Google’s Android marks the beginning of a new journey with its Android 11’s First Developer Preview (DP1). Although it’s a bit early, usually Google releases developer builds in March. But this doesn’t mean Google will compromise with features.
Android 11 Developer Preview is out. Here’s how you can install it.
Talking about features, Android 11 brings improvements for screen types and foldable phones, adds new camera capabilities, privacy-focused tools, 5G related enhancements, and a lot more.
Android 11 Developer Preview is for developers and only Google Pixel 4, 3a, 3, and Pixel 2 owners can download the latest Android version – for now. However, if you are a regular user then the good news is enrolments are open and soon you will be able to use it on invitational purpose.
How to install Android 11 on Google Device
Before we discuss how to install Android 11 one important thing, unlike previous Android versions, there’s no over the air update for Android 11 Developer Preview. This means users will have to flash the Android 11 OS image manually.
With that said, here are the steps to install Android 11 on Google devices. Pre-requisites
– Google Pixel 2, 3, 3a and 4
– ADB and Fastboot tools installed on PC
– USB Debugging should be enabled. (Here’s the tutorial)
Once you have all the things follow the steps explained below to install Android 11 on your Google device
- Power off your Google device.
- Download the OTA file well-suited to the Google device you are using.
You can download the OTA package form here.
- Reboot the Google device by holding the volume down and the Power button. This will bring up the bootloader menu. Here, look for Recovery Mode. To scroll down use volume buttons and to select the Recovery Mode press Power button.
- You’ll now see the Android robot with an exclamation mark. After this hit power and volume up button for a second.
- Free volume button to get into Recovery Mode.
- On the following screen, search for “Apply update from ADB sideload”, using volume keys. Once located press the power button to select the option.
- This will bring up a blank screen where you see how to sideload on OTA.
Now that your Google Pixel phone is ready for Android 11 Developer Preview let the magic begin.
- Connect the device with the computer using a USB cable. Ensure ADB tools are installed.
- Type Command Prompt in Windows search > Run as administrator.
- Here type cmd and press enter to launch Command Prompt window. Now enter adb sideload for Windows (/.adb sideload for Mac/Linux).
- Next, enter the name of “adb sideload file name.zip” and press Enter.
- Once the process is finished, your Google Pixel device will return to Recovery Mode. You can now detach the USB cable.
- Now, head to Reboot Now using the volume keys and hit the Power button.
That’s it using these steps you can install Android 11 Developer Preview on your Google Pixel phone. Remember this is Preview build, hence there can be bugs and glitches. If you are puzzled, wait for Google’s beta program. It will start shortly.
Android 11 Features Worth Mentioning
The features we talk about here are just the tip of the iceberg, in the future, we will see more features.
With Android 11, Google is making changes with app permission. This means apps will be given temporary permission to use your Location, Microphone, and Camera permissions. This will surely make Android more secure.
Screen Recording – In Android 11 you will finally get screen recording.
Chat Bubble – We can say this feature is inspired by Facebook’s chat head. Originally it was part of Android 10 but now we will have it in Android 11.
Other tweaks
- Automatic dark mode toggle
- Motion sensor gesture to play and pause music in Pixel 4
- Option to pin apps.
In addition to these, there are plenty of more changes. We will bring them to you once hidden Android 11 features are discovered. Keep checking the post for more updates. Before you install Android 11 Developer Preview remember this is the testing version so don’t keep high hopes. Google has a lot under its hood and it seems all this will be disclosed when Google I/O will roll out in May.
