In the early morning of September 9, after nearly 7 months of preview and testing, the official version of Android 11 was finally online. As a major version update that will affect Android users in the next year or even a few years, what new features does Android 11 have that are worth our upgrade experience? After fully experiencing the developer preview, beta and official versions, we have compiled the following content for your reference.
This article is from WeChat official account: minority (ID: sspaime) , main author: Clyde, co-author: dawn Frontline Alan, Lu Zhongnan, the title picture comes from: android police
Talk bubbles and chat messages
About the update of the dialogue, it can be said that it is one of the most obvious update main lines in Android 11: Android 11 notification related functions have been patched in the past several version iterations, and it was not gradually until Beta 3 Stability becomes what we see now.
The update of notifications can be roughly divided into two development directions: one is the drastically redesigned notification interface, and the other is the dialogue bubble that appears in Android 10.(Bubbles).
In the redesign of the notification interface, Google newly added “Conversations(Conversations)” Notification category to store all your chat messages, and also introduces the concept of notification priority. For a detailed introduction of this function, you can learn more here.
Dialog notification and priority setting
As for the latter, in the past month, many apps including Google Message have added support for this feature. From the actual hands-on experience, we can really feel that Google is trying to use this method to realize the communication experience of opening up different chat apps on the Android side.
In fact, if the main chat service you use has been adapted to this new API, this way of storing chat conversations in one place can indeed enable “Communication with people “This process is quite efficient. Hope that with the release of the official version of Android 11, more chat services can support this feature.
Demonstration of speech bubble function | Picture: Google
However, as we have introduced before, the possibility of domestic SMS chat services supporting these new features is slim. But even so, in the Android 11 update process, we can still see that theseThe system-level optimization made by Tianjing is actually a new exploration by Google on the issue of “how to have a more efficient experience in interpersonal communication” at the Android 11 system level.
Related reading:The first developer preview version of Android 11 is online. These new features are worth paying attention to
Smooth and easy to use input method
Communication with people is inseparable from the input method, and Android 11 also brings some new features around the input experience of the input method.
In terms of animation, developers can use WindowInsetsAnimation.Callback and WindowInsetsAnimationController The two API interfaces make a smoother and smoother input method animation. The final effect is almost the same as the experience of some messaging applications on the iOS platform-when scrolling the message list or application content, the input method keyboard will automatically move from the bottom of the screen according to the scrolling direction Slide out or stow down.
Input method call out and retract animation | Picture: Google
Compared with the previous “straight-and-go” input method keyboard animation is much more elegant, but like most Android features that need to be adapted, there are not many applications that adapt this feature, and even Google itself uses it to demonstrate None of the Messages apps have been adapted yet.
The extension of the auto-fill feature is more practical. In fact, this small feature can even be regarded as @Clyde One of my favorite new features of Android 11 (the other one will be introduced later “Device Control”)—— If you are a 1Password+Gboard user, on Android 11 you will find that Gboard can automatically obtain 1Password login information filling suggestions.
The password management tool in the Gboard keyboard
These filling suggestions will automatically appear above the input method keyboard when we click the login information input box. Compared with traditional pop-up suggestions, password filling input methods, etc., they are more natural, convenient and consistent with the login information filling.Write the operating intuition in this scenario.
emoji must also keep pace with the times
In Android 11, Google has added a “new” Noto Emoji design: 62 new emoji elements and 55 replacement options for different skin colors and genders.
New design | Old design (Source: Twitter@CassidyJames)
In fact, in Noto Emoji, a significant change in the design style is that Google will appear many Blob emoji elements are added again. At the same time, the overall color matching style of Emoji is brighter. Google says this is to optimize the display effect in dark mode. You can go to here Learn more about the design details of Android 11’s new Noto Emoji.
It’s back!
In addition, it is worth mentioning that in the sticker options of Gboard input method, the latest version 9.8 has added a third-party sticker service from Bitmoji, although this is not a service that is completely built into Gboard(You still need to download Bitmoji App if you want to use this function). But such intrusive third-party service implantation may also imply that the related sticker function is about to be added to the Android system?
Device control that can’t be returned after use
The role of various smart devices in our lives is becoming more and more important. How to conveniently and quickly control the devices has also become a topic that Android 11 wants to explore this time.
In Android 11, Google continued the design idea of the Android 10 power button menu card package, and further added the smart home device control function to the power button menu. So far, the power menu of the Android system has changed from a simple pop-up window to A composite “panel” with full-screen interactive interface, multiple interactive areas, and multiple functional operations corresponding to it.
Device Control Panel
In the detailed analysis about device control features, I even used “change Use the power button to describe this function: “Press the power button> click the smart home device you want to control” to perform an operation. This experience not only gets rid of that The traditional smart device control experience that requires opening supporting apps for operation is even faster than the “speak wake-up word> give voice” command-after all, we only use the device control function of Android 11 Use one click, one click, and voice control recognition and waiting are unstable.
More importantly, this idea was quickly recognized by OEM manufacturers. At present, non-Xiaomi users can directly add Mijia devices in the Android 11 device control menu, and Xiaomi users can pass the latest beta version of MIUI. Directly enjoy the equipment control experience integrated with the control center.
MIUI 11 device control function under test
Related reading:change your power button usageHabits: Detailed explanation of Android 11 “device controller”
Full control of media playback
Readers who have been watching the “Android 11 Insight” series before may be very impressed with this feature: because this is not only one of the most updated UI changes in the Android 11 update, it is also changed The most frequently updated content… From the official addition of Beta 1 to the official version of Android 11, there have been considerable changes.
Android 11 Beta 1 media control style & Android 11 official version media control style
After several iterations, the media controls in the notification center are kept more concise, while being able to control multiple media playback and control playback device functions by sliding cards, and also optimize the problem that the controls are too close to the top of the screen , And in the last version, the bug that the system will misjudge the sliding between different media cards as the dragging progress bar has been optimized.
The usability is already very high
For now, although we still have not waited for functions such as “Directly stream music/video to smart speakers/TVs in the LAN” in the Final Update, this update has been updated several times The optimization has become more usable. It can be said that the current version has been optimized in terms of the current functions, and it has the experience that belongs to the “official version”. As for more new features that we are looking forward to… Maybe it has already been mentioned. Schedule?
Native screen recording tool that supports internal recording
Although long screenshots ended up skipping votes due to limited development resources, the screen recording tool, which is also popular among users and developers, has finally become one of the built-in features of Android 11.
After updating to Android 11, we can add a “screen recording” quick switch to the quick settings panel, and click to start recording. Although this built-in screen recording tool does not have many customization options, but it supports customization of display touch screen position and audio recording source. The audio recording source supports microphone, device audio recording or both at the same time. The practicality is still very high.
Built-in screen recording tool
As mentioned above, the late built-in screen recording tool can be regarded as filling a major shortcoming of the native Android system tools; just considering that most of the current OEM manufacturers’ custom systems have developed more complete built-in functions The screen recording tool, the only one that can actually benefit from it is Google Pixel, a device that has always been available only with native systems.
Related reading: Make native Android more usable: 14+ new changes worth paying attention to in Android 11 DP2
New notification tracking method
Friends who have been pitted on Android in recent years may not know that, except for the notification center that “slide away and nothing”, the Android system has always had a hidden notification log function, with the help of which we can not only see the various notifications that have been received on the device, but also realize WeChat “anti-withdrawal” “effect.
The “History” function in the lower left corner of the notification center is the new entry
This feature in Android 11 has undergone a “reengineering” and finally re-appeared as a “notification history”. To use the notification history feature, we first need to enable it in “System Settings> Apps and Notifications> Notifications> Notification History“.
Two functional areas of notification history
The notification history interface after opening is divided into two parts: For recent notifications, we can long press the notification entry and then manage the corresponding notification category; the notifications in the past 24 hours will focus on reviewing, which will be visually displayed here In the past day, how many notifications have been issued by the apps in our mobile phones? If you want to turn off some annoying and unnecessary pushes, you can also click on some of them to manage notifications.
One step closer to the “sandbox”
Although you may be a little tired of hearing like me, the truth is indeed—isolated storage features (that’s Everyone often refers to “sandbox”)We have to wait.
But as we have previously introduced, for the isolated storage feature In other words, Android 11 is still a very critical version: since Android 10 first tried to introduce the isolated storage feature, Google took into account compatibility issues to leave ample time for application developers to adapt, but at the same time Google also stipulates The application in the Play Store “SDK cannot be lower than the current main Android version by more than one version”.
With the launch of the official version of Android 11, Android 11 will naturally become the “main Android version” in the next year. In other words, The SDK version of the Play Store app launched in 2021 cannot be lower. On Android 11(SDK 30).
The SDK version is not lower than Android 11, which means that before the end of 2021, at least all apps on Google Play must adapt to the official version of Android 11 that will be launched in the third quarter of this year; the isolated storage feature is One of the mandatory requirements of SDK 30 will naturally be fully rolled out as a default specification by then.
Related reading:The storage space is still clear: When will Android’s “sandbox” mechanism arrive?
Permission and privacy improvements
In Android 11, Google has further introduced a single authorization granularity of “only this time” for the three sensitive permissions of microphone, camera, and location information. It is especially worth noting that so far, there are 4 authorization levels for location information permissions in Android 11: always allow, allow at runtime, allow only once, and deny. Generally, the permission pop-up window will only show users the last 3 options. , “Always allow” as an option that is likely to have a greater impact on the battery life of the mobile phone, requires the user to manually open the application’s permission page for separate grant.
In addition to single authorization, Android 11’s “automatic resetting of permissions” function can also help us cope with some situations where it is easy to forget the permission configuration. At the bottom of the application permission management page, you will find an option to automatically remove permissions. According to the option description, after checking this function, applications developed for Android 11[1] The obtained runtime permissions (runtime permissions) will be idle It is automatically revoked after several months of use, to avoid the situation where the user has long forgotten but the application still obtains private information with permission in the background.
These features Pixel first taste
Instead of keeping some new features as Pixel exclusive features in the past, Google has listed some “Pixel first“’s new Android 11 features. In other words, the official version of Android 11 is actually a relatively large feature drop for Pixel users.[2]< /span>.
The first is the Pixel Launcher with many new features: Google has added a smart naming function for desktop folders to the Android 11 Pixel Launcher. When we stack application icons of similar applications, the launcher will grab these The application category in the application declaration information is automatically named for the generated folder, which improves the efficiency of desktop organization;
While improving the interaction of the multi-tasking interface, the multi-taskingThe key screenshot can help us to share faster; at the same time, the fixed Dock bar icon at the bottom also provides a “smart prediction” switch this time, and the Dock bar at the bottom of the desktop will dynamically display the prediction results of the application when it is turned on.
Application suggestions and actual effect display
The input method keyboard prompt integration function mentioned above when introducing the input method experience is further applied to the “smart reply” feature. With the help of a local algorithm model, Gboard can automatically generate a reply phrase based on the chat content and give a reply prompt above the input method keyboard. As in the past, the performance of this feature in the Chinese system language is average, so I won’t expand it here.
Smart reply suggestions in the input method keyboard | Picture: Google
Finally, Google also launched a live view location sharing (Live View with Location Sharing) for Pixel users. Time, open the realShare the scene location, then pick up the Pixel and swipe around, the other party’s location navigation information will appear in the camera viewfinder.
Real-time location sharing
It looks very practical, but the availability of location-sharing services and real-world maps is zero, so for domestic users, it’s still just a good look.
Related reading:The multitasking interface has changed again: Android 11 DP3 new features list
will be pushed to your hands soon
On the OEM side, OPPO has almost synchronized with Google to announce ColorOS 11 based on Android 11 Release date. The overseas press conference will be held at 5:00 pm on September 14th, Beijing time, and the domestic press conference will be held at 9:30 am on September 24th.
In addition, if you have Find X2 series or Ace2 series models, you can also directly pass “Settings > Software update> Detect new version> Download update“Upgrade experience test version.
Xiaomi also announced the opening of the stable version based on Android 11 through the official Weibo for the first time. If you have Xiaomi 10, Xiaomi 10 Pro, Redmi K30 Pro Standard Edition or Redmi K30 Pro Zoom Edition, go to Submit a stable version of the internal test application for the Mi Community App, and go to “Settings> My Device> MIUI Version” after the application to upgrade the experience.
As the test channel closest to the stable version of MIUI’s many version channels, the opening of the stable version’s internal testing basically means that the official version of MIUI 12 based on Android 11 is not far away.
As a manufacturer that has been following up on the Android 11 update, it also launched the OxygenOS public beta based on the official version of Android 11 for the OnePlus 8 series as soon as the official version of Android 11 was released.(Open Beta), however, the public beta version of Hydrogen OS 11 for domestic users has not yet been updated. If you are a user of OnePlus 8 series and want to flash into the official version of OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11, you can go to sspai.com/s/KWQV Download to the corresponding firmware and flash it manually.
In addition, realme has also released the Android 11 preview version Realme UI firmware for X50 Pro, but the current version is not based on the latest Android 11 official version development. Realme is expected to officially release Android 11 in OPPO. Realme UI 2.0 firmware based on the official version of Android 11 will be released before and after the upgrade.
Finally, Samsung launched the Beta test plan of the OneUI 3.0 system for the S20 series in August, and ASUS also announced the Android 11 related test plan-currently available through the mobile phone OTA upgradeThe package is that ZenFone 6 has been updated based on the Android 11 Beta version, but currently neither of these two manufacturers have released the official version-based custom system firmware.
Related reading:How to try Android 11 without Pixel? Summary of OEM beta information
Note:
[1] The Google document here is slightly different from our actual test, and the measured WeChat also has this permission to automatically remove the switch
[2] Google will occasionally push feature updates to Pixel devices
Picture material reference source: https://www.android.com/android-11/
Main content reference source: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2020/09/android11-final-release.html
Chinese content reference source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/XF6yOGUdwngWzMQ54hS9kw
Supplementary reference source: https://blog.google/products/android/android-11/
Source of OEM manufacturer’s equipment update dynamics: https://www.xda-developers.com/android-11-update-tracker/
This article is from WeChat official account:Minority (ID: sspaime) The main author: Clyde, co-author: dawn frontline Alan, South Road