Google has announced the new Android 11 Developer Preview 3 update for Pixel users . It is a follow-up to the second Developer Preview 2, which was released in March. It is aimed at developers who want to use and test their applications , running the new operating system . The new update brings many changes to the operating system and gives us a preview of what is to come.
New features and changes in Android 11 Developer Preview 3 for Pixel users:
Updates to app exit reasons: Apps can stop working for a variety of reasons. There could be an error, a crash, a user action, etc. Android 11 Developer Preview 3 has a new feature, the exit reasons API, that allows developers to see and understand why an app exited and what its state was at that time.
GWP-ASan heap analysis: Android 11 uses a variety of tools to strengthen critical security in the platform and applications. For example, GWP-ASan to help developers find and fix security in memory. GWP-ASan is a tool that detects memory errors that can have a small or large impact on performance. GWP-Asan is enabled by default in platform binaries and system applications, and now you can enable it for your applications as well. It is a very useful tool. See details here.
ADB Incremental: Installing very large APKs with ADB (Android Debug Bridge) during development can be slow and impact your productivity (especially the productivity of developers working on Android Games). With ADB Incremental in Android 11, installing large APKs (2GB+) from your computer to an Android 11 device is up to 10 times faster. To use this new tool, you need the new APK signing scheme v4 in APKs . Then, you need to install your APK with the updated ADB tool found in the Android 11 Preview SDK.
In Android 11 Developer Preview 3, ADB Incremental only works with devices Pixel 4/4XL. All new devices shipping with Android 11 will include this change and support ADB Incremental. Learn more here.
Wireless Debugging: In Android 11, the debugging experience has been completely upgraded, using ADB over a Wi-Fi connection. The wireless debugging feature in Android 11 can help you be more productive.
Unlike the existing TCP/IP debugging process, Wireless Debugging in Android 11 does not require a cable and can utilize the full speed of the latest WiFi standards. In Android 11 Developer Preview 3, Wireless Debugging is done via pairing code. In a future version of Android Studio, wireless debugging can also be done by scanning a QR code. For details, click here.
Data Access Control: Data access control allows you to organize your application to better understand how it accesses user data. For example, it can help you detect any unintended access to private data in your own code or in any SDKs you use. Try data access control in your applications. More details here.
The new Android 11 Developer Preview 3 update may have some stability, battery, or performance issues on supported devices, and some apps may not work properly.
Android 11 Developer Preview builds have not been approved by the Compatibility Test Suite (CTS), but have passed preliminary testing.
Google revealed that it will release Beta updates in May 2020.For now, Pixel users can download Android 11 Developer Preview 3 on their Pixel 2/2 XL, Pixel 3/3 XL, Pixel 3a/3a XL, or Pixel 4/4 XL herefrom.
