Android 11 for mobile devices is already out, albeit only to those that own priority devices to some OEMs. That said, the larger portion of the market will have to wait for months, and some may need to buy some new hardware first to enjoy the latest OS.
On TVs, Google has started rolling out Android 11 for the big screen — but there’s a high chance you will have to wait longer.
Android 11 for TVs doesn’t necessarily include the new features released on the mobile OS. It features new tailored features just for TVs. Major highlights here include performance and privacy improvements.
The rest are purely tailored for TV and updated developer tools. Among the features tailored for performance improvement include the new enhanced memory management. Privacy features include one-time permissions, which if you’re a keen bean, you already know it landed on Android 11 this month.
Media playback has been dramatically improved in Android 11, with added support for Auto Low Latency Mode, and low latency media decoding. Android 11 also brings extended gamepad support, silent boot mode for system updates, inactivity prompts, and OEM configurable wake keys.
Plus, it also brings some other behind-the-scenes changes like the new Tuner Framework, that’ll be used by OEMs to deliver A/V content for both low-end and high-end SoCs in a secure manner.
The Media conditional access systems (Media CAS) has also been updated, same to extensions to the HAL implementation of HDMI CEC to minimize compatibility issues between connected devices.
So when is Android 11 coming on your Android TV or Android TV Box?
Probably not soon, unless you own the ADT-3 Developer Kit (around KES 8,000). But keep in mind, this media streaming player is meant to let developers create and test their Android TV applications.
Mainstream Android TVs and streaming devices will receive the new update in the coming months, according to Google.
