Android has made Beta 1 of the Android Q operating system available for all Pixel devices from the original to the Pixel 3 XL.
On March 13, Android released the first beta of Android Q to early adopters as well as a preview SKD for developers. If you, too, want to get in on the preliminary action and you have a Pixel phone, you can enrol your device in the programme and test out all its new features before more updates roll out in May.
Among the expansive new collection of privacy protections designed to protect user data from third-party applications, Q requires apps to "request permission before accessing sensitive resources", shuts down background access to the camera and microphone, and performs encrypted backups.
Furthermore, the operating system now gives owners the option to let applications access the device's location "only when the app is in use" rather than all the time. Generally speaking, Q won't be letting any apps run rampant through your files anymore.
Just in time for the launch of the flexible Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X, Android Q will better take advantage of unconventionally large and bendable displays that constantly switch between being folded and being unfolded.
Interface is further streamlined for these untraditional devices as well as for conventional smartphones via the integration of tools that make sharing content more efficient and the system settings related to app usability (internet connectivity, NFV, volume) more accessible.
Android Q further enhances native cameras with a new Dynamic Depth tool that offers "specialized blurs and bokeh options". A Dynamic Depth image can also be used to create 3D images and, in the future, AR content.
While Android has provided a fairly comprehensive outline as to what to expect from Q, VP of Android Engineering Dave Burke says that they will have "even more" to reveal in May at Google I/O. Perhaps, "more" will include which "Q" dessert the operating system will be named after. – AFP Relaxnews
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