What’s New in Android 11 Developer Preview 2?

The new Android 11 Developer Preview 2 dropped today, so naturally, you are probably wondering what is new inside. Since this is still just a developer preview and not a beta for all to flash, the focus is still mostly on technical changes that you may not notice upfront. Updates to things like 5G APIs and foldable hinge support and scoped storage updates are included rather than a revamp to the UI, if that makes sense.

Anyways, here are some of the important things to note:

• Variable refresh rate: Apps and games can now set a preferred frame rate to use rather than rely on the system to manage between 60Hz and 90Hz or 120Hz.
• Resume on reboot: In Android 11, if you setup a scheduled reboot, the system will now let apps resume upon rebooting without the need for the user to unlock the phone first. Currently, after a reboot, Android requires you to unlock before you can get messages and for apps to start functioning normally again.
• 5G state API: Google says this lets developers “quickly check whether the user is currently on a 5G New Radio or Non-Standalone network” to then potentially highlight an app’s 5G experience.
• Hinge angle for foldables: Android 11 now supports a hinge angle sensor so that apps can know the precise angle that a foldable sits at. This obviously gives developers more flexibility in how to show their apps depending on the state of a foldable (like how the Z Fold can hold various angles).
• Call screening service improvements: New APIs allow apps to report a call rejection reason, see whether calls are to/from a number in a user’s contacts, and let users perform more actions from post call screens.
• Scoped storage updates: Google says they are “continuing to iterate on our work to better protect app and user data on external storage. In this release we’ve made further improvements and changes, such as support to migrate files from the legacy model to the new scoped storage model, and better management of cached files.”

To check out the rest of the developer changes, hit up the DP2 blog post below.

For other fun bits, we’ll likely put together a post should we find additional changes.

// Android Developers Blog