Theta Android News: The Android TV version of Android 11 is now available as a developer preview

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Credit: Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

Google officially announced the first developer preview of Android 11 for Android TV devices.
The new version can only be installed on developer hardware, so don't try to use it.
Google says Android 11 will bring "many privacy, performance, accessibility, and connectivity features."

The first developer preview for Android 11 on smartphones dropped way back in February. Now it's in its early beta period which means we are on track to see it in stable form this summer. However, the version of Android 11 due on Android TV devices is starting its life cycle today.

Google revealed at the Android Developers Blog that the first developer preview for Android 11 will be available for ATV developers starting now. Obviously, this means that the stable rollout of Android 11 will come to TVs and streaming boxes much later than it will for smartphones (although this is unsurprising).

To be clear, this is for developers only and will only work on developer-focused hardware, specifically ADT-3 streamers supplied by Google. Don't try to install this on your Nvidia Shield TV or Sony television, as that will cause a lot of problems.

Google says that the Android TV version of Android 11 will come with "many privacy, performance, accessibility, and connectivity features." We'll need to wait until devs can break it down to know what exactly those claims might mean, though.

What we are most interested to see is whether or not Google's mysterious streaming stick will be mentioned in the Android 11 code. Stay tuned for that.