Android 11’s first “beta” release is finally out after numerous delays. The beta release works on the Pixel 2, 3, 3a, and 4, and enrolling for the beta OTA at google.com/android/beta. is super easy. Previously, the Android beta has launched simultaneously on plenty of third-party devices, but that’s not the case this year. So far, OnePlus has also shipped the beta, and that’s about it. Google says that more devices are coming “in the coming weeks.”
The Android 11 Beta has gone through a wild ride. First, it was supposed to debut at the Shoreline Amphitheater for Google I/O in May 12, but the physical event was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. Then it was supposed to debut in an online version of Google I/O, but that was canceled, too, as everyone was still trying to deal with the logistics problems the new shelter-in-place requirements. With no release in May, a surprise fourth preview release of Android 11 was created, and the Beta was delayed until June 3, when Google would hold an online event for “The Android 11 Beta Launch Show.” The online Android 11 launch show was delayed, too, due to the ongoing nationwide protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd. In its latest blog post, Google says the online launch show is also canceled entirely, and, surprise, the company is pressing the launch button now with zero fanfare. Not since Google canceled the launch of the Nexus 4 due to Hurricane Sandy in 2012 has a Google launch been such a hot, hot mess.
With the Android 11 Beta finally go for launch, we’re still seeing a bit of a mini I/O, even though every event is canceled. Google posted two blog posts, lots of documentation, and 12 videos covering new aspects of Android 11. The company is also planning “11 weeks of Android,” a series that will see new developer talks posted each week. So far, the lack of fanfare seems appropriate for Android 11, which seems like a smaller release than we’ve gotten in previous years. This beta only has two new standout features we can point to.
The new Quick Settings media player
Features with “dedicated spaces” in Android 11 would be the media controls, the new conversation notification section, and suggested apps.
As for what’s actually new in the beta compared to the previous four Android 11 Preview releases, the headline feature seems to be the new media player. One of the themes pointed out in the newly posted System UI developer talk is a “dedicated persistent space” for many key bits of phone functionality, and the media is one of those components getting a custom space.
Before, the media player was a special notification in the notification list, and it had a lot of work poured into it, getting custom controls, colors, and more. Now, the media player is getting its own space in the Quick Settings, above all the notifications. In the beta, you have to turn this option on in the developer settings (it’s called “Media Resumption”), but once you do, you’ll get the new player for most apps.
The new quick-settings player mostly works like the old notification player. You get a set of developer-defined controls, a seek bar (at least, for now), and the usual song info. The one new feature is an audio output picker, which lets you pick between the phone speaker and any connected Bluetooth devices. It would be nice if this worked for Chromecast devices, but it does not.
One of the additions to the quick-settings player is that you can have multiple players at once. If you have something like a music app and a podcast app that you’ve played recently, both will live in the quick settings as cards you can swipe between horizontally. Keep in mind there’s also a horizontal seek bar on both of these cards, so it’s easy to accidentally mess up the seek bar while swiping between apps.
If developers can do some work to make their media player in the carousel persistent, meaning it will stay up there even when the app is shut down, it can persist even through reboots. The idea is that you would always have a place to easily start music or podcasts from where you last left them. Doing this in a way that is not annoying sounds challenging, and for now—with everything as a half-implemented beta that is full of bugs—it’s hard to judge. For now, one problem people are running into is that there’s also a persistent player on the lock screen, even if you aren’t playing media, and that’s annoying.
The Android 11 Beta media controls aren’t finished. The UI in Google’s blog posts and slides is a closer-to-final version.
Google / Ron Amadeo
The new quick-settings media player, and Google’s mockup media player, is not as nice looking as the current notification player. I really miss the album-art backgrounds.
Ron Amadeo
The quick settings in Android have two display modes: a compact display at the top of the notification panel, and an expanded view when you pull down the notification panel again to reveal the full quick settings. The media player goes right along with this, showing a compact and expanded view for your media controls. Right now, the code shipping in Android 11 beta 1 doesn’t line up with the pictures in Google’s blog posts and slides, though.
First, the compact media player currently in the Android 11 beta is totally wrong and crazy, and it’s next to the quick-settings icons. You get this tiny little media player squished into the left half of the notification panel and the quick settings icons squished into the other half. This layout will probably never see the light of day in a final release. Google shows a different UI in its blog posts and developer slides though, and this UI makes a lot more sense: the compact media player lives below the quick-settings buttons as a full-width player interface, just like the notification media player. The compact view doesn’t have a seek bar, but you get album art, song info, controls, and—something that the actual release doesn’t do yet—a title bar of sorts at the top, showing the app name and the audio output.
The expanded media player design in the beta release lives above the quick-settings controls, but Google’s mockups show it below the quick-settings controls, which we can assume will be the location in the final release. Putting the player below the quick settings will mean it will be around the middle of the screen when the quick settings are expanded, which will be so much easier to reach compared to the very top. This expanded player gets a seek bar and more buttons.
Beta fights alpha
I have to say, I prefer the design of the old notification media player to both the beta quick-settings player and Google’s mockup design. It looks like Google is doing away with the background album art that was present in the media notification, which is a shame. Google’s mockups and the beta design also put the seek bar in the middle of the player, where the notification had it at the bottom. I keep triggering the seek bar when I want to swipe to switch players, and putting it smack in the middle of the card isn’t helping.
For now, the design of the quick-settings media players is kind of a mess. It’s a beta, it’s buggy, and it’s going to change in myriad ways between now and the release.
Suggested apps
Enlarge/ The left two apps, SoundCloud and Spotify, are suggested apps.
The other feature is new suggested apps functionality on the home screen. Bringing this up is really unintuitive—if you remember one of your existing dock icons, instead of a blank space, you’ll get a suggested icon space. The OS will swap in apps here that it thinks you want to use next, excluding the apps that are already on your home screen. Suggested apps get a colored circle around them.
Having a space for suggested home-screen apps sounds like a good idea, but should that place be the dock? Right now, the bottom row of app icons house my most-used apps. I don’t really want to remove them and don’t need some algorithm to pick my top-five apps. I know what those are. What I don’t necessarily know are apps six through 20. It would be nice if this home-screen suggestion thing was somewhere else.
Other than the new power-screen menu, which already launched on Android 10 Pixel devices, that’s, uh, just about it for new beta features? So far, Android 11 is shaping up to be a very small release. If you’re looking to try the release yourself, be warned that this release is pretty buggy on my Pixel 4, with oodles of black screens and other problems that require a reboot.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
