- The first Android 16 public beta is now here
- You can install it now if you have a newer Pixel phone
- Live Updates is one of the new features
Google has pushed out the first public beta version of Android 16, which means early adopters can give it a spin: and among the new features already spotted by users is Android’s take on Live Activities in iOS.
As announced by Google (via Android Police), the Android equivalent of Live Activities is Live Updates. These persistent updates on screen “help users monitor and quickly access important ongoing activities” Google says.
Right now, the updates are “suggested only for ride sharing, food delivery, and navigation use cases”, but we can expect more categories to be added over time. Eventually, any developer who wants to should be able to take advantage of them.
As we’ve seen on iPhones, these kinds of live updates can be handy for everything from sports scores to audio recorders. They mean you can keep up to date with something without having the app open, and they’ll be a welcome addition to Android.
More to come
There’s quite a lot more in the first Android 16 public beta, including improved support for apps on larger screens: If you use a larger display (like the one on the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold), you should see less in the way of letterboxing.
Then we have improved support for high-resolution video recording and editing, a more consistent predictive back experience (where you see a preview of the screen you’re going back to), and preparations for deeper Gemini integration.
We can look forward to plenty more in the way of new features as the Android beta testing phase continues – numerous upgrades have already been rumored, including changes to notifications. A full launch of Android 16 is expected in June.
Right now, if you want to give the beta a try, you need to have a Pixel phone (a Pixel 6 or later) and be enrolled in the Android Beta Program (which is free). As always with betas, expect bugs and crashes – we wouldn’t recommend doing this on a phone you rely on.
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