Disclaimer: This post is written from a user perspective. I do not claim to be knowledgeable on Android development, but this piece is based on my experiences and online research. Image source: here.
Introduction
With the announcement of Android 12 recently making headlines for its bold new UI design, it may seem odd for me to be writing about Android 11, released in September last year. My main reason for this is that I just received Android 11 on my POCO X3 NFC last week. Now this is not to be a post about my disappointment regarding how fragmented the Android update process is (despite Google making slow improvements), nor to discuss my particular phone. But given that I have a Xiaomi-manufactured device – debloated and tweaked modestly for privacy – the UI is governed by MIUI (which I like myself). So I was not expecting Android 11 to make any obvious changes – in fact, some users on the PocoPhones Reddit did not notice that they upgraded to A11 until checking settings (see the shock of the OP’s comment on this post).
Gesture Navigation
The most obvious change was gesture navigation breaking with third-party launchers. I was expecting this as its a wide issue with Android 11. But previously, using an app like Fluid Navigation Gestures would allow you to override the system navigation in case you weren’t happy with it. Not anymore – the permission that allowed apps to do this was WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS, grantable via ADB commands. Now, whilst you can still grant it, the secure setting apps like FNG need to change relates to Overscan settings – which Google removed in Android 11, breaking any app that attempts to use it. Which I wouldn’t mind, if the system gestures worked properly.
I don’t imagine Xiaomi made many changes to the system from Android 11, given version numbers were as follows:
MIUI 12.0.8 (QJGEUXM)– BeforeMIUI 12.0.8 (RJGEUXM)– After
So the changes here were mostly Google. Almost an identical build, just with Android 11 as the base.
My problem with Scoped Storage
I am optimistic that Xiaomi’s MIUI 12.5 will optimise the experience, but until then, here’s my problem: Scoped Storage.
On paper, as someone who supports system changes that intend to increase security, it sounds great. In short, it means apps can only access their own folders in storage – i.e. the ones that they need to function (in theory). This is a change from before where it was far easier for apps to access a wider set of files (including those created by other apps).
I noticed a problem when I went to open Minimal & Elegant and later the same with Pujie Black. Both apps facilitate the customisation of WearOS watch faces. And for the most part, the apps worked perfectly fine on Android 11. Until I try to use a picture from my SD card to set it as the watch face background. Up until Android 10, this was easy: the file picker would open, I select the file I want and then the app can access it as needed and send it to the watch. Now, in Android 11, I select the file I want and I am returned to the requesting app – but nothing happens. No error, no message about permissions, nothing.
This is all thanks to Scoped Storage. An idea that initially infuriated developers so much, it was pushed to Android 11, rather than the original plan of Android 10. These changes were not surprising – Google has been pushing different file access methods for some time, but they proved to be unpopular. Particularly with developers of 3rd party file managers. To Google’s credit, they made tweaks – such as exceptions for file managers*, and easy access to media files.
Unfortunately for me, the app I mentioned earlier was last updated in late 2019. Which means it still tries to use the old mechanism for accessing files. End users can’t do anything about it, so it looks like I won’t be using custom backgrounds on my watch anytime soon.
Closing Remarks
If such changes are anything to go by, it is likely we will see Android get more restrictive in the future – closing the reputational gap between Android and iOS in security. But if this is to happen – I hope Google and OEMs will ensure that the experiences users and developers are restricted to work well, so that we don’t need to try and replace them in the first place – especially when it comes to basic system functionality like accessing files or navigating the UI.
*Interestingly, my phones system File Explorer is incapable of showing the contents of the Android/data folder, and instead displays this, prompting to use Google’s Files app instead:
Finally, I think this is also an issue of compatibility. Whilst it is inevitable operating systems will need to make significant changes over time, maintaining necessary compatibility with older software is still important. That is not to say Microsoft’s approach with Windows is perfect – it has high compatibility with software over a decade old, but that means the OS is somewhat bloated. The Apple ecosystem has long been tightly controlled, and in my opinion suffers less from such issues.