Android 11 is just a subtle upgrade, and that’s OK

Update, September 8, 2020 (2:00 p.m. ET): With the launch of the stable version of Android 11 today, we’ve slightly adjusted this post to take new information into account. However, the original sentiment remains unchanged from the original June 10 release date.

Opinion from

C. Scott Brown

Today Google released a stable version of Android 11. We’ve seen several developer previews and betas since February, but today is the official launch of the final product.

With the stable version of the operating system on our phones, we know exactly what Android 11 looks and feels like. Unfortunately, if you’re looking forward to a drastic makeover that works completely differently when compared to other versions of Android, you will be very disappointed.

To be honest, Android 11 feels a lot like Android 10, which in turn felt a lot like Android 9 Pie. In fact, it’s been years since Android saw the kind of redesigns we saw in the early days that could make the OS feel a little … well … boring.

I would argue that Android 11 is seemingly a really good thing. This means that the operating system has matured to the point where things work mostly the way we want them to, and that Google only has to focus on subtle improvements.

Android changed a lot in the early days

There have been 18 major versions of Android to date. At first, each new API version / dessert variant looked radically different from the previous version. Check out an old graphic above that we used to encourage a comparison between Android 2.3 Gingerbread and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Only the home screens were incredibly different, not to mention the app drawers, notification shades, settings pages, etc.

These two versions of Android were released within a year of each other. A year!

Now look at the differences between Android 9 Pie and Android 11, which are almost two years apart:

Of course there are some differences there, but the overall design aesthetic remains the same. The icons, google search bar, weather widget, and even the fonts are all the same.

I won’t go into all facets of the two versions here, but trust me when I say the app drawers, notification shades, and other aspects of Android are remarkably similar in Pie and Android 11 as well.

Connected: The most notable new Android 11 features we’ve found so far

The difference between the early days of Android and now is that Google chose Android. It took us a long time to get there, but we figured out the best way to present the operating system to the user. There’s just no need to go back to the drawing board every year and do a major overhaul of the look of Android.

Instead, Google is now focusing on the little things of making Android better and more user-friendly. It’s not exciting, but it’s important.

Android 11: The good kind of boredom

The downside is that Android 11 doesn’t seem nearly as new and fresh as Android 4.4 KitKat. Longtime Android fans might call this boring, and they wouldn’t be wrong.

However, a boring operating system is exactly what you should want. Do you remember how “boring” Windows XP felt after years of use? Well, Microsoft tried to change a lot of things with Windows Vista that people really didn’t like. In response, the company made Windows 7, which is essentially just a glossier, better version of Windows XP. We got bored with Windows 7 and Microsoft tried again to reinvent things with Windows 8, which people hated too. Now we have Windows 10, a shinier, better version of Windows 7.

Do you remember when Microsoft tried to reinvent the “boring” Windows 7? Yes, we all remember how that turned out …

The reason there have been so many setbacks for Windows Vista and Windows 8 is because Windows is a mature operating system – it’s been around long enough that people know how to use it and expect it to be in certain ways looks and works. Too many changes to a well-engineered operating system are bad, no matter how “boring” it is.

Android is there right now, and Android 11 is proof that Google understands that. Google is smart enough to know that a wildly overhaul of Android at this stage would likely generate more backlash than anything else.

So don’t complain that Android 11 isn’t a shiny new experience for you. Instead, settle for the idea that Android is the way it is, and it probably will be for a long time to come. It’s good.