Android 16 hit Pixel telephones in June, earlier within the 12 months than main Android updates sometimes land.
It is mild on seen new options. Should you did not know your telephone was up to date, you’d in all probability nonetheless assume it was working Android 15.
However there is a flashier replace coming quickly. Android 16 QPR1 is obtainable in public beta proper now, and that beta model consists of some high-profile new options, like a visible overhaul and a full desktop mode.
This is what it is advisable find out about Android 16 QPR1, and whenever you would possibly see it in your telephone.
What’s new in Android 16 QPR1 up to now
Google releases vital updates to each AOSP and Android on Pixel telephones quarterly, or each three months (QPR stands for Quarterly Platform Launch). Android 16 QPR1, then, is the primary quarterly replace to Android 16.
Android 16 reached steady standing in June, so we’re developing quick on the three-month mark. QPR1 is presently in its third and ultimate beta launch and may present up on Pixel telephones in steady kind in a matter of weeks.
To be clear, we won’t know for certain whether or not the options current within the QPR1 beta will make it to the preliminary steady launch. However as of now, we count on that QPR1 Beta 3’s high-profile options will roll out to Pixel gadgets and AOSP quickly.
A Materials 3 Expressive overhaul
Probably the most instantly seen new function is Materials 3 Expressive (M3E) styling throughout Android’s consumer interface.
Google’s been at work bringing its up to date UX design language to its apps for months now, but it surely was absent from the primary Android 16 steady launch in June.
Materials 3 Expressive is supposed to make Android extra vibrant and interesting whereas additionally bettering usability with designs that use coloration and form to attract the attention to essential UI components.
OEM implementations will fluctuate, however in AOSP and on Pixel telephones, Materials 3 Expressive is a reasonably complete overhaul.
Components just like the standing bar, Fast Settings panel, and quantity slider all sport new, expressive seems which are a bit of simpler to parse at a look than they have been earlier than.
Fast Settings additionally beneficial properties new performance with the flexibility to resize tiles, letting you entry extra settings directly.
Android 16 QPR1 will not deliver UX overhauls to any explicit apps. Google’s releasing Materials 3 Expressive updates to its apps on an ongoing foundation already, and third-party app modifications are as much as particular person builders.
Nonetheless, assuming steady QPR1 does embrace M3E, it’s going to be a long-overdue visible change. Android has regarded and felt principally the identical since 2022’s Android 13.
The replace may even deliver with it modifications to notifications. Android 16 QPR1 introduces Dwell Updates, a brand new notification class that shows ongoing actions in clearly seen methods on the lock display and within the standing bar.
New notification options
Dwell Updates enable Android to show a type of dwell progress bar for sure forms of apps, like ride-sharing and meals supply providers.
App builders must help the function, however iOS’s related Dwell Actions function is properly supported, and it is secure to imagine Dwell Updates might be, too.
There’s additionally a change to the lock display that I notably take pleasure in.
Within the Android 16 QPR1 beta, by default, solely new notifications are displayed as banners on the lock display. Notifications you’ve got already seen are condensed into icons.
It is an ideal tweak that, like different M3E components, makes the lock display simpler to parse at a look.
The beginnings of Android’s desktop interface
Android 16 QPR1’s beta features a developer settings flag that prompts Android’s new desktop interface. When activated, it enables you to join your Pixel to an exterior monitor for a desktop-style expertise that is not too dissimilar to Samsung’s DeX.
Google really stated that this desktop interface was constructed on the work Samsung has achieved with DeX. What’s extra, Android 16-based One UI 8’s model of DeX is based mostly on Android 16’s desktop mode.
It is possible Android 16’s desktop mode will nonetheless be tucked behind a toggle after QPR1 reaches steady.
Both manner, I am enthusiastic about it. I believe Google is onto one thing right here.
When is Android 16 QPR1 going to be launched?
Android 16 hit Pixel telephones in early June. With QPRs launched quarterly, we’d count on Android 16 QPR1 to launch three months after Android 16, in early September.
In accordance with reporting by Mishaal Rahman for Android Authority, that is precisely the way it’ll go.
Rahman’s sources informed him that QPR1 will make its solution to AOSP on August 20, the identical day as Google’s Pixel 10 {hardware} occasion, earlier than reaching Pixel gadgets on September 3.
Should you have been underwhelmed about Android 16’s preliminary launch in June, you are not alone. To the typical consumer, it actually is almost indistinguishable from Android 15.
Android 16 QPR1 is the replace to observe, and we do not have for much longer to attend for it.