One of the unexpected and big new features in Android Q is the addition of Bubbles for notifications. This new multitasking option has a lot of promise, but it’s not enabled on anything just yet. However, thanks to a handful of ADB commands, we can take a closer look.
There’s an enormous variety of tiny adjustments and quality-of-life changes in Android Q Beta 2, but some aren’t necessarily an improvement. For whatever reason, on Android Q Beta 2, the Pixel 3 no longer displays whether it is charging slowly or rapidly when on a wireless charger.
At least on Pixel phones, Android as an operating system continues to be more and more reliant on your Google account. In Android Q Beta 2, we’re seeing tighter Google account integration directly in the settings menu itself.
It seems like every Android release tweaks how notifications are handled in some way. In today’s second Android Q beta release, Google has added a progress bar to music notifications.
If you’re like me, and typically swipe your notifications from left-to-right, you were likely very frustrated with last month’s Android Q Beta 1 and its new menu for each notification. Previously, Android notifications could be swiped in either direction to dismiss, but in Android Q Beta 1, swiping left-to-right opened the new notification menu. With today’s Android Q Beta 2, you can now choose which direction of swipe opens the notification menu versus dismissing.
Android Q Beta 2 is available today as an “incremental update” to the initial March release. We’re enrolling in the Beta Program and sideloading the OTAs right now to explore all the changes, so stay tuned to our updating (reverse chronological) list below.
Android Pie redesigned the volume slider, but also made it a lot harder to access call and notification volume. In the second Android Q beta release, Google is making it easier to access those volume sliders with a new pop-up menu.
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One of the weirdest things about the first Android Q beta release was that screenshots would always show the rounded corners or the notch on Google’s Pixel devices. In the second beta release, we’re glad to see that’s been fixed.
One of the big new features in Android Pie was the arrival of gesture navigation. However, Google’s take on gestures was highly criticized. Now, in the second beta release of Android Q, gestures have apparently been reworked in a big way.
Unlike previous years, the second preview of the next major Android version is coming before Google I/O. Android Q Beta 2 is available a month earlier in April as an “incremental update” for all Pixel phones. Beta 2 is still only intended for “early test and development” environments.
Android Q might be a pretty big update over Android Pie, but it is still very early in the testing phase. After the first beta revealed that you could only swipe away notifications in a single direction, Google has mentioned that a future release will add a setting to change that direction.
Android Q is full of refinements and changes throughout, and even a couple of weeks after the debut of the first beta we’re still finding new tidbits. Now, it’s been discovered that Android Q will let Pixel owners pause apps from their Launcher using Digital Wellbeing.
It came as a surprise earlier this month when Google revealed that it would be providing an official update to Android Q for the original Pixel phones. Now, a speed test has hit YouTube to show how all of these updates affect the aging device.
We reported just a few days ago that the Magisk developer John Wu tweeted some bad news for anyone looking to root Android Q. Well, despite the difficulties in rooting Android Q anyone with the original Google Pixel or Pixel 2 can now root their devices.
The Active Edge feature is a neat addition to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3, allowing both devices to go without a dedicated Google Assistant button. Should you be willing to root or install a third-party app, a new hidden setting gives you the ability to reassign the squeeze function to another assistant on your Pixel 2 or Pixel 3 handset.
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Early last year, the Google Phone app introduced a chat head notification for quick in-call controls. In Android Q, Google is working on a “bubble” experiment that by default presents all notifications as compact chat heads.
Android Q will see five more betas in the coming months before its public release. In that ensuing development period, Google will polish Android, add new features, and remove others. An upcoming one could be the ability to customize the clock that appears on your lock screen and AOD.
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Every Android release in recent years has iterated on the Ambient Display, with Android Q today making a handful of tweaks. Currently playing media is now displayed underneath the time, while battery status has been moved to a more logical location.
Among the other small tweaks in Android Q’s settings menu, it seems Google has made some alterations to the app info page. Not only does it get a slight redesign, but also some new functionality.
It’s been rumored for a couple of years at this point that Google has been developing a pair of “budget” Pixel smartphones. Now, thanks to the first Android Q beta release, some code is seemingly confirming Pixel 3a XL as the name of one of Google’s upcoming mid-range devices.
The Android Q developer preview is here, which means you’re going to be spammed with a healthy dose of everything related to the tenth full release of the mobile OS.
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The Android Q beta comes with a significant number of new features, some closer to ready than others. Buried in the Settings app, there’s a variety of other, more experimental features you can try out, hidden in the “Feature flags” menu if you’re feeling brave. Here’s a rundown of what they all do.
With Android Q having already leaked before today’s beta, one feature spotted ahead of time was full gesture navigation and better multitasking. The former functionality is not yet live in Beta 1, but all users can partially experience the latter today.
Root has been a part of the Android community for years and years now, and it was looking like Android Q wouldn’t be the end of it. However, just a few hours after the first beta for Android Q launched, it’s been discovered that getting root access on the latest version might be a bit more difficult than anticipated.
