Google has made the public beta of Android 11 available for its Pixel phones. A few more devices from other manufacturers will get it soon. While there are numerous subtle and not-so-subtle changes and improvements, some of them stand out and make a strong case for upgrading to the new version.
Notifications
Google makes it a point to refine the notifications panel in every iteration of Android. In Android 11, the notifications are separated into three sections—conversations, alert notifications and silent notification. Conversations is where all your chat notifications are displayed. An interesting new feature here is that any chat can be turned into bubbles, just like the Facebook Messenger chat heads. The media playback has been moved from the notification panel to quick settings.
Power menu
The power menu has been redesigned to accommodate smart home control buttons that had been buried in the Google Home app.
Home screen
When you swipe up on the home screen, you get three options—screenshot, select or share.
Location permissions
Now you have the option of using four settings for location identification: one time, allow for an app, ask every time, or deny.
Other things
Among the many other tweaks are scrolling screenshots that can grab an entire web page, picture-in picture (mostly used by video streaming apps) that can be resized, and an updated keyboard.