Android 11 will make controlling your smart home products much easier

According to XDA Developers, the Android 11 power menu could soon include a new Quick controls section, featuring a tweaked UI and custom app shortcuts. XDA first caught wind of the potential addition in the Android 11 DP1 code, but it wasn’t able to get it working at all until Android 11 DP2.

The below screenshots come from XDA forums member Quinny899. He was able to develop an application that utilizes the new in-development API after analyzing the developer preview’s framework.

The new Android 11 power menu reveals a rearranged UI with the Emergency, Power off, Restart, and Screenshot buttons moved to the top, leaving the majority of the menu available for the Quick controls. There’s also a menu button that opens an Add controls activity menu. This should allow the user to select which shortcuts to add to the Quick controls menu, though we don’t know for sure which apps would be able to take advantage of this yet.

Read also: How to install Android 11 Developer Preview 2 — a step by step guide

XDA believes Google will reserve this area for home automation shortcuts, thanks to a list of “valid device types” it found in the code. The list features devices like fans, coffee makers, AC units, curtains, and more, so the outlet’s theory makes sense, though it’s unverified at this time.

So far, there is no sign of the Quick Access Wallet functionality that Google introduced in the second Pixel feature drop. There’s plenty of space at the bottom of the power menu for Android 11 to implement this feature, but it’s not present in the screenshots.