Shoeb Hakim
- Mar 20, 2019
- 1 min read

Android Q — Google Adds New Mobile Security and Privacy Features

Google has recently released the first beta version of Android Q, the next upcoming version of Google’s popular mobile operating system, with a lot of new privacy improvements and other security enhancements.

Android Q, where Q has not yet been named, offers more control over installed apps, their access, and permissions, and location settings; more support for passive authentication like face ID, and warnings when you install a new app targeting Android Marshmallow or older.

1) Stop Android Apps From Tracking Your Location in the Background

2) New Restrictions On Apps’ Access to Device Identifiers

3) Background Apps Can’t Start A New Activity Without User Interaction

4) Apps Can’t Change Location and Network Settings

5) Scoped Storage to Protect Data Stored by One App from Others

Instead of just making Android Q Beta 1 available for developers, Google has allowed anyone to sign up and install the beta operating system as far as they own Google’s Pixel phones, including the original Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.

Android Q is scheduled to be made available to end users sometime in the third quarter of this year, according to the company’s timeline — likely at the end of August.