Android 11 Will Not Come With Scrolling Screenshot Support, Google Reveals

Android 11 will not support the much-anticipated scrolling screenshot functionality, a Google executive revealed on Thursday. Although the feature is available on some devices running Android-based custom ROM such as Xiaomi's MIUI, the scrolling screenshot will not yet be available on stock Android devices such as Google Pixel models. During an Android 11 Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, Android system UI team manager, Dan Sandler indicated that the feature could not be fully completed due to limited resources owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The scrolling screenshot feature essentially allows users to take a long screenshot of a page by scrolling through the content.

Scrolling screenshot on Android 11

The scrolling screenshot feature was first spotted in the Android 11 Developers Preview 1, though it was not yet functional. However, it was anticipated that the feature would eventually work on stock Android devices with the final version of Android 11.

Explaining why the feature isn't coming to the next-generation Android, Sandler said that the team was aiming to make the feature work for the entire Android ecosystem and not just for "one or two hand-picked apps."

"In the end, as with every Android release (and especially in this unusual year), we had to make hard choices about where to focus our limited resources; while this is a cool feature that we're still really excited about, we decided not to rush it," Sandler added during the Reddit AMA session.

Background app restriction

When asked about the restrictions on apps running in the background that many developers for years have complained about on Chinese smartphones, the Android Engineering Team (AndroidEngTeam) indicated that the problem is "complicated" as Google can't restrict Chinese OEMs from implementing their own restrictive app-killing features. However, the Android engineering team did reveal that Android 11 will introduce a feature to "make sure device manufacturers are alerting users of app restrictions in a timely manner."

Meanwhile, Android 11 is also making it easier for phone manufacturers to build device-to-device migration tools, the team announced during the AMA session.

The Android 11 Beta 1 had brought a host new features for the end-users such as chat bubbles, improved media controls, and improved control over sensitive permissions. The Android 11 Beta 2 was released earlier this week and gave more tools to the developers to make sure their apps work smoothly with the final version on Android 11 that is expected to come out on September 8.

WWDC 2020 had a lot of exciting announcements from Apple, but which are the best iOS 14 features for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.