The Android 16 testing has picked pace as Google starts rolling out the Beta 1 update as expected. It’s a new build to the Android 15 QPR2 Beta 3 that arrived some days ago. Hence, all the changes target Android 16, although some might come for Android 15 users with a feature drop.
Android 16 beta 1 is the first release to arrive over the air. It is the first of this cycle, and we are expecting about four cycles or more. Of course, only those in the Android Beta Program will receive the update. For stable users, you might wait until August before the build becomes available.
Changes coming with the Android 16 beta 1 update
Google will focus on making notifications easy to see in Android 16 with Live Updates. It will help monitor and quickly access “important ongoing activities.” This includes ride sharing, food delivery, navigation, and perhaps live match updates.
Another interesting adjustment is app orientation on big screens like Tablets and Foldables. Google is “phasing out the ability for apps to restrict screen orientation and reliability on large screens.” This will eliminate the work of some apps. However, it applies only to apps and not games.
Android 16 is adding support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec. This is for the APV 422-10 Profile (YUV 422 color sampling with 10-bit encoding and for target bitrates for up to 2Gbps). We understand it is for high-quality video recording and post-production. Below are all the standard allows for:
- Perceptually lossless video quality (close to raw video quality)
- Low complexity and high throughput intra-frame-only coding (without pixel domain prediction) to better support editing workflows
- Support for high bit-rate range up to a few Gbps for 2K, 4K and 8K resolution content, enabled by a lightweight entropy coding scheme
- Frame tiling for immersive content and for enabling parallel encoding and decoding
- Support for various chroma sampling formats and bit-depths
- Support for multiple decoding and re-encoding without severe visual quality degradation
- Support multi-view video and auxiliary video like depth, alpha, and preview
- Support for HDR10/10+ and user-defined metadata
In Android 16, Google has added predictive back support to the 3-button navigation. When the back button is long-pressed, the preview of the predictive back is triggered. It’s now enabled for apps that target Android 16 by default, meaning all apps targeting the next OS update will support it.
Other changes
- To help your app know when to switch to and from a night mode camera session, Android 16 adds EXTENSION_NIGHT_MODE_INDICATOR.”
- “Android 16 adds low-level support for rendering and measuring text vertically to provide foundational vertical writing support for library developers.”
- “Android 16 adds setFieldRequired to AccessibilityNodeInfo so apps can tell an accessibility service that input to a form field is required.”
- “Samsung just launched new Gemini Extensions on the S25 series, demonstrating new ways Android apps can integrate with the power of Gemini. We’re working to make this functionality available to more apps with more OEMs on more devices across more form factors.”
- Generic Ranging APIs (RangingManager) will use BLE channel sounding, BLE RSSI-based ranging, Ultra-Wideband, and WiFi round trip time to “determine the distance and angle on supported hardware between the local device and a remote device.”
How to download Android 16 beta 1 update
The update is rolling out for those already on Android 16 Developer Preview 2 or the Android Beta program over the air. If you are on Android 15 QPR2 Beta 3 and would like to receive the final stable build, you should ignore the current release. To download head to Settings>>System>>Software updates.
As expected, the update comes with the January 2025 security patch. Eligible phones include the Pixel 6 up to the Pixel 9 series. Of course, the Pixel Tablet, Pixel Fold, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold are all eligible if you are in the Android Beta Program.
