Android 11 Developer Preview 4 Released, Beta Updates Delayed

Android 11 beta release has been delayed to next month. Google has released the Android 11 Developer Preview 4, and has updated its rollout roadmap to announce that the beta updates have been postponed. The first Android beta update will be released in June, instead of the planned May release. Google is hosting an event called ‘Android 11: The Beta Launch Show' on June 3 to introduce new features for Android 11. The event will begin at 11am ET (8.30pm IST) and will be held online. It will detail all the new features and tweaks coming with the next big software update.

With Google I/O cancelled this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the company is looking to host this online show to introduce the Android 11 to the world. The ‘Android 11: The Beta Show' trailer has been released, and apart from outlining the software update, Google has teased that it will introduce a ‘host of other things' as well. On June 3, Google will unveil Android 11 features related to connectivity, control, safety, security, productivity, and accessibility. As mentioned, the ‘Android 11: The Beta Launch Show' will begin at 11am ET (8.30pm IST) and end at 12pm ET (9.30pm IST). This one hour event will also include a Q&A session with Google's Android VP, Engineering, Dave Burke and Senior Director of Product Management, Stephanie Cuthbertson. To ask questions during this session, users can tweet their queries with the hashtag #AskAndroid.

While the trailer mostly talks about Android 11 beta release, it also hints at an upcoming phone launch alongside, and if we were to speculate, it could be the mid-year Pixel 4a. The video trailer suggests that the event will see the launch other things as well, and then shows a picture of a phone on a newspaper cutting. This could mean a new smartphone launch alongside the Android 11 beta roll out. However, this is pure speculation from our end.

As we've already mentioned, Google has also dropped the fourth Android 11 developer preview for Pixel phones. Google was meant to end its developer preview releases in April and start with beta releases in May, but that has been now been postponed. The tech giant has delayed the launch of Android 11 beta updates to June. The first Android 11 beta is now slated to roll out on June 3, soon after the launch. The Android 11 Beta 2 is listed to now launch in July, while the Android 11 Beta 3 will be released in August. Google pegs the final release of Android 11 to be sometime in Q3 2020.

The Android 11 Developer Preview 4 is an incremental update for stability and performance to help developers plan final testing and releases. Pixel phone users on the Developer Preview 3 will receive Android 11 Developer Preview 4 over-the-air (OTA). The builds for all Pixel phones are also listed on the download page. Because this is an early build, it may be prone to several bugs. Thereby, it is recommended to not flash a Developer Preview on your primary device unless you know what you are doing.

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