Google has released the second public beta version of Android 11, and it is focussed on bringing stability rather than introducing new features. However, the company is still bringing a few minor changes with the new release, and we’re going to list most of them here.
1. Tweaked Media Controls In Quick Settings
In Android 11 Developer Beta 1, the new media controls section inside the Quick Settings area was a hidden feature. Google made it an easily accessible feature with the first public beta release. With Android 11 Beta 2, the company has made media controls widget a part of Quick Settings. When you expand it, you can control the seek bar and there’s a new ripple animation. However, as we understand, not all users are able to access it by default.
There's a really cool ripple animation effect when you play/pause media now. pic.twitter.com/JygRQbNVTH
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 8, 2020
2. Screen Recorder Allows Recording Internal Audio & Microphone Audio At The Same Time
While many OEMs started offering a built-in screen recorder on their phones with Android 10, Google introduced the feature with Android 11. With Public Beta 2, the company is allowing users to record audio from the device (or the current app/game) and from the microphone at the same time. This means that you can now record your gameplay videos and include the game’s audio and your commentary in it at the same time. Audio can’t be recorded from all apps, though, and it’s because of an intentional limitation in the API.
Finally! The screen recorder lets you record device/internal audio and/or microphone at the same time! pic.twitter.com/pi58VnpS7w
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 8, 2020
3. Redesigned Icon For Popping Out A Conversation As A Bubble
Android 11 allows you to turn conversations into chat bubbles that can float above other apps. Whenever you receive chat notifications via compatible apps, you get the option to turn them into bubbles using a icon that’s located towards the bottom right side of the notification. Android 11 Beta 2 brings a redesign to that icon. It now shows more clearly what happens when you press it.
The icon to pop a conversation out as a bubble has changed. It's now more obvious what it's for. pic.twitter.com/tjfHAddTOn
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 8, 2020
4. Apps In Share Sheet With Multiple Share Targets Are Clubbed Together
For apps that appear in the Android 11 Beta 2 Share Sheet (that are not in listed the Direct Share section) but have multiple share targets are now clubbed together so that you can view all of them at one place rather than hunting for them in the list. For example, Twitter has two share targets—Tweet and Direct Message—and they can now appear together in the Android 11 Beta 2 Share Menu. Pinned apps in the Share Sheet now have a small pin-shaped icon to let you know which apps are pinned.
Another share sheet change: a pinned app now has an icon indicating it's pinned.
H/T anoop_V1 pic.twitter.com/HfzenpyVdo
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 8, 2020
5. Select Button In Recents Apps Menu Has A New Icon
With Android 11, Google introduced a way to select text directly via the Recent Apps menu (also known as multitasking menu). With the new beta release, the icon for selecting text has been redesigned, and it now better depicts what it does.
The select button in the recent apps overview has a new icon. pic.twitter.com/P4hXJf0x45
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 8, 2020
6. Possibly Better Gestures Integration For Third-Party App Launchers
With Android 10 and its new navigation gestures, many third-party app launchers were broken. With Android 11 Beta 2, Google has implemented a toggle that separates Recent Apps activity from the launcher. This means that we could see better support for navigation gestures in third-party app launchers.
Someone more familiar with Launcher3 and Pixel Launcher should chime in, but I think this dev option is new. Could separate the recent apps activity from the launcher ala pre-Pie. This could enable better third-party launcher support for gestures.
CC @deletescape pic.twitter.com/JtuY92CqF6
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 8, 2020
7. New Toggle To Auto-Connect For Individual Wi-Fi Networks
Google has also introduced a new toggle that lets you enable or disable the Auto-Connect feature for individual Wi-Fi networks in the list. This means that you can set your phone to only automatically reconnect to your home or office Wi-Fi networks.
Hmmm, I'm not sure if this was in Beta 1 or in any of the DPs, but there's an option to toggle "auto-connect" for individual Wi-Fi networks. This will let you choose which networks to automatically connect to when you're nearby. pic.twitter.com/e9vrEyKL9X
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 8, 2020
8. Chat Bubbles Smoothly Hide While Viewing Anything In Full Screen
If you have any chat bubbles open and you try to view media in the full-screen mode, those chat bubbles smoothly hide from the screen so that you can view media (images or videos) more in a more immersive manner. This is a nice little thought from Google.
Viewing something in full screen while a bubble is on the screen now smoothly hides the bubble. pic.twitter.com/MekFDaJ9jC
— Cyan 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (@AnalogCyan) July 8, 2020
There are a few more changes, including the inability to adjust the Picture-in-Picture window as easily as you could do earlier, removed double-tap gestures for Pixel phones, and disabled transparency on the Pixel Launcher’s app drawer. These could be bugs, though, and we’re not sure if these changes would stay with the final release of Android 11 on September 8, 2020.
Have you installed Android 11 Beta on your Pixel smartphone? If you don’t know how to do it, we recommend reading our detailed article. You can also read about all the new features that Google had introduced with the first developer beta of Android 11 and the first public beta of Android 11. Let us know your thoughts on Android 11 and all its new features.
