What to expect from the upcoming new version of Android
Naming each new version of Android after a dessert has long been a tradition/running gag at Google’s end, and it always starts with the reveal of a single letter – the first letter of the dessert’s name – and with each version, Google goes one letter down the alphabet river. Android is currently on version 9, officially codenamed Pie. Logically, the name of the next version should begin with the letter Q, but it is yet to be revealed what it is going to be named after, because not too many desserts have names starting with Q.
Despite the enigmatic nature of its name, Google has already rolled out early in-development versions of Android Q (as version 10 is being called for now) to the masses, albeit only the people who own Google Pixel phones, even the oldest ones. The software is still far from being perfected, but first impressions have been enough to reveal that it has plenty of new features to get Android diehards excited about the next sweet treat from Google.
For starters, Android Q is making some much-needed changes to the highly useful yet frustrating Share menu that has existed in Android for a long time. In order to prevent accidental sharing of wrongly selected content, the Share menu now displays a small preview of what is being shared, and app-specific sharing shortcuts can also be preloaded early on to save time.
Privacy is a major concern in the world of today, and app privacy controls are better than ever in Android Q. Access to certain features can be granted on a temporary basis that can be easily customized according to the user’s preference. For example, an app can be set to have access to the device’s location at only specific times of use. Furthermore, access to media content is being stratified into photos, video and audio categories, so that apps don’t have more access than they need to. Apps can also no longer hijack the device’s focus by automatically allowing an app to the front, but they can alert the user using a notification for these cases.
Thanks to an advanced new theme engine, Android Q is going to be the first version of Android to have visual theming options natively, allowing users to define various options, such as icon shapes, fonts and accent colours. This is joined by a heavily improved system-wide dark mode, which brings the long-coveted feature of darkening the user interface to not only suit the tastes of certain users, but also to have a substantial impact on the battery life of devices that have OLED screens. OLED displays consume little to no power when displaying dark or black elements, and are going to benefit considerably from a dark mode. However, a toggle switch for light and dark modes has not yet been made available on the current work-in-progress version.
System settings have become easier than ever to access in Android Q, with required settings being displayed in the form of a floating panel that can be quickly tapped away to denote consent or denial without having to pause one’s activities and go into system settings to change those parameters. Android Q also brings advanced controls to notifications, by allowing users to bring up notification display options by swiping a notification to the left, including the option to receive alerts for only the newest alerts when they are serially queued up.
While devices with foldable screens are the newest entrants in the mobile device scene, it is safe to assume that despite their obnoxious pricing, they are likely to catch on before long. The foldable-screen devices that have emerged in the market so far are running heavily modified versions of Android 9 Pie, but Google has made it a point to include official support for foldable-screen devices in Android Q, which means it would be far easier for manufacturers to develop foldable-screen devices without having to waste time to customize the software to accommodate the unusual display setup.
Speaking of screens, taking what seems to be a cue straight from the highly enthusiastic worldwide Android modding community, Android Q is bringing the long-awaited option to natively record the device’s screen without requiring any third-party software. It works like taking a screenshot, but it instead keeps recording whatever happens on screen in the form of a video until it is stopped. As an added aesthetic bonus, screenshots taken on devices with displays that have rounded corners now also include dark cutouts for rounded corners and display notches, accurately mirroring the shape of the display even in screenshots.
Android Q is also likely to bring a proper desktop mode to Android devices, presumably so that they can be used with external displays (or, in case of foldable-screen devices, their collapsible displays) and peripherals for productivity-centric tasks. While this feature is yet to be explored fully, it would be a boon for the users, and it can actively remove the need for full-fledged desktop or laptop computers in typical usage scenarios.
One of the best new features that have made their debut as part of Android Q is the ability to share Wi-Fi network passwords with other users in the form of a scannable QR code. While its utility may appear to be limited, it is nonetheless quick and convenient, because it saves a lot of yelling back and forth between users.
Along with these features, Android Q is bringing many minor feature updates and bugfixes to the table as well. While it cannot be said with certainty that all of these new features will make it to the final cut of Android Q, it can be safely assumed that it is going to be a substantial update, even if it is not the most groundbreaking one, and it is definitely something to look forward to for Android fans. It may take some time yet to roll out to devices, but it should nonetheless be well worth the wait.
