlighted for visibility. Also, to learn about areas where platform changes may affect your apps, be sure to check out Android 11 behavior changes for apps that target Android R and for all apps), as well as privacy changes.
New experiences
Screens
Better support for waterfall displays
Android 11 provides several APIs to support waterfall displays, displays which wrap around the edge of the device. These displays are treated as a variant of displays with display cutouts. The existing DisplayCutout.getSafeInset…() methods now return the safe inset to avoid waterfall areas as well as cutouts. To render your app content in the waterfall area, do the following:
- Call
DisplayCutout.getWaterfallInsets()to get exact dimensions of the waterfall inset. - Set the window layout attribute
layoutInDisplayCutoutModetoLAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_ALWAYSto allow the window to extend into the cutout and waterfall areas on all edges of the screen. You must make sure that no essential content is in the cutout or waterfall areas.
Conversations
Conversation improvements
Android 11 makes a number of improvements to the way conversations are handled. Conversations are real-time, bidirectional communications between two or more people. These conversations are given special prominence, and users have several new options in how to interact with them.
5G visual indicators
On Android 11 (API level ‘R’) and higher, apps with android.Manifest.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE permission can request telephony display information updates through PhoneStateListener.onDisplayInfoChanged(). This includes radio access technology information for marketing and branding purposes.
Various 5G icon display solutions for different carriers are provided by this new API. The supported technologies include the following:
- LTE
- LTE with carrier aggregation (LTE+)
- Advanced pro LTE (5Ge)
- NR (5G)
- NR on millimeter-wave cellular bands (5G+)
Security
Biometric authentication updates
To help you control the level of security for your app’s data, Android 11 provides several improvements to biometric authentication.
Wireless debugging
Android 11 supports deploying and debugging your app wirelessly from your workstation via Android Debug Bridge (adb). For example, you can deploy your debuggable app to multiple remote devices without physically connecting your device via USB and contending with common USB connection issues, such as driver installation.
Wi-Fi Passpoint enhancements
Passpoint enables apps to automatically and silently perform authentication and connect to secure Wi-Fi hotspots. Apps that target API level ‘R’ and higher can use the following additional capabilities of Passpoint.
