Among the new features of Beta 2 of Android Q there are new features for notifications and foldable smartphones and more privacy is guaranteed.
After the publication of Beta 1 here appears the Beta 2 of Android Q on the market, this is the new version of Google's mobile operating system that is continuing in its development path and you can try it by downloading it on Google Pixel and other devices. There are still some limitations but easily solved as you go, nothing strange for a Beta version. There are many exciting new features in the new developer preview. Let's talk in particular about two fronts: let's see in detail how Android Q will be based on the Beta 2 version.
The novelties of the Beta 2 of Android Q: notifications
For years Google has been refining the notifications, the road to perfection is still long, but continuous attempts are never in vain. With the new update you can decide in which direction to discard the notification and also in which other instead to bring up menus to manage it or to postpone it. The most interesting thing is that Bubbles, the bubble notifications, have arrived, taking a cue from the old Facebook Chats Heads.
In the system settings a toggle has been inserted to activate them, this indicates that Google believes a lot in the novelty and therefore everything suggests that they will be ready for the release of Android 10, even if now you still need to go through adb.
New features in Android Q Beta 2: navigation gestures
After the gestures introduced in Android P and the various problems encountered, Android Q Beta 2 is getting closer to the iPhone, with a swipe left and right on the navbar to move between the various open apps. It seems to be a solution that convinces a lot of users, even if in this way all other gestures are practically eliminated.
For some users this is a real shame, we speak for example of the quick swipe to the right to switch between the last two open apps. It also seems that Google is working to insert a graphical change of the central button even more iPhone style, we just have to wait for the developments.
New features in Android Q Beta 2: foldable media
The debut of the new high-end foldable smartphones, such as Huawei Mate X and Samsung Galaxy Fold is imminent, this is why we are not surprised by the introduction of support for this new type of products in the platform emulator. The testing of applications is simplified by simulating their operation with different types of screens.
New features in Android Q Beta 2: Scoped Storage
A new feature introduced is the one dedicated to privacy, the Scoped Storage. It is designed to allow any application to access its private sandbox without having to ask for any kind of authorization. The benefit for users is to have more control over the permissions to be granted to new apps that are installed, mainly regarding video, audio and image files that are located in the internal memory of the devices.
All other new features in Android Q Beta 2
Aside the big news just described, there are also other small new features introduced that make a difference. First of all, the sharing menu has been modified, which now has a title area, where the image, video or name of the file you're sharing appears. Also, there is a progress bar, not interactive in the media notifications, through which the volume controls can be expanded directly on the home.
A novelty also regarding the screenshots, which no longer have the rounded corners present in the first Beta, which were not bad and liked the user but then really served no purpose. Many small fixes have been added that might disappear in the next Beta, but that for the moment make significant changes.
As for the desktop mode we don't see any news at the moment, in fact it is still in an embryonic state, just as it was in the first developer preview. On the front of the themes do not seem to have been made progress, three other novelties we see, however, the MicrophoneDirection API for the acquisition of audio streams via microphone and an improvement of the Sharing Shortcuts API introduced in Beta 1 for sharing content.