Google LLC’s Android team today announced the long-awaited public beta release of Android 11, after postponing its launch several times.

Android is the popular open-source mobile operating system developed by Google that powers more than 2.5 billion active devices. It’s based on the Linux kernel and is primarily designed for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008.

The Android 11 beta release was scheduled to go live in May at the Google I/O developer conference, only to be postponed until early June after that event was canceled due to the coronavirus. But just two days prior to that date, Google said it was postponing the release again, without giving any reason for the further delay.

Now, Google has finally come up with the goods, launching the first beta of Android 11 with a focus on three key themes, namely People, Controls and Privacy, the Android team said in a blog post.

The first theme is all about making Android more “people-centric and expressive,” Google said. It reimagines the way people communicate with their phones and helps users prioritize the most important people in their lives. For example, Google is introducing a new “Bubbles” feature via the Bubbles application programming interface that helps keep chats in view at all times, enabling multitasking with different apps.

On the control side, there’s a new dedicated section for conversation notifications, plus better voice access controls for those who primarily use their voice to control their devices.

Google is also making it possible to bring up device controls instantly and in one place by simply long-pressing on the power button. Developers will be able to use a new API to make their apps appear in those controls, Google said.

Meanwhile, new media controls should make it easier for Android users to switch between output devices, such as headphones and speakers, for their audio and video content.

As for privacy, Google said it’s giving users more control over sensitive permissions and helping to better secure devices via faster updates.

For example, Android 11 beta introduces “one-time permissions” to let an application access the device’s microphone, camera or location just once, for the duration that the app is running. If selected, the app will need to request those permissions again the next time it’s used. There’s also a new permissions auto-reset feature that automatically resets the runtime permissions of any app that hasn’t been used for a specified period of time.

Android 11 also expedites updates for core operating system components. “In Android 11, we more than doubled the number of updatable modules, and those 12 new modules will help improve privacy, security and consistency for users and developers,” the Android team said.

In addition, the new version introduces new features and capabilities meant to make app developers more productive, with updates to the Android Studio integrated development environment, the Kotlin programming language and Android App Bundles.

“Google has something for everybody in Android 11, starting with a better user experience and better security controls for users,” Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller told SiliconANGLE. “What really matters, though, is developer productivity, and the advances in UI Frameworks, the popular Kotlin language and the updates to the Jetpack productive suite are all aimed at increasing developer velocity, and with that more modern Android apps.”

Google said the first Android 11 beta release is available to download today, complete with its final software development kit API. Developers who use a Pixel 2, 3, 3a or 4 device will be able to receive the update over-the-air.

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