The Android 11 beta was open to the public last month, giving users an early look at the features that will be rolling out on Android later this year. Of course, only those of you with eligible devices can download it, and at the moment that's restricted to Google's Pixel range - although for the first time, the Pixel and Pixel XL haven't made the cut; the beta is limited to the Pixel 2 smartphone and newer.
Google has yet to announce a roll-out date for the software update, as it's still early days, but it looks like it let the cat out of the bag on a video it uploaded to its YouTube channel.
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BGR (opens in new tab) reports that the date was accidentally revealed on a slide from the “Hey Google” Smart Home Summit (opens in new tab) video on the Google Developers (opens in new tab) YouTube channel - which has since been taken down.
The hour and a half video was focused on Google Assistant's integration into the home using smart devices, but at around 18 minutes in, a slide was spotted titled "Checklist for September 8th Android 11 launch".
Android 11 will see a bunch of new updates coming to Android users, including optimised notifications, and a Device Controls hub to make it easier to control your smart home devices - perhaps explaining its presence at the summit.
The Android 11 beta launch was planned for June 3, but was postponed due to BLM protests, while Google IO 2020 - planned for May - was cancelled because of the pandemic, so unless anything else pops up between now and then, pencil in September 8 for the Android 11 launch.
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As with the beta, the update is usually only available on Google devices at the outset, so if you have a Pixel 2, Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, Pixel 4, or any of the XL iterations, you can get in on the beta before the September release, and then take full advantage of it at launch.
We're still waiting on the Pixel 4a reveal, which looks like it might be happening later this month, so sit tight for more updates.
Source: BGR (opens in new tab)
