The First Beta Version of Android 16 is Here
Jan 27, 2025, 11:59 AM by Rich Brome @rbrome.bsky.social
Google has released the first test version of Android 16 for curious early adopters and developers. One of the biggest new features is Live Updates, intended to "help users monitor and quickly access important ongoing activities", specifically, "progress-centric user journeys: rideshare, delivery, and navigation." Android 16 also introduces support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, which offers "professional level" video capture features. Another major change is requiring apps to adapt their layouts to larger screens when used on foldables and tablets. Developers can still opt-out in some cases, but will not be able to opt out in the next major release, in 2026. This release of Android will be the biggest update of 2025, and is slated for final public release some time after April (possibly in May, if testing goes well). Google also plans Android updates in every other quarter of the year, with the fourth quarter update bringing new APIs and features, and the first- and third-quarter updates being smaller "features only" updates. Google cautions that Android 16 is still in active development and the beta is not recommended for anyone's primary phone. Anyone with an eligible Pixel device can enroll in the beta program, but it is not possible to switch back to Android 15 without completely wiping the device and erasing all data.
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