Your Android phone is about to look very different – here are 5 design changes that could come with Android 16

• A big visual revamp for Android has been spotted
• The update is hidden in the latest Android 16 beta
• It could be announced by Google later this month

Android 16 is due to be pushed out to the world at large within the next few months, and we now have some solid evidence of a major design overhaul for Google’s mobile operating system, updating many different areas of the user interface.

This new look was spotted and enabled by Android Authority, hidden in the code for the latest Android 16 beta. At this stage it’s not clear if the UI refresh will launch at the same time as Android 16, but it does appear to be almost ready to go.

First up, we’ve got an updated look for the status bar at the top of the screen: there are new status bar icons here (for Wi-Fi, battery level, and airplane mode, for example), as well as a tweaked look for the font used for the status bar clock.

The second noticeable change that’s on the way is to the notifications and Quick Settings panel. It looks as though there will be various tweaks to this panel, including a blurred background, a redesigned brightness slider, and segmented icons.

Lock screen and volume sliders

Thirdly, there are visual modifications for the lock screen as well, with a more compact notification shelf, the introduction of dynamic colors, and some widget rearranging that we’ve previously written about.

A fourth change comes to the UI used for the volume sliders. The slider bars are going to be thinner, with distinct handles at the end, and various other tweaks – not huge differences, but they make for a cleaner, more modern look overall.

Fifthly, the Settings app is becoming more “expressive”, with colored icons, smaller headings for menus, and arrows to indicate sub-pages. The idea is that settings are easier to find and manipulate on your Android phone.

There are more minor changes too, including shifts in icon shape and more blurring across the interface. Google hasn’t said anything official about the update just yet, but may well do at the Google I/O 2025 event that starts on May 20.