When is Android 11 ‘R’ coming out?

Android 10, also known as Android Q, has yet to reach even the latest phones from manufacturers such as Samsung. That doesn’t mean the folks at Google are sitting on their laurels. Rumblings about Android 11 are there if you’re listening closely. No, it’s not “R” for “Razr“, but no one has a picture of Android 11 and that folding Razr is pretty cool.

Abner Li reported early in October that the first official reference had been made to Android 11. It should be no surprise that Google is working on the next major release of Android already.

At the time of writing, there is no official commitment to a date for the new Android OS which, as of Android 10, has abandoned the dessert-themed naming convention. It turns out that finding something sweet that starts with “Q” is harder than it sounds. Which means there will never be an Android Rice Pudding or Rhubarb Pie. It’s Android 11, which I might insist on calling Android “one-one”, but I’m open to other suggestions. Without official word, we can only turn to the timing of previous releases, the most recent being numero diez.

The likely Android 11 R release window

Android 10 was of course released in September 2019, immediately available for newer Pixel devices. With particular attention given to the new Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. Following that same pattern, we might get official details on new features in Android 11 in the months ahead of the next Google I/O conference. If the pattern repeats itself, there should be a new Pixel phone out in September 2020, which may very well coincide with Android 11 ‘R’ releasing for that and other compatible devices.

Of course, if you aren’t the owner of a compatible Pixel, you may be in for quite a wait. For manufacturers who like to make heavy UI modifications to Android, such as Samsung, Android 10 is likely to only roll out at some point in 2020. That means non-Pixel users might get Android 11 before the end of 2020 if they are very lucky, but most people with eligible phones should realistically expect it in their hands in 2021.