The first public beta of Android 16 will begin rolling out later today, bringing with it dynamic lock screen notifications for ridesharing and food delivery, following yesterday's reveal of a similar feature on Samsung Galaxy S25 phones. The new beta version also forces app resizing, a measure to ensure they run full screen on tablets and foldable devices. This is expected to be the first of four public betas before the full release of Android 16 in the second quarter.
Live updates are dynamic notifications that “help users quickly monitor and access important ongoing activities” and are updated in real time. They are the Android version of the live activities that Apple added to its iPhones in 2022.
Samsung also added a similar feature in One UI 7, shown off on its Galaxy S25 phones at yesterday's Unpacked event, which it calls Now Bar. However, while the Apple and Samsung versions support a variety of apps and notification types , including live sports scores, the Android 16 rollout is so far limited to progress trackers, with Google suggesting it should only be used for ride-sharing, food delivery, and navigation apps.
While Samsung's Now bar appears as a floating notification at the bottom of the lock screen, and Apple's are designed around its Dynamic Island camera cutout, Android 16's live updates appear to be pinned to the top of the normal notification stack.
The other important change in the public beta release is a restriction on developers' ability to lock the size and orientation of their application windows. The change is intended to ensure that apps “run seamlessly” on devices “regardless of screen size and form factor.” In short: This is to ensure that apps open in full screen on larger devices, such as tablets and foldable devices, and can be freely resized for multitasking. Games are exempt and app developers can opt out of this release, but they won't have that option when Android 17 arrives in 2026.
Other additions to the public beta include support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, scene detection to enable night mode in camera apps, and better support for vertical text rendering. These join features already revealed in the two developer betas of Android 16, including improvements to Android's photo selection menu, richer haptic controls, and a Health Connect app for sharing medical information.
Google has also confirmed that it is working to add more Gemini extensions, after yesterday launching its ai assistant's ability to act on multiple apps in a single message. So far, Gemini only works with Google apps, some from Samsung, and a handful of third-party options, including Spotify and WhatsApp, but Google promises support for “more apps with more OEMs on more devices and in more form factors.”
The Android 16 beta will roll out today to any Google Pixel phone starting with the Pixel 6, in addition to the Pixel tablet. This is the first chance for the general public to try out the new version of Android, but you won't have to wait long if you'd rather not risk beta software. Google is changing its update cadence this year, with Android 16 expected to fully launch sometime in the second quarter, following a final beta in April, well ahead of its usual Q3 release window.
