Android 16 Is Here (blog.google) 22
An anonymous reader shares a blog post from Google: Today, we're bringing you Android 16, rolling out first to supported Pixel devices with more phone brands to come later this year. This is the earliest Android has launched a major release in the last few years, which ensures you get the latest updates as soon as possible on your devices. Android 16 lays the foundation for our new Material 3 Expressive design, with features that make Android more accessible and easy to use.
Here's a list of the most notable features:
1. Material 3 Expressive (Visual Refresh)
- New dynamic color theming and tactile animations
- Blurred backgrounds, smoother transitions
- More responsive swipe gestures
- Coming later in 2025 to phones and Wear OS 6 (with improved battery life)
2. Live Updates
- Persistent, real-time info on lock screen (e.g., rideshare, food delivery)
- Similar to iOS Live Activities
3. Accessibility Improvements
- Hearing aid users can switch mic source during calls
- New volume and microphone controls
4. Advanced Protection & Anti-Scam Features
- Blocks sideloading and settings changes during suspicious calls
- New Advanced Protection mode blocks malicious apps/sites
- One-time passcodes hidden in risky contexts
- Screen sharing ends automatically when a call ends
5. Notification Cooldown
- Automatically reduces repetitive alerts (e.g., silences frequent pings for 2 minutes)
6. Adaptive Layout Enforcement
- Apps must support dynamic resizing for larger screens (required in API 37)
7. Media & Developer Features
- APV Codec support for high-quality 10-bit 422 video up to 2 Gbps
- Photo Picker now integrates cloud services (e.g., Google Photos)
- Vertical-text rendering for languages like Japanese
- New VERTICAL_TEXT_FLAG API
8. Linux Terminal with Android Virtualization Framework (AVF)
- Run secure graphical Linux apps (e.g., Debian-based tools, Doom)
- Available on Pixel devices
9. Audio & Bluetooth
- Auracast support for LE Audio (broadcast audio to multiple devices)
- Streamlined Bluetooth sharing without pairing
10. Health & Privacy
- Health Connect now supports FHIR-format medical records
- Privacy Sandbox continues rollout to limit ad tracking via on-device processing
11. Find Hub (Redesigned Find My Device)
- Works with 3rd-party tags, offline devices, and potentially dead-battery devices
- Roadmap includes satellite and UWB support
12. Quick Settings Enhancements
- Resizable tiles
- Cleaner toggles and customization options
13. Google Messages & RCS Updates
- Custom group icons
- Granular muting options
- Key Verifier to validate message encryption
14. Other Notable Improvements
- Redesigned Google Photos editor
- Google Home widgets/shortcuts
- Wear OS now includes transit access
- Experimental DeX-style desktop mode for productivity
A full list of features can be available here.
Re: (Score:2)
Everyone else has to throw away their phone to get this update.
Re: (Score:2)
Today, they are bring it to specific devices.
Later, others will bring it to others.
I do feel a bit left out, though. Most android users do definitely get a shorter stick when it comes to update lifespan. I am still on 11 or something. How long before there's a serious security issue that can't be fixed with a play store update?
Re: (Score:2)
oh oh. I am on android 7.
Excluding UI look and feel, what is new? (Score:2)
Imagine the advertisement at the Superbowl:
- "This years new Chevrolet pickup is the same as last year, but has lots of exciting colors such as translucent green spec and snowflake red, with ergonomic seat adjustment buttons and cool letter fonts on the dashboard display."
We'd need to ask the company, product designers and reporters: "What's new excluding graphics, colors and user interface redesigns?"
Reskinning is not a major feature.
Re: (Score:2)
Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Major changes bring wails of "stop changing the UI for the sake of it, fire all the UX people!", and minor changes elicit cries of "we want more!"
My experience hasn't changed in a while (Score:1)
Pixel 6a to 8 pro, nothing feels different in the os. Except the tts is now partly broken and has been for a year or more.
Re: (Score:2)
You can get the FUTO repo for F-Droid which has a local Whisper-based (MIT license) TTS. Work better than Google's from my basic testing.
Re: (Score:2)
That's cool stuff from that repo. However, I don't see a full TTS. Just a full STT.
Big deal (Score:4, Informative)
Let us know when Android 18 [youtube.com] is here. Then we'll be interested.
Re: (Score:2)
Android 16 [fandom.com] is deeply hurt that you find him beneath your notice.
Android 16 seems so old (Score:1)
DOOM running directly makes things interesting... (Score:2)
The AVF (and being able to run DOOM) is an interesting element. This definitely allows one to run a distribution and have a desktop UI, but still separated from the phone. I've seen attempts like this done a number of times, including several phones that had docking stations, but not as a direct part of the OS, without mucking with the Android userland.
Maybe if done right, especially with some Android phones that have built in fans and designed for gaming, add streaming support, and the phone could run a
Re: (Score:2)
> Directly
...ok.
More yucky pastel colors (Score:2)
The screenshots in the linked article look hideous to me. They have a different definition of "color" than I do. Adaptive colors is one of those things that sounds good in theory, and works for some people, but not all. My background is a picture of a beautiful sunset taken out my window, and Android thinks that I want pink as one of my main colors. It's kind of embarrassing. I found a free app that kind of fixes this on rooted phones called ColorBlendr that at least lets me choose grey as my color. An
Re: More yucky pastel colors (Score:2)
I've been running the beta on my pixel 6 and interface is really nice.
Re: (Score:2)
On Pixel phones you just go to the wallpaper settings where you chose that photo, and right under it there is a choice of different generated palettes, or you can manually select your own colours.
Re: (Score:2)
Yup. You closer your own pastel colors. Yuck. The only thing that looks okay is grey shades.
TB;FA (Score:3)
Too Boring; Fell Asleep. That is the modern shorthand for mobile phone releases. We've come a long way from introducing groundbreaking features such as native Swipe support on the keyboard, or the ability to detect multiple touches at once. There's not a single notable feature in that list that is in any way compelling.
Note that this isn't a bad thing. It's good that we've reached a point where the OS version no longer matters and feature differences are minor.