Google tests a new feature for Android 11: freeze app will save memory and consume less battery
A new feature is being tested by Google for the new Android 11 operating system and promises to save battery and consume less memory. The operating system freezes apps and sets aside data, and at the moment it has been spotted on Pixel smartphones.
Google's app freeze will allow you to keep multiple apps open simultaneously on your smartphone, freezing them to prevent background execution from continuing to take up RAM and consume battery. At the same time, however, a worsening of multitasking is inevitable: the feature slows down switching between apps. If tests of the new feature are successful, Google might extend it from the Pixels to other devices running the Android 11 operating system.
Freeze app, the new feature in Android 11
Among the new features introduced in the latest version of Google's operating system, there's a very important one: freeze app, which allows apps to be frozen in the cache, the part of the device's memory that houses the files of apps that aren't running. This way, apps don't continue to consume CPU in the background, but go directly to sleep while not in use. Upon opening the app again, the freezing ends and you can continue using it.
The Android 11 feature has its pros and cons. On the one hand, freezing when the app goes in the background allows you to not consume RAM resources, and thus also offers battery saving. On the other, suspending and reactivating apps when they enter the cache slows down their transition between each other, worsening multitasking.
Android 11, where to find the new feature
At the moment, the new feature for Android 11 has only been spotted on Google's Pixel smartphones by some developers. Mishaal Rahman of XDA is among those who have scouted out the freeze app in the Developer Options of Google's operating system. So the feature is still being tested, but it's not clear what Google's criteria are for testing, nor whether it will be released for other devices running Android 11 anytime soon.