Android 16’s first public beta adds Google’s more limited take on live lockscreen notifications

Jan 24, 2025 02:00 AM - 2 weeks ago 20865

Android 16’s first nationalist beta will commencement rolling retired later today, bringing pinch it move lockscreen notifications for ride-sharing and nutrient delivery, pursuing yesterday’s uncover of a akin characteristic successful Samsung’s Galaxy S25 phones. The caller beta besides forces apps to beryllium resizable, a move to make judge they tally full-screen connected tablets and foldables. This is expected to beryllium the first of 4 nationalist beta releases earlier Android 16’s afloat merchandise successful Q2.

Live Updates are move notifications that “help users show and quickly entree important ongoing activities” and are updated successful existent time. They’re Android’s return connected the Live Activities that Apple added to its iPhones successful 2022.

Samsung besides added a akin characteristic successful One UI 7, shown disconnected successful its Galaxy S25 phones astatine yesterday’s Unpacked event, which it calls the Now Bar. However, while Apple and Samsung’s versions support a scope of app and notification types, including unrecorded sports scores, the Android 16 implementation is truthful acold constricted to advancement trackers, and Google suggests it should only beryllium utilized for ride-sharing, nutrient delivery, and navigation apps.

While Samsung’s Now Bar appears arsenic a floating notification astatine the bottommost of the lockscreen, and Apple’s are designed astir its Dynamic Island camera cutout, Android 16’s Live Updates look to alternatively beryllium pinned to the apical of the regular notification stack.

Illustration demonstrating the quality betwixt an Android app opened successful a restricted size connected a larger screen, and 1 unfastened astatine full-screen.

Android 16 will promote apps to unfastened successful full-screen connected foldables and tablets.

Image: Google

The different awesome alteration successful the public beta release is simply a regularisation connected developers’ expertise to fastener the size and predisposition of their app windows. The alteration is intended to make judge that apps “work seamlessly” connected devices “regardless of show size and shape factor.” In short: this is to make judge apps unfastened full-screen connected larger devices for illustration tablets and foldables, and tin beryllium resized freely for multi-tasking. Games are exempt, and app developers are capable to opt retired for this release, but won’t person that action by the clip Android 17 rolls astir successful 2026.

Other additions to the nationalist beta see support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, segment discovery to alteration nighttime mode successful camera apps, and amended support for vertical matter rendering. These subordinate features already revealed successful Android 16’s 2 developer betas including improvements to Android’s photograph picker menu, richer haptic controls, and a Health Connect app for sharing aesculapian information.

Google has besides confirmed that it’s moving connected adding much Gemini Extensions, aft yesterday launching the expertise for its AI adjunct to act crossed aggregate apps successful a azygous prompt. So acold Gemini only useful pinch Google’s ain apps, a fewer of Samsung’s, and a fistful of third-party options including Spotify and WhatsApp, but Google promises support for “more apps pinch much OEMs connected much devices crossed much shape factors.”

The Android 16 beta is rolling retired coming to immoderate Google Pixel telephone since the Pixel 6, positive the Pixel Tablet. This is the wider public’s first chance to effort retired the caller Android version, but you won’t person agelong to hold if you’d alternatively not consequence beta software. Google is changing its update cadence this year, pinch Android 16 expected to beryllium released afloat sometime successful Q2, pursuing a last beta merchandise successful April, overmuch earlier than its accustomed Q3 merchandise window.

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