Google released the first developer preview of Android 11 about a month early and those who have installed it are finding some interesting hints at what Google could be bringing come later in the year.
One of these is the new ability to be able to change the colour of individual Quick Settings tiles in the notification shade, something that was not possible before. OnePlus’ Oxygen OS currently lets you change the colour of all the tiles but not individual ones. Google could be lining up a neat personalisation trick for Pixel owners when Android 11 drops.
The trick was found by Mishaal Rahman of XDA Developers while digging through the new Android 11 system files. The change is named “QSColorController” in the System UI and allowed Rahman to get his paint box out:
While some versions of Android such as Samsung’s One UI and Huawei’s EMUI allow for the changing of themes, and indeed of third party themes, Google’s version of Android on the Pixel line has remained far less customisable, only recently receiving a system wide dark theme.
With this colour changing discovery in the earliest build of Android 11, perhaps Google is considering letting users tinker far more with how their phone looks. It’s often a big draw for Android enthusiasts in the first place, so it only makes sense that Google keeps up with its OEM partners in letting Pixel owners skin their device’s software in the out-the-box settings.
Author: Henry Burrell, Phones Editor
Henry is Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, ensuring he and the team covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about for readers and viewers all over the world. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.