Android 11 release postponed, Google says 'not the time to celebrate' amid Minneapolis protest

Google on 30 May announced that it has postponed its planned unveiling of the beta version of Android 11 in light of protests and unrest in the United States. “We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate,” Google said in a message posted on its Android developers website. “We are postponing the June 3rd event and beta release. We’ll be back with more on Android 11, soon.” The event was originally scheduled to take place virtually on 3 June. [caption id=“attachment_7654671” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  Image: Pixabay[/caption] Android also announced the same in a tweet, and said it will announce more details on the new version of Android “soon,” without specifying any dates.

We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate. We are postponing the June 3rd event and beta release. We'll be back with more on Android 11, soon.

— Android Developers (@AndroidDev) May 30, 2020

For the uninitiated, **protests have spread across the United States** over the killing of George Floyd, a Minneapolis black man who died after being pinned by the neck under a white police officer’s knee. Last year, Google previewed Android Q in March, and after releasing five to six beta versions, a final official build was released in September 2019. This year, however, the entire timeline may see a shift towards the later months of the year. In February this year, Google announced the first developer preview of Android 11, and it was available for select Pixel phones including Google Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3A, and Pixel 4. If you have one of the mentioned devices, you can still download the Android 11 developer preview. However, be warned, the developer preview isn’t the final version of the software and is often ridden with bugs. If you do plan to install the preview, make sure you backup all your data first. With inputs from Reuters.