Newsletter 
In Android Q, there is also a subtle change to the power menu. When you long-press the power menu, you used to get the option to power off your phone, restart it, or take a screenshot. Now in a separate menu below that, there is a new “Emergency” button. Tapping this essentially takes you to the dialer to make an emergency phone call, like 911.
It’s a pretty subtle feature, and one that Google surely hopes that no one will ever need to use, but it is good to have it. Now, instead of hunting around for the dialer on your phone – in case it’s not in your dock – you can just long-press the power button, then tap on “Emergency” to dial 911. It still might be too many steps for some people, but it is getting easier. Of course, you can still swipe up on the lock screen and press the “Emergency” button at the bottom to do the same, without unlocking your phone.
With new versions of Android, Google is not just looking to bring out new features to make Android look all cool and shiny, but also to make life easier. Thousands (if not millions) of people call 911 everyday. While it’s not something that everyone wants to do, if it happens, it’s now going to be easier than ever to call the police. Google has also added a way to add emergency contact information into your smartphone in Android Q. So if something does happen to you, the proper people (maybe family members) will be notified that something happened.
When Google announced Android Q earlier this week, it did not actually announced a lot of the new features for Android Q. This is because Google usually saves a lot of the bigger features for Google I/O – its annual developer conference – which takes place in early May. That is when we will really learn what all is new in Android Q. For now, there are only a handful of new features in Android Q, with the biggest ones being the focus on privacy, the new dark mode and the improved sharing menu.
Privacy is of course important, and in Android Q, it has created a whole menu in the settings for dealing with your privacy on Android. This includes seeing which apps have which permissions. Which is now a much more useful layout, for checking on these permissions. You can see which apps have access to your camera, and which have been denied. The new privacy menu also allows you to choose what content will be shown on the lockscreen. It’s not granular yet, it just allows you to choose whether to show all, or hide sensitive or all content.
On top of privacy, the share menu is now much faster, and there is also a dark mode. Though the dark mode is a work in progress – in terms of how you turn it on. Right now, if you had it before upgrading, you’re stuck with it. But at least it is there, and should make it to the final version of Android Q.
