Android 11 (Go edition) has been announced by Google just a couple of days after bringing the regular Android 11 release. The new update, which is essentially a watered-down version of the latest version of Android, is intended for devices with up to 2 GB of RAM. This is different from previous Android updates (Go edition) that were provided for devices with up to 1.5GB of RAM. In terms of performance boost, Android 11 (Go edition) is touted to provide an app launch experience 20 percent faster than what was available on Android 10 (Go edition).
Android 11 Features (Go Edition)
Google said in a blog post that by providing a faster app launch experience, Android 11 (Go edition) makes it easier for users to switch between apps. The new version of Android (Go edition) also comes with a dedicated space in the notifications section for all messages which is called Conversations. This is also part of the regular Android 11 release that started rolling out for Pixel phones earlier this week.
Android 11 (Go edition) also offers unique permissions that allow you to grant an app access to specific sensors like your microphone, camera, or location. There is also a feature to automatically reset permissions support, to reset the permissions of an app that you haven’t used for a long period of time. Both unique permissions and automatic reset are also available in the standard version of Android 11.
Google has also added gesture-based navigation support to Android 11 (Go edition) to make it easier for users to work on smartphones with large screens. It allows you to go to the home screen, navigate back, and switch between apps with simple swipes, another feature that’s already available to regular users, since Android 10 launched in September last year.
Android 11 Expanded Memory Requirement (Go Edition)
Unlike Android 10 (Go edition) and its earlier versions, all designed for devices with up to 1.5 GB of RAM, Android 11 (Go edition) has expanded the memory requirement up to 2 GB.
Expanding to 2GB of RAM brings an additional 270MB of free memory, Google noted. This additional free memory would allow you to run three to four more applications in the background. Additionally, Google said that Android (Go edition), particularly on 2GB devices, comes with up to 900MB of additional free storage space.
“As more of these memory-intensive features reach entry-level smartphones, our partners have asked us to improve performance on these devices, particularly in terms of speed, storage and memory. So, starting next month, Android (Go edition) will be available on all new devices with up to 2GB of memory, ”Sagar Kamdar, vice president of product management for Android, said in the blog post.
Google told The Verge that Android 11 (Go edition) would only be available for new phones with 2GB of RAM and not as an upgrade from existing models that also have that amount of memory in place. Google specified that it is up to manufacturers to decide whether they want to launch their phones with Android 11 (Go edition) or Android 10 (Go edition).
However, Google did not clarify whether it will be mandatory for smartphone vendors to offer Android 11 (Go edition) on devices with 2GB of RAM instead of the regular version of Android, as the phones, including Nokia C3, recently debuted with the full operating system. Gadgets 360 has reached out to Google for clarity on this front.
Is Android One holding back Nokia smartphones in India? We talked about this on Orbital, our weekly tech podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
.
