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The Android 11 beta is out! Here are all the best features

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The Android 11 beta was officially made available on Wednesday, and so far, there are a slew of new features that stand out.

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This release includes the final SDK and NDK application programming interfaces for developers and opens up Google Play publishing for apps targeting Android 11.

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Android laid out its latest features within three specific key areas: People, control, and privacy. Here are some of the more impressive features in Android 11 beta:

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  • You can now prioritize your conversations with your most important contacts in the new “conversations” section at the top of your notification shade.
  • Customizable Do Not Disturb enables you to choose which apps or people can still notify you when you turn the mode on.
  • A built-in screen recorder.
  • One-time permission options for microphone, camera, location, and more.
  • The power button shortcuts allow access to your credit/debit cards stored in Google Pay as well as controls for Google Home devices. 
  • Chat bubbles that allow for a smoother interaction whether you’re on the home page or in an app.
  • An “auto-reset” feature that will automatically remove app permissions if you haven’t used an app in a while.

Android’s latest public beta was supposed to debut at the Google I/O conference in May, but the coronavirus pandemic forced that event to be canceled. Android was supposed to have a virtual event scheduled for June 3 but postponed it last week in light of the worldwide protests for the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others. 

Instead of a virtual event, Android released the beta on Wednesday with short-form videos and web pages that you can consume at your own pace. 

Google plans to release beta 2 in July and beta 3 in August, which will include candidate builds for final testing.

While Android 11 most likely won’t be available to most phones until 2021, there is also a chance some new Android phones released later on this year will come with Android 11 already installed. 

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Allison Matyus
Allison Matyus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…
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