Belief article by
C. Scott Brown
With this 1st beta, we’re setting up to get a concrete strategy of what Android 11 will look and experience like. Regrettably, if you were being searching ahead to a drastic overhaul that would work in fully distinct techniques as compared to other variations of Android, you are going to be very let down.
Fact be told, Android 11 feels a whole lot like Android 10, which in change felt a ton like Android 9 Pie. In point, it’s been decades considering the fact that Android saw the variety of redesigns we witnessed in its early days, which may possibly make the OS sense a little…well…boring.
I would argue that Android 11 seeming lackluster is really a genuinely excellent matter. It suggests that the functioning method has matured to the place where things mainly works the way we want it to and all Google demands to concentrate on is subtle refinements.
Android altered a entire ton in its early times
There have been 18 big versions of Android so much. At initial, each new API version/dessert taste looked radically diverse from the prior model. Just take a search previously mentioned at an previous graphic we utilised to encourage a comparison amongst Android 2.3 Gingerbread and Android 4. Ice Cream Sandwich. Just the property screens ended up exceptionally distinctive, to say absolutely nothing about the application drawers, notification shades, options internet pages, and many others.
People two variations of Android came out inside of one particular yr of each and every other. A single 12 months!
Now, search at the differences concerning Android 9 Pie and Android 11, which are divided by almost two yrs:
-
- Android 9 Pie (2018)
-
- Android 11 (2020)
Definitely, there are some dissimilarities there, but the total layout aesthetic continues to be unchanged. The icons, Google Search bar, temperature widget, and even fonts are all the exact.
I’m not heading to go into every single facet of the two variations in this article, but rely on me when I say that the app drawers, notification shades, and other facets of Android are all also remarkably identical across Pie and Android 11.
Associated: The most noteworthy new Android 11 attributes we have found so considerably
The big difference amongst the early days of Android and now is that Google has settled on what Android ought to be. It is taken a extensive time to get there, but it is figured out how ideal to existing the functioning technique to the user. There is simply no will need for it to go again to the drawing board every 12 months and wildly revamp what Android appears to be like like.
As an alternative, Google is now focusing on the trivia of earning Android superior and far more person-helpful. It’s not exciting, but it is crucial.
Android 11: The good type of dull
The trade-off here is that Android 11 won’t appear to be virtually as new and new as Android 4.4 KitKat felt. Long-time Android supporters may possibly call that dull, and they would not be improper.
Having said that, a dull working process is in fact what you should want. Try to remember how “boring” Home windows XP felt after several years of using it? Perfectly, Microsoft attempted to alter matters up a full ton with Home windows Vista, which people genuinely didn’t like. In response, the firm created Windows 7, which is effectively just a glossier, superior variation of Home windows XP. We obtained bored with Home windows 7 and Microsoft experimented with yet again to reinvent points with Windows 8, which persons also hated. Now, we have Home windows 10, which is a glossier, improved variation of Home windows 7.
Bear in mind when Microsoft tried out to reinvent the ‘boring’ Windows 7? Yeah, we all try to remember how that turned out…
The motive there was so significantly backlash for Windows Vista and Windows 8 is for the reason that Home windows is a experienced working procedure — it is been close to prolonged enough that individuals know how to use it and expect it to appear and operate in specified means. Way too much modify of a experienced OS is undesirable, no make a difference how “boring” it could be.
Which is in which Android is appropriate now, and Android 11 is proof that Google understands that. Google is smart ample to know that a wild revamp of Android at this stage would likely experience additional backlash than nearly anything else.
So don’t lament that Android 11 isn’t a shiny new knowledge for you to get hyped on. Alternatively, be material with the thought that Android is how it is, and it will likely be this way for a extensive time. That’s a good thing.
Introvert. Beer guru. Communicator. Travel fanatic. Web advocate. Certified alcohol geek. Tv buff. Subtly charming internet aficionado.
