Among the announcements made at this year’s Google I/O Conference is the updates to Android Q coming in the third beta release. The next Android Operating System is likely to have a lot of impact on the performance of smartphones, and this is visible with the number of devices that are beta-testing it.
Some of the updates announced include the support for the Live Captions, which are built to add text captions to video chats, using automated speech recognition. The OS should automatically add text to video in real time over videos that wouldn’t normally have captions. The interesting aspect to this is that it wont require an internet connection.
Other updates coming to Android Q include Smart Replies, which will work across all messaging apps in the system; and Dark Theme, which will give your phone a nighttime setting as well as reduce battery drain with its reduced bright light.
In regards to security and privacy, Android Q will notify you when an app tries to access your location when you’re not using it, with an option to stop sharing. Android Q (and Android P) will also have a new feature called Focus Mode which will let you selectively turn off distracting apps like messaging and mail apps.
Google says the new Beta is now available for 21 devices from 12 top global partners and these are:
- Asus Zenphone 5Z
- Essential Phone
- Nokia 8.1
- Huawei Mate 20
- LG G8
- OnePlus 6T
- OPPO Reno
- Realme 3 Pro
- Sony Xperia XZ3
- TECNO Spark 3 Pro
- Vivo X27, NES S, NEX A
- Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G and Xiaomi Mi 9
- Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, and Pixel 3 XL.
The list has the largest number of non-Google phones to be getting a beta version of Android before official launch, an indication of Google’s efforts towards reducing Android fragmentation issues.
