Android 11: My favorite features!

Android 11 officially arrived this week! I've been using it for the last few days since release and here I give some thoughts on my top features (which are basically all the features haha) that actually helped me in my particular situation and timely context.

#android11 #madebygoogle #pixel4a

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[dvoovra]

This was like watching Android Authority in the old days, stay safe josh!

[jowen]

I'm out in Cali, too, and the fires are rough. Stay safe, Josh!

Oh, and that chat bubble icon isn't even showing up on my Pixel 4a.

[nyislanders]

I don't have a Pixel anymore so this video really helped me understand the new features of Android 11. Thank you! Looking forward to your future videos

[Notnow]

I just saw a thumbnail of your channel on Mr.Mobile's video. I'm actually glad I found you. I've always enjoyed your content from when you were at Android Central. Keep up the good work, mate!!

[zhinos]

Hey, new viewer here. The quality of the video was absolutely phenomenal by the way, really surprised how such content isn't getting recognition. And considering the entire situation I hope you stay safe my man, keep doing great.

[coreycook]

Stay safe out there, can't lose one of the few my go to sources for mobile/tech news and reviews.

[notstarboard]

Pros so far:
* I like the screen recorder, but also will probably never use it.
* I like the one-time permissions.
* Auto-resetting permissions is useless for me because I maintain the permissions I grant, but on the whole I think it's a helpful thing to add.
* I don't use Android Auto and I don't have any connected devices, but I'm sure those improvements are nice for people who use them.
* I didn't know about the long press to see notifications for a specific app until this video. I agree with you - I won't use this a lot, but I like that it exists!

Cons so far:
* The "Conversations", "Notifications", and "Silent" dividers take up a lot of space and just result in more scrolling if you have a lot of notifications. If you don't have a lot of notifications, though, they're irrelevant. This is a step up for people who have perpetual clutter in their notifications shade. This is bad for me because I already only have notifications enabled that I want to see; this just hurts information density a lot. I feel the same way about the AI notification management feature. I already have all unwanted notifications disabled. I don't need a robot to "help" and possibly mess up my existing notifications.
* There is so much extra padding in the notifications around profile pictures, above and below messages, on the outsides of messages, etc. that information density in the notifications shade is worse than I think it's even been in Android. You basically need to expand every incoming message notification in order to read it because there's so much padding that there's very little room to display the text. Media notifications are ugly for the same reason; there's so much padding that it's a "..." fest in the song and artist names unless you expand the notification.
* There are now only 6 quick settings visible when expanding the quick settings menu instead of 9. 95% of the time I expanded the quick settings menu on Android 10 was to access quick settings toggles in slots 7-9. Now I need to scroll to the next page every time I want to turn on my flashlight or turn on battery saver.
* I don't like bubbles. They get in the way of meaningful information on my screen, add clutter, and I also find them distracting. I don't see any advantage to them versus just opening your notification shade (aside from the fact that notifications are also bad now lol). At least you can turn them off.
* The update broke gestures on Nova Launcher, but thankfully undefaulting and redefaulting it fixed it. Nova does have to redraw the desktop a lot more frequently on Android 11 for some reason, though.
* The recent apps screen changes are awful for me. We already have power + volume down to take a screenshot. Why do we need a permanent "screenshot" button just for the recent apps menu? Is this prepping for button-less phones before they exist, or is this because Google thinks people don't know the screenshot shortcut and doesn't want to teach them? Also, the "Select" button straight up doesn't work for me. I don't know if it's because I disabled the Google app, or if it only works on Pixel Launcher, or what, but it is a dedicated button that doesn't do anything. So, both buttons on the recent apps screen are useless for me. Yet another instance of wasted space in Android 11.
* After being able to dismiss recommended settings on day 1, I now can't dismiss them on day 2+. I am going to be really annoyed if I have to spend the next year with the top of the settings app constantly bugging me to turn on Bluetooth. Ffs Google, some users know how to use their phones.
* Firefox now always shows up twice in the recent apps menu. No idea why, and this was never an issue on Android 10.

Other:
* My phone still vibrates when I unlock it with the fingerprint sensor despite haptic feedback being completely off in the settings. This worked fine on Android 9, and it worked fine on Android 10 until I made the mistake of turning on haptic feedback and then turning it off again. So, not a new issue with Android 11, but it still drives me nuts.
* Android 11's gestures are still buggy. For example, I will sometimes swipe up to go home, nothing will happen, and I'll need to lock and unlock my phone before gestures work again

So, on the whole, most of the new features aren't helpful for me, and many of the other changes are actively negative to me. Definitely a bit disappointed :(

[alkeotaga]

I didn't know until now you had a personal YT Channel and now I am here for it! Congrats on your own Android Authority! Stay Safe!

[amoltelang]

Joshua Vergara was probably the first YouTube tech reviewer I followed back in the day when he was with Android Authority and I had just hopped onto the Android bandwagon with the Samsung Galaxy S II. This was also the time when phone drop tests were pretty common - clearly remember Josh with his unique 'ear-height', 'chest-height' and 'pocket-height' drop tests. Full props to the guy for still giving it his all on his own YouTube channel while not losing out on his style.

I'll be honest - Mr. Mobile's 1 million subscribers giveaway got me here. I don't care too much about winning now but I was quite sad to see Josh in the list of YouTubers with under a million subscribers. He's definitely the most underrated guy on Tech YouTube right now. More power to you, Josh! Keep the videos coming and the million mark won't be too far away! Cheers!

[mihaistratan]

Great videos. Keep on going. This is a comment for the Mr. Mobile 1 milion subscribers contest. As he asked, i think you deserve more for your work. I really enjoy your videos.

[Alwynfu]

That was a great compilation of features, you've made it relatable and easy to understand. Having the smart devices toggles in the power menu is such a convenient setup. Can't wait to try Android 11!

[Mr.Ciobanu]

Nice to see you have your own channel ! Here from Android Authority ! Curious to see how they will implement Android 11 on older devices such as my OP6T !

[CptLz]

Shoutout from Culver City bro ...hope you and the family are safe!

[moukies]

You consistently produce high-quality content and always seem so genuine and engaged with what you're doing. I enjoy watching you review tech, and exploring everything worth sharing to your viewers. That authenticity and love for what you do really shine through in your videos. Please continue to keep doing so, and take heart that you'll always have fans who enjoy what you do and who you are. Thank you for being you, and for what you do!

[MrRex]

Nice to see what's new on Android 11! I like you're take and analysis on it.

[gaborrichardnagy]

Love watching your videos since the 2010s. Keep up the good work and stay safe!

[Smokewith_Jesus]

Android 11 looks so polished, sophisticated and more than anything, the cleanest! Thanks for your genuine efforts of covering every single point that's new in this release with the soothing voice and good background music! ❤️

[gamehelp]

Cool video! I love how when you change the color of the lights from the power menu we can instantly see the result in action behind you haha.

[Subi_UK]

Stay safe brother!! Great breakdown of new Android features. My personal favourite is screen shot and share / paste in other apps!!

[coolavi]

These are my favourite features too. Well done Joshua. Keep updating us.