Time’s almost up, with the exciting Google Pixel 10 launch event set to kick off on August 20 at 10 a.m. PT. The highly anticipated follow-up to the Pixel 9 series promises great new upgrades if the rumors are true. As we wait with knots in our stomachs and knitted fingers, we’re breaking down every single rumor, leak, and expectation we have of the upcoming Pixel 10 series.

Everyone’s banking on this to be the most powerful Pixel we’ve ever seen, complete with true Qi2 in tow. What’s really holding the Pixel 9 series back is the lackluster Tensor G4 chipset, Google’s sometimes ethically questionable AI features, as well as the underwhelmingly low PWM rate of the screens. Honestly, the charging speed could use a boost, too. But could the Pixel 10 potentially fix all of these issues and deliver the Pixel of our dreams?

If you’re one of those people, join us as we take a look at what we already know about the Pixel 10, including the upcoming Tensor G5 processor.

(Image credit: Google)

The Google Pixel 10 debuts at the Made by Google event on August 20, next week on Wednesday. Per the many massive leaks, we’re expecting to see four Pixel 10 devices, namely the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

This isn’t any different from last year’s Pixel 9 lineup, which was the first time Google ever launched four different-sized flagship phones. More recently, the mid-range-meets-budget Pixel 9a joined their ranks as a 6.3-inch, $499 smartphone. We don’t expect to see the Pixel 10a until the second quarter of 2026.

As for price, it appears that there are a few price changes for the Pixel 10 on the horizon. For starters, the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro are currently expected to keep their starting price points. However, it looks like the Pixel 10 Pro XL will see a $100 price hike. We have more details and the analysis on potential Pixel 10 price increases here.

For foldable lovers, there is good news — the Pixel 10 Pro Fold will allegedly be $200 cheaper, bringing its price tag to $,1600, which tracks with earlier rumors.

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Previously, a rumor had suggested that Google would wait until the fall to launch the Pixel 10. The August launch date has debunked that theory.

Oh, and Google uttered the words Pixel 10 for the first time in this ad:

#BestPhonesForever: Responding to MORE Rumors – YouTube Watch On

Google Pixel 10: Design and displays

Alleged look at the Pixel 10 Pro prototype from all angles. (Image credit: Mystic Leaks)

The Pixel 9 introduced the most radical change to Pixel phone design since the Pixel 6, and although the company’s head designer said the Pixel 9’s specific camera bar design might not stick around forever, it’ll remain on the Pixel 10. If the leaks are true, the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro will retain the general design language of their predecessors.

However, one leak notes that the Pixel 10 may ditch the physical SIM tray entirely, opting for a dual eSIM structure instead. Leaker Evan Blass says this is likely only for the U.S. market and that global models may retain the SIM tray. Apple made the same decision with its iPhones a few years back, which angered many customers in the process, although the company hasn’t gone back on the decision since.

A report from Android Headlines suggests that the Pixel 10 may show up in more daring hues like lime yellow and sapphire blue. Rumors suggest that the colorways will be called Obsidian, Frost, Indigo, and Lemongrass. Another massive leak of Google’s promotional materials further confirms this.

Image 1 of 4 (Image credit: Android Headlines) (Image credit: Android Headlines) (Image credit: Android Headlines) (Image credit: Android Headlines)

An alleged Play Store leak showcases the entire Google Pixel 10 lineup, consisting of the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and Pixel 10 Pro XL.

(Image credit: Android Authority)

Images of an alleged Pixel 10 prototype seen on a Chinese auction site that was floating around a while back corroborated the aforementioned design decisions.

(Image credit: GooFish)

An earlier Android Headlines report also revealed that the dimensions for the Pixel 10 Pro XL are 162.7 x 76.6 x 8.5mm, which is nearly the same as the Pixel 9 Pro XL. The difference is roughly a millimeter in height, so it’s safe to say that current leaks predict Google to keep the Pixel 10 design similar to that of the existing models.

The Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro are expected to measure 152.8 x 72 x 8.6mm. Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL spec leaks claim that they will come with 6.3-inch and 6.8-inch displays, 120Hz refresh rates, 3,000 nits of peak brightness levels, and Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Thinborne also released a series of phone cases for the Google Pixel 10 lineup, revealing key design changes. There are slight variations that mean Pixel 9 cases won’t work with the Pixel 10 series. Notably, there is a larger cutout on the left side of the phone, possibly for the SIM tray. There could also be a shifted speaker array and a larger camera bar.

Recently, a Telegram leak claimed to reveal the Pixel 10 wallpapers, which could hint at possible colorways and theming. You can view them here:

Image 1 of 8 (Image credit: MysticLeaks / Telegram) (Image credit: MysticLeaks / Telegram) (Image credit: MysticLeaks / Telegram) (Image credit: MysticLeaks / Telegram) (Image credit: MysticLeaks / Telegram) (Image credit: MysticLeaks / Telegram) (Image credit: MysticLeaks / Telegram) (Image credit: MysticLeaks / Telegram)

Google has changed the design language of Pixels a lot over the years. Pixels one through six all look completely different, and it wasn’t until the Pixel 6 that the company seems to have decided on the camera visor as the thing that makes a Pixel primarily look like a Pixel. Although current leaks suggest there won’t be a major redesign this year, it wouldn’t be a surprise — Google has earned a reputation for shaking things up.

Not everyone likes the new design, but Google has been known for radically altering the Pixel design language over the years.

The Pixel 9 debuted a brighter AMOLED display than ever, topping out at 3,000 nits. The company also upgraded the display with a new wet touch feature that makes it possible to use the screen even with wet hands, similar to how the OnePlus 12 works.

But while Google might have one of the brightest phone displays on the planet, the company has completely ignored industry trends to make displays more eye-friendly.

Namely, the company still uses the lowest PWM dimming frequency in the industry. At 240Hz, Google’s displays flicker at half the rate of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series and the latest iPhones. Furthermore, phones like the OnePlus 12 only resort to PWM dimming at low brightness and, even when they do, use a substantially higher 2160Hz rate.

We know Google can push this rate much higher based on our own testing and the fact that most other smartphone manufacturers already do it. Luckily, that could actually happen. Google exclusively told Android Central in April that its teams “are aware and investigating this” and that “you can expect updates later this year.”

Google Pixel 10: Cameras

(Image credit: Android Headlines)

Based on rumors, Google is once again upgrading the camera systems of its latest Pixel phones. Several rumors suggest that the base Pixel 10 could be equipped with a triple-camera system for the first time, adding a telephoto lens with 20x zoom capability.

Another leak talks about the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL models, stating that neither phone will receive any major camera changes, with the same 50MP primary sensor, 48MP ultrawide lens, 48MP telephoto lens, and a 42MP selfie camera. An alleged leak from Evan Blass doubles down that the Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL will retain their 48MP telephoto sensors but offer an upgraded “Pro Res Zoom” capability of up to 100x.

Google’s head of Pixel design said that the current camera bar design is mainly used to house larger camera sensors but that the company wants to shrink that going forward as AI replaces the need for more advanced physical hardware.

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

With tricks like Zoom Enhance, Google can continue to shrink the number and size of camera sensors on the back with little to no difference in the end. It’s not likely we’ll see this sort of change happen with the Pro series of phones — which we expect to continue to use a triple camera system on the back — but the more budget-minded Pixel phones could see a change in the camera bump size and shape to further differentiate Pro models.

We’ve also seen an uptick in the number of AI-powered software features directly related to the camera. The Pixel 9 introduced improved Night Sight Video, Night Sight Panoramas, enhanced Video Boost for better video quality, and new AI tricks like Add Me, Reimagine, and others. No doubt, Google is cooking up plenty of new ways to incorporate AI into its cameras to deliver the wow factor we expect from the company.

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

That same rumor suggests that Google could introduce new AI camera features starting with the Pixel 10, including more ways to edit photos and videos after they’ve been captured. One new feature is said to debut “post-capture Generative AI-based intuitive video editing,” which could further blur the lines between what constitutes a photo or video and what should be labeled as AI-generated.

Additionally, image quality could be improved on all three devices with the Tensor G5 processor. Google is expected to switch to a fully-custom image-signal processor (ISP) with the Tensor G5, potentially improving quality without needing new camera hardware.

Another leak claims that Pixel 10 video stabilization is getting improved so much that it’ll be comparable to the DJI Osmo Mobile 6, a dedicated gimbal that actively stabilizes video footage.

Google Pixel 10: Software

(Image credit: Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central)

The Google Pixel 9 series surprisingly launched with Android 14, the same version of Android the Pixel 8 debuted with. This is mostly because Google released the Pixel 9 just 10 months after the Pixel 9, giving the Android team less than a full year to churn out a new version of Android.

A delayed Android version complicates Google’s software promise, which is supposed to deliver seven years of Android and security updates for Pixel phones. Because of the release window, the Pixel 9 will see support end with the same Android version as the Pixel 8 — that’s Android 21 — but will see ten additional security updates over that older phone.

The Pixel 10 will almost certainly launch with Android 16, as the stable version of the update is already available on the current Google Pixel 9 series.

Google Pixel 10: Specs and performance

(Image credit: Google)

A huge leak revealed the expected storage options as well as the colors those specific variants will come in.

Swipe to scroll horizontally Model Color Storage Configurations Google Pixel 10 Obsidian 128GB, 256GB Row 1 – Cell 0 Frost 128GB, 256GB Row 2 – Cell 0 Indigo 128GB, 256GB Row 3 – Cell 0 Lemongrass 128GB, 256GB Google Pixel 10 Pro Obsidian 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Row 5 – Cell 0 Porcelain 128GB, 256GB, 512GB Row 6 – Cell 0 Moonstone 128GB, 256GB, 512GB Row 7 – Cell 0 Jade 256GB Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Obsidian 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Row 9 – Cell 0 Porcelain 256GB, 512GB Row 10 – Cell 0 Moonstone 256GB, 512GB Row 11 – Cell 0 Jade 256GB Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold Moonstone 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Row 13 – Cell 0 Jade 256GB, 512GB

Known leakster Evan Blass took to X to reveal some of the key improvements and spec details about the upcoming Pixel 10 devices. This includes the inclusion of true Qi2 on all Pixel 10 devices, which will be the first time we’ll get proper Qi2 on a phone released in the U.S..

Another leak calls this Qi2 functionality “Pixelsnap,” and it’s more than likely that Google will be launching Pixelsnap-branded accessories with the Pixel 10. The good news here is that Pixel 10 owners wouldn’t need to use a case to get Qi2 functionality, the way the Galaxy S25 and OnePlus 13 both require. If you prefer to use a case, however, Google’s official cases seem to also have magnetic rings in them, per one leak.

Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Evan Blass / X) (Image credit: Evan Blass / X) (Image credit: Evan Blass / X)

Here’s where we expect the Pixel 10 to deliver the biggest improvement yet. Google has long focused on the AI processing capabilities of its Tensor processors. The Tensor G4 in the Pixel 9 can process AI 2.25x faster than the leading competitor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. But daily performance is a totally different story.

In his Pixel 9 Pro review, Nick Sutrich noted that the gaming performance for the Pixel 9 Pro series was worse than the Pixel 8 Pro. The silver lining is that the Pixel 9 doesn’t get as hot as the Pixel 8 does. Google prioritized efficiency with the Pixel 9, but the Tensor G4 is still based on the extremely inefficient Samsung Exynos line, which has trouble competing with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor in many situations. That’s a 2021 chipset, for note.

Thankfully, everything we know about the Tensor G5 so far tells us that it should be a monumentally better chipset in every way. Google has allegedly finished its design and sent it along for manufacturing at TSMC, ending the era of Samsung-produced designs.

The Tensor G5 is said to be Google’s first fully in-house developed chip, manufactured by TSMC instead of Samsung.

TSMC tends to manufacture better chipsets than Samsung. For reference, Qualcomm used Samsung to produce the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, a processor that was infamous for overheating and heavy throttling. They then switched to TSMC halfway through the year for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, a processor that’s largely the same design but, because of TSMC’s superior tech, was able to significantly outpace the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in every benchmark. It also stays far cooler and is better on battery life.

That’s all to say that we expect a similar thing to happen with the Tensor G5 compared to the Tensor G4. Not only should it be a far more efficient and cooler chipset because of TSMC’s manufacturing process, but a brand-new chipset designed fully in-house by Google. It would mark the first time Google doesn’t use a reference design from Samsung’s Exynos line for the new chip, as well.

In fact, a recent leak claims to reveal the official parts list for the Tensor G5 processor. Due to the switch from Samsung to TSMC, Google is making a few changes. Some parts will be designed in-house by Google, and others are off-the-shelf components. Here’s the full list of changes:

Swipe to scroll horizontally Leaked Tensor G5 components Component Tensor G1-G4 Tensor G5 CPU Arm Cortex Arm Cortex GPU Arm Mali Imagination Technologies DXT Audio processor Google AoC Google AoC Memory compressor Google Emerald Hill Google Emerald Hill DSP Google GXP Google GXP (next-generation) TPU Google EdgeTPU Google EdgeTPU (next-generaiton) Video codec Google BigWave (AV1); Samsung MFC (other formats) Chips&Media WAVE677DV Display controller Samsung DPU VeriSilicon DC9000 Image-signal procesor Samsung ISP with custom Google blocks Google ISP MIPI DSI PHY, CSI PHY, DisplayPort PHY, I3C, I2C, SPI, LPDDR5x PHY Samsung Synopsys DesignWare IP cores SPMI controller Samsung SmartDV SPMI PWM controller Samsung Faraday Technologies FTPWMTMR010 UFS controller Samsung Unknown USB3 core Synopsys DesignWare USB3 Synopsys DesignWare USB3

It could finally flip the narrative that Tensor is a slow, inefficient processor, helping Google further pitch the Pixel as a super premium device.

Additionally, Google is said to be using a MediaTek modem in the Pixel 10, marking the first time the company is using MediaTek for components. The only rumor for this is based on insider knowledge, so it’s worth noting that this could just be a test run and a MediaTek modem may not make it in the final Pixel 10 series.

Google Pixel 10: Wishlist

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

While we’ve already covered a number of different changes we expect — and hope — to see, but it’s sometimes easier to see them all in one list.

Better processor

We’re already very sure that the Tensor G5 in the Pixel 10 is going to be a lot better than previous Tensor processors, but there’s no guarantee until we have one in our hands. Tensor is already the king of AI processing among smartphone processors, but we want to see it thrive elsewhere, too.

Google seems to have put a band-aid on the heat problem with Tensor G4 by throttling the processor quickly when it’s doing a lot, but we’d like to see the Tensor G5 push heavy workloads without getting steamy in the first place. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is also susceptible to heavy throttling when running heavy workloads but because it’s so much faster than the Tensor G4 in normal tasks, that throttling isn’t felt like it is on Tensor.

Since the Tensor G5 is both in-house Google developed and manufactured by TSMC, there’s hope that these issues will be solved in the Pixel 10.

More eye-friendly display

Google has stressed that the Pixel’s displays have industry-leading brightness and color accuracy, but the company is achieving these metrics at the expense of your eye health. Meanwhile, companies like OnePlus are also using ultra-bright displays but managing brightness in a way that’s far more friendly to human eyeballs.

As brightness continues to increase, it’s of paramount importance that Google also starts increasing its PWM rate. All Pixels have used 240Hz PWM dimming to date — the lone exception is 360Hz on the Pixel 7a — while other companies are pushing up to 4320Hz on phones like the Honor 200.

There’s no reason Google can’t offer a bright, color-accurate display and a high PWM rate. At the very least, Google needs to consider the fact that some folks need a higher PWM rate in order to use its phones, again, especially as brightness continues to ramp up at exponential levels.

Fingerprint sensor changes

Google shifted to using in-display fingerprint sensors with the Pixel 6, and the company had problems with reliability on both that generation and the Pixel 7 after it. But last year, the Pixel 8 series optical fingerprint sensor worked incredibly well. Despite that, Google swapped out the optical sensor and replaced it with an ultrasonic sensor on the Pixel 9 series.

While ultrasonic fingerprint scanners work very well for some people, they’re problematic for others. I happen to be one of those people who find ultrasonic sensors to be unreliable and commented on it in my Pixel 9 Pro review. Ultrasonic sensors are also very picky about which screen protectors you can use, meaning you might accidentally waste your money if you don’t get the right one.

Instead of all this in-display nonsense, Google should switch to a fingerprint sensor in the power button. They already do it on the Pixel Fold line and it works perfectly. The power button — or “side key” as some companies call it now — is the ideal place for a fingerprint sensor as it’s easy to reach and use no matter how you’re holding the phone. It’s also more accurate than any in-display option.

Design changes

The Pixel 9’s design has caused a fair bit of controversy with its iPhone-like side rails, buttons, and other similar design cues. It also does away with the “friendly” curves Pixel phones had been moving toward for a far more sterile, industrial design. While some enjoy this new look — as Android Central’s Managing Editor, Derrek Lee, noted in his Pixel 9 review — I’m not a fan.

At least on the Pro models, I find the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL to be more difficult to hold without a case. Google previously said its designs are now focused toward folks who use cases, so this isn’t a section that everyone will agree with or even care about, but I’d like to see Google go back to using more rounded side rails again. More specifically, I’d love to see matte rails like we had on the Pixel 6, which remains one of the most comfortable phones Google has ever made.

Google switched things up with Android 15 when it decided to decouple the platform update from the Pixel 9 series. That decision gave both the software and hardware their own breathing room and independent timelines. After cooking for months, Android 16 is now finally out in the stable branch for Pixel devices, with other Android OEMs expected to release their stable platform updates very soon. Google has also released Android 16 QPR1 betas for Pixel devices, but features within will come to the broader Android platform only with Android 17, so stay tuned for that. Here’s what we know about Android 16, its confirmed features, and leaked features that didn’t make the cut to the stable release.

Android 16: Name

Rita El Khoury / Android Authority

Google used to name Android versions with dessert codenames, but it strayed away from that tradition with the release of Android 10, choosing to stick with only the version number for all future releases. Consequently, Android 16 will be known simply as “Android 16,” with no dessert codename officially used.

However, Google still uses the dessert codename internally. Android 16’s internal codename leaked recently as Baklava. This is interesting because Android 15’s codename was Vanilla Ice Cream, so you’d think Android 16 would be known as something that starts with a “W” (“Waffle” would have been a good one). So why did Google jump from “V” all the way back to “B?” It’s a bit complicated, but it mainly involves big changes to Android’s backend.

Google

When Android 16’s release timeline was officially announced, Google only gave vague windows for release. Still, aligning with this schedule, Android 16 reached the Platform Stability milestone with its Beta 3 release in March 2025, while the Beta 4 release in April 2025 is its second Platform Stability release. Finally, Android 16 was released in its stable form on June 10, 2025, marking the culmination of this release cycle.

This preponed timeline is a stark departure from Android’s history, as Google usually releases major versions of Android in Q3 or Q4 of each year. But nothing was forcing Google to follow this timeline — the company was merely following a release cadence it had settled into over a decade.

Moving the major release forward to Q2 lets Google “better align with the schedule of device launches across [its] ecosystem, so more devices can get the major release of Android sooner.” This will hopefully mean the Google Pixel 10 series will launch with Android 16 instead of Android 15, for example. For more information, you can check out our articles to learn more about how Google was able to move Android 16’s release date and how Android’s faster release schedule will affect apps.

Further, Google has also mentioned its intentions of releasing more minor updates to the Android OS. For this, Google has planned a minor release in Q4 2024, i.e., for Android 16, presumably taking the shape of Android 16 QPR2. This might be marketed as Android 16.1, but we’re unsure about the name.

Android’s 2025 release timeline overview

If you own an Android 16-supported Pixel device, you will get an OTA update to Android 16, but you can always sideload and install the update on your own, too.

Google is also shifting Android OS development to its internal branch in an effort to streamline its development process. This move has little effect on end users or app developers, but you can learn more about its effects on platform developers.

Android 16: Easter Egg An Easter Egg is a message or feature playfully hidden from users. As a tradition, Google has been sneaking in fun Easter eggs into Android, ranging from minigames to tools highlighting some capability of that year’s Android release.

Android 16’s Easter Egg is largely similar to Android 14 and Android 15’s Easter Eggs, all of which are a spaceship minigame that explores the vastness of space. You can find it in Settings > About phone, and repeatedly tap on the Android version until you see the Android 16 logo floating in space. Press and hold on this Android 16 logo to launch the spaceship minigame.

Google has added some new functionality to Android 16’s Easter Egg. With Android 16 Beta 3, we spotted two changes, which are live with Android 16’s stable release. It is now possible to manually engage the autopilot system in the game when you are playing it yourself, with the new “AUTO” button in the bottom right-hand corner. Previously, this only engaged when you set the game as your screensaver.

With the autopilot engaged, the Easter Egg now displays a progress-centric notification, a key part of the new Live Updates feature in Android 16.

Live Updates isn’t fully enabled in Android 16’s stable release, so you will only see the new progress-centric notification in the stable release. Other changes, like the status bar chip, prominent display on the notification panel and lock screen, and always-on display, are not present in the stable release.

Adamya Sharma / Android Authority

With Android 16, Google is introducing Live Updates, a new class of notifications that helps users monitor and access important ongoing activities. They help prevent these critical progress-tracking use cases from being lost among other less-timely notifications, give them a prominent home on the lock screen, and provide a more consistent user experience.

Live Updates will look and feel similar to iOS’ Live Activities feature. One point of difference is that Google suggests Live Updates for ride-sharing, food delivery, and navigation use cases since these Live Updates’ notifications are treated with high priority.

Despite the hype around Live Updates, note that the first stable release of Android 16 only brings the new “progress-centric” notification style. This new notification style shows the progress of something like a rideshare pickup, a food delivery dropoff, or the distance until the next turn.

As the notification’s name implies, progress-centric notifications show more information in the notification, alongside a progress tracker. This will let you get most of what you need without re-opening the parent app.

There is more to Live Updates, but these changes aren’t present in Android 16’s first stable release. Instead, they are destined to come later, possibly with Android 16 QPR releases or even with Android 17. These changes include the Live Update chip in the status bar, letting you view certain critical information without pulling down the notification.

With later Android releases, Live Updates will also give such high-priority notifications a consistent look and experience across the lock screen and even the Always On Display. This way, you always have all that you need to know right at your fingertips, without needing to dig through apps and other notification clutter.

Live Updates are currently restricted to delivery, rideshare, and navigation apps. We’ve already shown you Live Updates in Google Maps, and later this year, you can expect to see them from other top players in these categories too.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Live Updates are important as these progress-centric notifications will be displayed more prominently on the lock screen. Google is working on a new compact notification shelf on the lock screen for Android 16, and when that is enabled, notifications are collapsed into a shelf that you have to tap to expand. Progress-centric notifications, i.e., Live Updates, likely won’t be collapsed into this shelf along with other notifications. But as mentioned, we’ll have to wait for future Android releases to get the full Live Updates experience.

Force group notifications Android 16 automatically groups notifications from the same app. This means that all alerts from a single app will be bundled together, which you can then expand or collapse with a simple tap.

Google

Before Android 16, notification grouping was optional for app developers, but the new update removes the choice to offer users a more organized notification experience.

Notification cooldown Google added the Notification Cooldown feature to Pixels with the March 2025 Pixel Feature Drop, but it’s also coming to the wider Android platform with the stable Android 16 release.

When you get a burst of notifications from the same app, Android 16 will gradually lower the alert volume for up to a minute instead of repeatedly playing it at full blast. This “Notification Cooldown” feature is on by default and can be toggled in Settings > Notifications.

Power button shortcut for wallet apps With Android 16, you can now set a double-press of the power button to open Google Wallet instead of the camera. You can choose between these two options in Settings > System > Gestures.

HDR screenshots With Android 16 Beta 2, Google implemented support for true HDR screenshots. Screenshots of HDR content will be saved in HDR format, namely as PNG files with HDR gainmaps embedded in them. Viewing these screenshots will brighten the screen to allow the HDR highlights to pop. These gainmaps allow the screenshots to appear as HDR when viewed on Android 16 devices but as SDR on other devices.

New emojis from Unicode 16.0

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority Left: Emoji 16.0 page viewed in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2. Right: Emoji 16.0 page viewed in Android 16 DP2.

Android 16 includes an updated emoji font file with seven new emojis that are a part of Unicode 16.0: Face with Bags Under Eyes

Fingerprint

Leafless Tree

Root Vegetable

Harp

Shovel

Splatter

Embedded photo picker With Android 16 Developer Preview 1, Google added new APIs related to the photo picker. These new APIs allow app developers to have more creative control over how the photo picker appears for the user. This makes it feel like the photo picker is more a part of that app while still keeping the same security and privacy safeguards.

With Android 16 Developer Preview 2, Google added new APIs to enable searching from cloud media providers in the Android photo picker. Search functionality in the photo picker is then said to be “coming soon.”

For reference, the photo picker is the pop-up menu you see when uploading media to an app. Years ago, adding media to an app would require that app to gain access to your entire media library, which is obviously not great. The photo picker allows you to select just the photos and videos you want to upload, preventing the app from “seeing” anything except what you give it.

Health records With Android 16 Developer Preview 1, Google updated Health Connect to support certain health records. This allows Health Connect to both read and write Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard, likely the same standard your doctor, dentist, and other healthcare providers use.

Due to the sensitive nature of this feature, though, Google is limiting it within an early access program, forcing developers to apply for access before playing around with it.

With Android 16 Developer Preview 2, Google added a new ACTIVITY_INTENSITY datatype, which is defined according to WHO guidelines for moderate and vigorous activity. Each record requires the start time, the end time, and whether the activity intensity is moderate or vigorous.

Better Adaptive Refresh Rate (ARR) support Adaptive Refresh Rate (ARR) was introduced in Android 15, and it went live for the Pixel 9 series with the Android 15 QPR1 release. It enables the display refresh rate on supported hardware to adapt to the content frame rate using discrete VSync steps. This reduces power consumption while eliminating the need for potentially jank-inducing mode switching.

With Android 16 Developer Preview 2, Google added new APIs to make it easier for app developers to take advantage of ARR, so you can expect better support for the feature in future app releases.

Better app adaptability

Android 16 is phasing out the ability for apps to restrict screen orientation and resizability on large-screen devices like tablets, foldables, and beyond. Google notes that this feature is similar to features that OEMs have added on such devices, allowing users to run apps at any window size and aspect ratio. With Android 16, APIs and manifest attributes that restrict orientation and resizing will be ignored for apps (but not games) on large-screen devices.

Android 16 allows app developers to opt out of this change, but the Android release in 2026 (i.e., Android 17) will make this change mandatory. So, app developers should start working on making their apps adapt to different screen sizes and aspect ratios.

APV codec support Android 16 Beta 1 added support for the APV 422-10 Profile, which provides YUV422 color sampling, 10-bit encoding, and target bitrates of up to 2Gbps.

Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec is a new “professional” video codec that aims to provide “perceptually lossless video quality” while using 20% less storage than the existing “conventional professional video codec” formats.

Google mentions that the APV codec has the following features: 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 bitrate 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

Ranging with enhanced security With Android 16, Google is adding support for robust security features in Wi-Fi location on supported devices with Wi-Fi 6’s 802.11az. Thanks to this, apps can now combine the protocol’s higher accuracy, greater scalability, and dynamic scheduling with security enhancements, including AES-256-based encryption and protection against MITM attacks. This allows it to be used more safely in proximity use cases, such as unlocking a laptop or a vehicle door.

Predictive back upgrades Android 16 Developer Preview 2 added new APIs to help app developers enable predictive back system animations in gesture navigation, such as the back-to-home animation.

Earlier in the year, we spotted Google working on bringing predictive back support to three-button navigation in Android 16. With Android 16 Beta 1, Google indeed did so for apps that have correctly implemented predictive back. With three-button navigation, long-pressing the back button will initiate a predictive back animation, giving users a preview of where the back button takes them. This behavior applies across all areas of the system that support predictive back animations, including the system animations.

Privacy Sandbox on Android Android 16 Developer Preview 1 incorporated the latest version of the Privacy Sandbox on Android.

Android 16 Developer Preview 2’s documentation includes a new Writing Tools API that seemingly lets apps out of having AI rewrite text for you. The documentation notes that “toolkits can optionally disable [AI writing tools] where not relevant, e.g., passwords, number input, etc.”

The logic behind this new Writing Tools API would be to allow app developers to disable AI writing tools where it doesn’t make sense to have them. It will be up to the keyboard app to respect the new API. Even if both the apps play nice with each other, a user could always just generate text in another app and then insert it into the text field where it was supposed to be blocked.

Generic ranging APIs Android 16 Beta 1 included the new RangingManager, which provides ways to determine the distance and angle of supported hardware between the local device and a remote device. RangingManager supports a variety of ranging technologies, such as BLE channel sounding, BLE RSSI-based ranging, Ultra-Wideband, and Wi-Fi round-trip time.

This should theoretically lead to better device tracker support in the OS, as your Android device will soon be able to pinpoint the tracker’s distance and angle.

Night Mode Camera extension API Google introduced a new Night Mode Indicator API with Android 16 Beta 1. This API helps apps automatically adjust to low-light environments when capturing images or recording videos.

Vertical Text support Android 16 Beta 1 added low-level support for rendering and measuring text vertically to provide foundational vertical writing support for library developers. This is particularly useful for languages like Japanese, which commonly use vertical writing systems.

App Functions API: Gemini Extensions This is curiously mentioned in the release announcement for Android 16 Beta 1, but it was not a part of Android 16 Beta 1 right away. Google highlighted that Samsung launched new Gemini Extensions on the Galaxy S25 series, showing off the new ways that Android apps can integrate with the power of Gemini. These Gemini extensions are pretty much the “app functions” feature that we spotted long before the official announcement.

Google says it is working to make this functionality available to more apps with more OEMs on more devices across more form factors. However, the company stops short of providing more details, technical or otherwise, in the first announcement.

With Android 16, Google is introducing a new App Functions API that lets developers expose their app’s key features to the phone’s default assistant, which can then execute those functions on the user’s behalf. For example, a restaurant app could use the API to create a function for ordering food, allowing Gemini to place an order directly with that app.

However, this API isn’t exclusive to Android 16. Google has created a backward-compatible version to encourage developers to integrate their apps with Gemini. Even more curiously, Google hasn’t publicized this feature, presumably because it still needs some work despite being available.

Measurement system customization

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority Android’s upcoming settings for changing your region and preferred measurement system.

We predicted that Android 16 would let you set your preferred measurement system and region independent of the system language. With Android 16 Beta 2, Google announced that you can set your preferred measurement system in System > Languages & region. We didn’t hear more on the regional preferences feature, though.

With Android 16 Beta 2, Google added new hybrid auto-exposure modes to the Camera2 API. This allows third-party apps to manually control specific aspects of exposure while letting the auto-exposure (AE) algorithm handle the rest. With that, apps can allow users to control ISO and AE or exposure time and AE, providing greater flexibility compared to the current approach, where you either have full manual control or rely entirely on auto-exposure.

Android 16 Beta 2 also added camera support for fine color temperature and tint adjustments to better support professional video recording apps.

Android 16 Beta 2 also added a standard Intent action for capturing and displaying Motion Photos.

It also added support for Ultra HDR images in the HEIC file format, in addition to the existing JPEG format. Google says it is also working on AVIF support for Ultra HDR.

Android 16 Beta 2 also added additional parameters to Ultra HDR, including the ability to get and set the colorspace in which gain map math should be applied and support for HDR-encoded base images with SDR gain maps.

Mandating edge-to-edge apps With Android 15, Google revealed that apps would display content edge-to-edge by default. However, to help developers with the transition, Google added an API to allow apps to opt out of this change.

With Android 16 Beta 2, this transitionary API has been deprecated. Apps that target the latest Android version will have to display app content edge-to-edge, and there’s no longer any means for apps to opt out.

Advanced Protection Mode Google already has an Advanced Protection Program, which, when enrolled in, forces users to use a security key or passkey to sign into their Google account, prevents downloading files that Google Chrome marks as harmful, and blocks unapproved (by Google) apps from accessing their Google account data. On your Android device, Google Play Protect will stay enabled, will block you from installing apps from outside the Google Play Store or other preinstalled apps, and will even warn you about apps on the Play Store that haven’t been approved by Google. The program targets users at an elevated risk of getting hacked, like IT admins, journalists, activists, business executives, and politicians.

With Android 16, Google is integrating the Advanced Protection Program into Android with the new Advanced Protection Mode. The mode is a one-click solution that can bolster the security of phones running Android 16. When enabled, it toggles various security features within the OS and first-party Google apps to protect against threats from malicious third-party apps, external attackers, and harmful websites.

There’s also an Advanced Protection API, which allows third-party apps to check if the mode is active and enable their own security measures, further enhancing your security when using them.

You must have an Android phone or tablet running Android 16 to enable Advanced Protection. Then, open the Settings app, find Google settings, and look for the Advanced Protection page under the Personal & device safety category, as shown below. Finally, toggle “device protection” to enable the Advanced Protection mode on your Android device. You can also tap “account protection” to open the enrollment page for Google’s Advanced Protection Program, which you should enroll in if you want to safeguard your Google account.

Advanced Protection settings page in Android. Advanced Protection settings page in Android (continued).

Here is a list of every security feature that Advanced Protection enables in Android 16: Security Investigation: Intrusion Logging

Device Safety: Theft Detection Lock Offline Device Lock Inactivity Reboot USB Protection (which could affect fast charging)

Apps : Google Play Protect Unknown Apps Memory Tagging Extension (MTE)

: Networks : 2G Network Protection Disable Auto-Reconnect to Insecure Networks

: Web : Android Safe Browsing Chrome Browsing Javascript Protections

: Phone by Google : Caller ID & Spam Automatic Call Screen Scam Detection for Phone by Google

: Google Messages : Spam & Scam Protection Unsafe Links

: You can read more about these in our Android Advanced Protection deep dive article.

Automatically hiding sensitive notifications from lock screen Android 15 added a feature where the OS blocks untrusted apps from reading sensitive notifications with two-factor authentication codes, even if the app has permission to read all notifications. Android 16 extends this feature by redacting the notifications before displaying them on the lock screen. This redaction will only occur in “higher risk scenarios,” such as when a user’s device is not connected to Wi-Fi and has not been recently unlocked.

Android 16 DP1 no longer displays the contents of notifications that Android System Intelligence deems to be “sensitive.” So far, we’ve observed this to be the case for notifications with OTP codes in them, but it’s possible that other types of content might trigger this behavior.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority Sensitive notification on lock screen of Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1 (left) vs Android 16 DP1 (right)

Android 16 automatically hides the content of these sensitive notifications even if you enable the “sensitive notifications” option under Settings > Notifications > Sensitive notifications. That option, when disabled, hides the title and summary of all notifications on the lock screen, though you can still see what apps have posted notifications. A separate option on the same page named notifications on lock screen lets you control whether to hide all notifications entirely, only hide conversation notifications, or to show all notification content.

By automatically redacting sensitive notifications with OTP codes, Android 16 protects you from accidentally leaking that information, regardless of your lock screen notification choices.

Anti-scammer safeguards during phone calls With Android 16, Google has introduced new anti-scammer safeguards, especially during phone calls. Android 16 will detect when a phone call is active and prevent the user from enabling the sideloading permission. This would prevent scammers from trying to walk their victims through sideloading malware apps.

Android 16 also blocks the enabling of certain sensitive permissions, such as accessibility access, during active phone calls. Granting accessibility access allows an app to read the screen and perform actions on your behalf — a powerful combination that could give malicious software complete control of your device.

Ambient volume controls for Bluetooth LE Audio hearing aids Android 16 has added the ability for users of Bluetooth LE Audio hearing aids to adjust the volume of ambient sound that is picked up by the hearing aid’s microphones. This will be helpful in places where background noise is either too loud or too quiet.

Android 16 also added the ability for users of LE Audio hearing aids to “switch between the built-in microphones on the hearing aids and the microphone on their phone for voice calls.” Google says this can be helpful in noisy environments or in other situations where the hearing aid’s microphone may not perform well.

Auracast Broadcast audio support With Android 16 Beta 3, Google officially supports Auracast broadcast audio with compatible LE Audio hearing aids on Pixel 9 devices. Auracast enables compatible hearing aids and earbuds to receive direct audio streams from public venues like airports, concerts, and classrooms. The setting is hidden, but you can enable it with a Developer Options toggle.

With this, Google is also indirectly confirming that the Bluetooth Audio Sharing feature that went live in Android 16 DP1 will be part of the upcoming Android 16 release. You can find the audio sharing feature under Settings > Connected devices > Audio sharing.

Secure Lock Secure Lock is a new Android 16 feature that allows users to remotely lock down their phone via authorized clients into an enhanced security state, which restricts access to sensitive data (app notifications, widgets, quick settings, assistant, etc) and requires both credential and biometric authentication for device entry. In other words, unlocking a device remotely triggered with Secure Lock will require both your primary lock screen credential and biometrics.

When enabling or disabling Secure Lock on a device, a custom message can be shown on the lock screen. If no message is provided, the system will show a default message, such as “Device is securely locked remotely” if Secure Lock has been enabled or “Secure lock mode has been disabled” if it’s been disabled.

Network notification Upcoming devices that launch with Android 16 will support v3.0 of Android’s IRadio HAL, which is needed to trigger the new “Mobile network security” settings page in Settings > Security & privacy > Safety Center.

Google

This section contains a toggle for the new Network Notifications, which allows the system to warn you if your device connects to an unencrypted network or when the network requests your phone’s unique identifiers.

Message in the notification panel and Safety Center when you connect to an unencrypted cellular network. Message in the notification panel and Safety Center when you reconnect to an encrypted cellular network. Message in the notification panel and Safety Center when a cellular network accesses your device’s unique identifiers.

Current devices that will be updated to Android 16 are unlikely to get the feature. We will most likely have to wait for upcoming devices that launch with Android 16 to see this feature in action.

Trade-in mode for ADB Trade-ins can take a lot of time, partially because every phone traded in must be inspected. Non-functional devices are easy to inspect since they either have cracks that disqualify them or do not boot up, but functional devices need to be booted up and run through a series of tests to confirm that they are functioning properly. For the tests to run, the device must go through the setup screen like a brand-new phone and then enable ADB debugging, which is buried deep in the Settings menu. While most of these screens can be skipped in the setup, it still adds up time, but enabling ADB debugging cannot be avoided.

Android 16 adds support for Trade-in Mode, which Google describes as a mode that provides quicker access to key device details at the point of sale, and makes it faster to trade in a device, get a refund, and upgrade.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Google doesn’t share more details on what is happening behind the scenes, but we already know the nitty gritty behind trade-in mode. Essentially, this mode allows a very limited version of ADB to be available to Android devices right on the first screen of the setup wizard. This makes it easier for technicians to run automated diagnostics for device inspections.

The setup wizard enables ADB trade-in mode and disables it after setup has been completed. The technician can use ADB trade-in mode to put the device into an “evaluation mode” and bypass the setup, but it will also force a factory reset on the next boot. Alternatively, another command can be run to retrieve diagnostic information about the device and see if it passes an attestation challenge.

Outline text for maximum text contrast

Google

With Android 16 Beta 3, Google introduced outline text, which replaces high-contrast text by drawing larger contrasting areas around text to greatly improve legibility.

Vulkan, the official graphics API for Android

Google announced in March 2025 that Vulkan is the official graphics API for Android. Android already supported Vulkan graphics API since Android 7.0 Nougat in 2016, but only a small percentage of active devices supported it back then. The situation is now significantly different, hence the change.

According to Google, this change enables developers to add more immersive visuals to their games. Vulkan allows developers to capitalize on the performance of modern smartphone GPUs to unlock features like ray tracing in games or multithreading.

What does it actually mean for Android to make Vulkan its official graphics API, though? Essentially, Google aims to establish Vulkan as the GPU hardware abstraction layer (HAL) for Android, requiring all apps and games utilizing the phone’s GPU to do so through Vulkan. This includes: game engines, middleware, and layered APIs like Android’s HWUI, Skia, WebGPU, and ANGLE.

Starting with Android 16, Google says that “more devices will use Vulkan to process all graphics commands.” Specifically, Android 16 will require some newer devices to use ANGLE for some applications (meaning, only applications on an approved list will use ANGLE).

Further, Google introduced Vulkan Profiles for Android (VPA) last year to improve consistency in Vulkan feature availability across Android devices. VPA defines a set of Vulkan features that GPUs must support to pass Google’s certification testing for a given Android release.

VPA 16, aimed at next-generation chipsets launching with support for Android 16, will require support for Host Image Copy, a feature that’s part of the core Vulkan 1.4 specification that one Google engineer calls a “game changer for games on Android.” This feature allows games to copy image data, such as textures, using the device’s CPU instead of the GPU. Host Image Copy will prove particularly useful for Android games, as it enables faster app loads, reduces stutter, and lowers GPU memory usage.

iOS-like App Settings with SettingsPreferenceService API Android 16 adds a new API that lets apps integrate their own settings with the Android Settings app, similar to what we already see on iOS, albeit it’s not widely adopted there, either, outside of Apple’s own apps. If this API becomes broadly adopted on Android by third-party apps, it could transform Android Settings into a one-stop shop for both device and app settings.

In-process software audio codecs Android 16 adds support for in-process software audio codecs, a feature that allows media codecs to run within an app’s process instead of within the usual sandboxed media codec process. The in-process operation, though potentially risky, is deemed safe because the codec’s software implementation is written in a memory-safe language like Rust.

While Android 16 supports this feature, it’s not in use yet, as the respective vendors will need to rewrite the media codecs in Rust. Thus, while Android 16’s new in-process software audio codecs feature should theoretically bring better performance and battery life when playing back media, it’s likely we won’t see these benefits for quite some time.

Cloud compilation for app installs Android 16 now supports cloud compilation, a new feature that could speed up new app installs. The goal of cloud compilation would be to avoid running the dex2oat tool during app installations by offloading compilation to the cloud.

Identity check coming to more phones With Android 16, more Android phones will be getting access to Android’s Identity Check feature.

Currently, only Pixel and Samsung phones have this feature, as it requires changes to an underlying biometric prompt code. Since this is part of a non-updatable OS component, the feature requires an OS update to arrive on more devices.

Customizable keyboard shortcuts Android has many keyboard shortcuts for system actions and launching apps. In past releases, these were not customizable. Android 16 now lets you edit them, so for example, you could add “Meta + Shift + B” as an alternative key combination to launch the Chrome browser.

Pixel: Battery Health page Google has added a new battery health screen to Android 16 Beta 3, and the feature is live for Pixel devices with Android 16 stable release. This screen attempts to quantify exactly how good your phone’s battery health is.

It not only displays your estimated battery capacity as a percentage of what a new battery for your phone is capable of, it also surfaces some actionable insights to help you get the most out of it. This feature is available on Pixel 8a and newer, but not on the Pixel 8 series and older due to “product limitations.”

Standardized picture and audio quality framework for TVs Android 16 offers a set of standardized APIs for access to audio and picture profiles and hardware-related settings on TVs. This allows streaming apps to query profiles and apply them to media dynamically. For example: Movies mastered with a wider dynamic range require greater color accuracy to see subtle details in shadows and adjust to ambient light, so a profile that prefers color accuracy over brightness may be appropriate.

Live sporting events are often mastered with a narrow dynamic range, but are usually watched in daylight, so a profile that prefers brightness over color accuracy can give better results.

Fully interactive content wants minimal processing to reduce latency and wants higher frame rates, which is why many TVs ship with a game profile. The API allows apps to switch between these profiles, thus letting users enjoy the benefits of tuning supported TVs to match the content.

Android 16: Leaked and upcoming features

Rita El Khoury / Android Authority

Google has shared some details about Android 16 through its official announcements, but we’ve spotted a ton of changes in Google’s QPR updates that help paint a more complete picture of the changes we can expect to see in the final Android 16 release.

Google’s QPR updates and what they tell us about future Android releases The Android platform follows an annual release schedule, which OEMs and the world at large have access to. Google also follows a second public release schedule for its Pixel devices in the form of QPR updates. QPR refers to Quarterly Platform Release, which is an update track where updates are released once every three months (quarter). So, we generally get an annual Android platform update on Pixels, followed by three QPR releases, and then the next annual Android platform update.

While the features included in the Android platform update are final and available to the world, features released in the QPR updates are available to Pixel devices until the next Android platform update incorporates them. Further, Google also runs a separate beta program for the QPRs months in advance.

This gives us situations where we can try out new features coming to Android 16 (by checking them out in Android 15 QPR1 betas) before the stable Android 16 update is even launched! Later QPR betas give us even more features that can be chalked up to the next platform release.

As a result, we have a list of features that are coming to upcoming Android 15 QPR releases for Pixel devices, which are also likely to be added to the next Android platform update, Android 16. Let’s check them out!

Local Network Protection Android 16 Beta 3 officially adds the ability to test the upcoming Local Network Protection feature, which Google says is planned for a future Android major release.

Essentially, any app with the “INTERNET” permission can communicate with the Internet worldwide and with devices on the user’s local network. Local Network Protection will eventually require apps to request specific permission to access the local network. With Android 16 Beta 3, Google is giving app developers a chance to test if their apps are affected by this upcoming change.

Intrusion Logging Google announced Intrusion Logging as a new feature in Android 16 that will help users detect if their device has been compromised. Intrusion Logging collects “activity logs” which include details such as USB connection events, network info like browsing history, app installs, Bluetooth connections, lock screen info, and Wi-Fi connections. Your activity logs are encrypted using your Google account password and device lock screen, ensuring only you can view them. These logs are stored in a “private and encrypted Google Drive,” providing further protection against unauthorized access.

While the API is already available in Android 16, Google hasn’t yet integrated Intrusion Logging into Google Play Services. Consequently, the feature will roll out later in the year, possibly as part of an Android 16 QPR rather than with the launch of Android 16.

Improvements to Factory Reset Protection At The Android Show: I/O Edition, Google announced that Android’s existing Factory Reset Protection mechanisms will become even more powerful later in the year. While Android already has several mechanisms to deter bypassing the setup screen after triggering a factory reset, these new protections will restrict all functionalities on devices that are reset without the owner’s authorization.

Google

Android will likely detect if someone bypassed the setup wizard (to bypass previous factory reset protection mechanisms), and will thus force another factory reset cyclically, preventing unauthorized use until the user proves ownership.

Since these upgrades are coming later in the year, they will not be part of the first stable release of Android 16. Instead, we expect this update to come with the Android 16 QPR1 update.

Material 3 Expressive Google has officially announced Material 3 Expressive as the next evolution of Material Design. This UX update is set to arrive with Android 16, but not the first stable release. Instead, it will come with Android 16 QPR1 to Pixels, meaning most non-Pixels will get access to this with Android 17, albeit individual apps could have their own redesign on Android 16.

“So, the updates for Material Expressive are going to be available on Pixel devices first later this year, but it’s not going to be part of the public release in June,” confirmed Allen Huang, Google’s Director of Product Management for Pixel and Android system UI.

This sweeping UI update is a significant step in Google’s ongoing effort to make Android and Wear OS more visually engaging, emotionally resonant, and interactive. Some of its highlights include: Springier, natural-feeling animations that enhance touch interactions

New icon shapes and refreshed typography

Background blur effects for depth and focus

Updated color themes

Home screen and Quick Settings enhancements for a more dynamic layout

Visual redesigns for many Google apps, bringing them in line with the new expressive aesthetic You can learn more about Material 3 Expressive in our deep dive article.

Android’s big UI overhaul

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority Old vs new app drawer UI in the Pixel Launcher

This change is so big that it deserves its own section. With the above-mentioned Material 3 Expressive changes, Google is also planning a big UI overhaul for Android and expressive animations to accompany it. These changes were spotted and activated within Android 16 Beta 4, but they are unlikely to be available with the Android 16 stable release. Instead, they could come with a future QPR release or Android 17 and beyond.

As part of the UI overhaul, we expect changes across several important areas, like status bar icons, clock font, combined notifications, Quick Settings panel, cleaner lock screen with collapsed notifications, and so much more. The changes are quite voluminous to list here, so do check out our original coverage for the whole scoop.

Desktop windowing We’ve talked about desktop windowing before as a leak, but Google officially introduced the feature in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 for the Pixel Tablet. Google’s announcement doesn’t mention the release timeline, but we expect to see the feature in the wider Android 16 release.

Desktop windowing allows users to run multiple apps simultaneously and resize app windows, just like we’re used to doing on conventional desktops.

Google has fixed the taskbar’s position to the bottom of the screen. It can now show running apps and apps pinned by the user. There is also a new header bar, which houses window controls.

In addition to the announced feature, there’s a new hidden toggle called Enable desktop mode on secondary display, which replaces the old Force desktop mode toggle.

Further, in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1, we also managed to activate the button for “multi-instance property,” which is likely referring to a new window button in the drop-down menu. The button launches a new instance of the app in another window.

The header bar now has a minimize button, which we spotted and activated in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1 and subsequently became available for all with Android 16 Beta 3. Tapping the minimize button minimizes a window.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

When an app’s window is minimized, it can be reopened by tapping the app’s icon in the taskbar.

Calculator and Files by Google both open Calculator window minimized while Files by Google is open

Similar to conventional desktop platforms, the bar underneath the app’s icon turns gray and shrinks when an app is minimized. When every app window is minimized, Android exits desktop windowing mode.

Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1 release has also introduced an “app-to-web” feature for desktop windowing.

For select apps like Google Photos, an “open in browser” option will appear in the dropdown menu. Tapping this opens the website associated with the app. You can also tap the settings cog to choose whether to open web links in the app or in your browser.

With Android 16 Beta 3, Google added the ability to put apps like YouTube into picture-in-picture mode and the ability to drag a Chrome tab to open it in its own window.

Redesigned Settings homepage with Expressive Settings Android 15 Beta 3 included clues for a redesigned Settings homepage, but the changes didn’t go live in later betas. The new settings layout did go live in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2, indicating that it is possibly on track for an Android 16 release.

Redesigned Settings home page in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2

On the left is an example of how the top-level page looks on Android 14 and the right image shows the new layout in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2.

Beyond this, Google is working on an even bigger redesign. We spotted Expressive Design for the Settings app in Android 16 Beta 3 and activated it to give you an early preview.

This Expressive Design for the Settings app features newer Material You switches with an X or checkmark icon in the handle. Each item in Settings will be placed in separate, visually distinct cards. Small arrow icons will indicate when an item in Settings has a subpage. Finally, most pages will display the header at the very top, allowing for more items to be shown at first glance.

With Android 16 Beta 4, the Expressive Design for the Settings app gained colorful new icons for each entry, as you can see in the images below:

This Expressive Settings will live alongside the main Settings homepage redesign, as that remains unchanged. Further, Expressive Settings have not rolled out with the main Android 16 release, but will likely make it to future Android 16 QPR releases.

Redesigned volume slider and volume panel We managed to activate a new volume panel UI in Android 16 Developer Preview 2. This volume panel ditches the thick, pill-shaped sliders in favor of thinner, continuous sliders with handles.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Google is also working to update the volume slider to match this new design. As you can see below, the volume slider in Android 16 will be less rounded and will have a thin rectangular handle. The icon indicating the current volume stream that’s being controlled will sit at the bottom of the slider instead of at the top. The three dots at the bottom, which open the full volume panel, are slightly smaller in the new design.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

While the volume mode icon at the top has remained the same, the mode selector has been tweaked to show other modes in discrete rounded rectangles.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

It’s possible that Google is merely testing this design and could abandon it in the future. So we will have to see if it makes it to the stable version of Android 16.

New status bar icons With Android 16 Beta 3, we spotted some changes to status bar icons as a carryover work from changes that were spotted before Android 15 but never made it to release. Now in the new status bar icons, the Wi-Fi signal strength icon displays three segments instead of five.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

More significantly, though, the battery level icon shows a dynamic color scheme depending on the battery status.

When the battery is sufficient and not charging, the background color is solid white. When the battery is low and not charging, the background color turns red. Finally, when the device is charging, the background color turns vivid green. The battery level percentage is also bolder, and the icon is also flipped.

There’s no guarantee Google will roll out these new icons. If they do, they might appear in a quarterly Android 16 release or in next year’s Android 17 update.

Force dark mode Despite dark themes in apps gaining popularity when the feature was launched, many apps have not bothered implementing one. We spotted a “make all apps dark” feature back in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2 that forced every app to go dark, even if the app didn’t have its own dark theme. The feature didn’t go live in the subsequent stable Android 15 release, though.

In Android 16 Beta 1, the feature continues to show signs of development.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority Hidden “make more apps dark” toggle in Android 16 Beta 1

It is now renamed “make more apps dark” and is a hidden setting in Settings > Display & touch > Dark theme. The feature’s description says that it “automatically convert[s] light-themed apps to dark theme.”

Tiny taskbar for phones With Android 15 Beta 4, we spotted mentions of a “tiny taskbar” feature for phones, which we managed to activate to show off the experience:

With Android 16 Beta 4, Google fixed the duplicate navigation handle that appeared when the tiny taskbar was enabled. Google also upgraded the tiny taskbar’s multitasking by adding a button that opens a carousel showing the six most recently opened apps.

Curiously, this recent apps carousel isn’t available on tablet’s taskbar. Despite the progress in the feature’s functionality, it’s not ready for prime time yet, and may arrive in future Android releases.

“Even dimmer” display brightness Google has been testing an “even dimmer” display brightness option for Android. As the name suggests, this setting toggle would allow your phone’s display to go dimmer than usual. This feature could work alongside adaptive brightness, going even dimmer than usual when the ambient lighting is super low but automatically returning to normal brightness when the ambient lighting is high.

Settings > Display Settings > Accessibility

The key difference between Android 12’s Extra Dim accessibility feature and the upcoming Even Dimmer feature is that Even Dimmer is meant to be toggled and forgotten as the adaptive brightness will take care of the dimming, while Extra Dim is a manual toggle for going lower in brightness. Because Even Dimmer basically accomplishes the same thing as Extra Dim, the latter feature will disappear when the former rolls out. Android will even remove the Extra Dim shortcut from the Quick Settings panel to get you to migrate to the new feature.

Normally, the brightness bar’s lowest value sets your device’s screen to the lowest brightness level allowed by its hardware, but with Even Dimmer enabled, the OS will apply an additional dimming layer when the brightness bar is at its lowest value. Disabling Even Dimmer just requires you to slide the brightness bar to the right, which you probably do multiple times a day already, making it much more likely you won’t accidentally keep it enabled. Unlike Extra Dim, you won’t have to remember to turn Even Dimmer on when you’re in the dark or turn it off when it’s no longer dark around you — otherwise, your phone’s screen will be dimmer than it should be during the day.

With Android 16 DP1, Even Dimmer was available on the Pixel 9. On the other hand, Android 16 DP2 introduced a new version of Extra Dim on the Pixel 9 that no longer needs to be manually toggled. Instead, it is built into the brightness slider

Rich Ongoing Notifications As we learned from clues within Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3, Android 16 could introduce Rich Ongoing Notifications, a new API that lets apps show more than just an icon in the status bar. The API will let apps create chips with their own text and background color that live in the status bar, sort of like the new screen recording chips (mentioned in the later parts of this article). It’s likely that tapping these chips will open some sort of dialog provided by the app that shows more information about the ongoing notification.

For example, here’s a gallery that shows what the Rich Ongoing Notifications API could be used for in Android 16, using mock notifications for various apps like Uber, the United Airlines app, and the Clock.

The feature appears inspired by iOS’s Dynamic Island, but it predates the feature. Android 12 added an API that lets dialer apps show the duration of an ongoing call in a status bar chip a full year before Apple introduced its Dynamic Island feature. Android 16 opening up status bar chips to all apps would be a major expansion of the feature.

Blocking old notifications People who own and use multiple Android devices can relate to the notification flood that arrives whenever they boot up the less frequently used device. Right at boot, after the device establishes its internet connection, you’ll receive all notifications that weren’t delivered to this device, even if you have checked out the notifications from your other device.

Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 changed the way Android handles these older notifications. The system now rejects notifications that are more than two weeks old. These older notifications will only show some details to let you know which apps or contacts to check up on, but they will no longer alert you with a sound or vibration, or even show the full notification contents.

13 day old notification 14 day old notification

Compact heads-up notifications If you are bothered by just how large the heads-up notifications can be when watching full-screen content, then Google is working on a solution. We spotted clues for compact heads-up notifications in Android 15 Beta 4, and the feature became more widely available with Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2.

You can see the compact layout in the second set of notifications below.

Most of the text in the notification is truncated, and any embedded images are hidden by default until you tap the dropdown arrow to expand them. However, the notification icon, notification title, and reply button are still shown for messaging apps like Telegram.

Semi-transparent notifications We spotted Google working on a new semi-transparent notifications feature in Android 16 Beta 3 and managed to activate it. Specifically, heads-up notifications and notifications shown on the lock screen were now semi-transparent, whereas notifications in the notifications panel were unchanged.

Given that these semi-transparent notifications make content harder to read due to the lower contrast, there’s a low chance that Google will actually roll out the design in any future release of Android, let alone Android 16. However, Google could choose to add some transparency to other areas of the UX.

Gemini-powered Notification “Magic Actions” In 2018, Android 9 released Smart Reply, which provides suggested replies as tappable chips beneath a notification for quick responses. Android 10 expanded this with Smart Actions, offering contextual actions based on notification content. This Smart Actions feature powers the “Open Maps” chip when a notification includes an address. Smart Replies and Smart Actions are powered by on-device machine learning models, but are limited to short, canned replies that might not fully appreciate the context.

We’ve spotted evidence with Android 16 that suggests Google is developing a more advanced version of Smart Actions, dubbed “Magic Actions.” When the Magic Action feature is enabled, Android will hide Smart Actions and instead prominently display a new Magic Action button. This button is slated to receive “special visual treatment,” possibly indicating a custom animation when it appears or is tapped. Speculatively, the feature could tap into Google’s Gemini model to generate more personalized and powerful actions.

New screen recording and casting chips Android 16 could improve the screen recorder and screen caster indicator chips. We spotted and activated the change in Android 15 Beta 4.2, and the chips became more widely available in QPR1 Beta 2, which gives us hope for it arriving on Android 16.

Starting with the changes, the new chips for screen recording and screencasting will give you a timer right in the status bar.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

They will also let you stop the screen recording or screencasting session without needing to pull down the status bar. Tapping on the chip will open a dialog that will let you stop the session.

There’s also a different icon now to indicate when a third-party app requests to record or cast the screen. The dialog more prominently asks you whether you want to “share your screen” rather than “start recording or casting.”

The experience is fairly functional, so we’re hoping to see it go live for the wide platform with Android 16.

Quick Settings changes: Dual shade design, Categories, Resizing, and more Quick Settings is in for an overhaul with Android 16. Starting off, Google is testing a new dual shade design for Android 16 that separates the Quick Settings panels from the notification shade, which we managed to activate in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2.

Pulling down the status bar once still brings down the notifications panel like before, but the panel now takes up about a quarter of the screen rather than the entire thing. While you can’t see any Quick Settings tiles anymore in the new notifications dropdown, you can see the app that’s underneath the panel.

Pulling down the status bar a second time no longer brings down the Quick Settings panel. Instead, the Quick Settings panel is accessed by pulling down the status bar with two fingers.

After pulling the Quick Settings panel down, you can swipe left or right between pages to see all your tiles. The brightness bar still appears at the top, but now has a text label and shows the brightness level as you adjust it, similar to the new volume sliders in Android 15. Most Quick Settings tiles have been made smaller so more of them can fit on one page, which is a welcome change.

Here’s a video that demonstrates the new notification and Quick Settings panels described above:

Flexiglass is the internal codename for the rearchitecting that Google is doing to SystemUI to make it more stable.

With Android 16 Beta 3, we managed to activate the dual-page panel UI to give you a fresher demo of it:

This build fixes several deficiencies present in previous builds. For instance, the media player is prominently present at the top. There are also two new ways to switch between the Notifications and Quick Settings panels. First, you can simply tap the chips at the top left and right to open the respective panels. Second, swiping down on the left side opens the notifications panel, while swiping down on the right opens the Quick Settings panel.

Google also made the Quick Settings panel vertically scrolling, allowing you to fill up the entire screen with tiles. It also added clear plus and minus buttons to each tile in the edit menu, making it easier to add or remove tiles from the panel.

Further, you’ll notice that the clock is much larger in the new beta. This clock also follows the same style that is set for the lock screen clock, changing as you change it.

With Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3, we spotted other changes. When the in-development Quick Settings panel is enabled, the Quick Settings tiles become resizable. You can tap on any tile while in the editor view and then drag the dot left or right to shrink or expand it. Tiles can be either 1×1 or 2×1 in size, allowing you to fit as few as eight or as many as 16 tiles on a single page. You can resize any tile, even ones provided by third-party apps, though obviously, not every tile will have a useful description when it’s expanded.

For comparison, here’s an image that shows the default Quick Settings layout in Android 15 vs Android 16:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

And here’s an image that shows some more Quick Settings panel layouts you’ll be able to make thanks to this feature:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Here’s a short video that demonstrates how you’ll be able to resize Quick Settings tiles in Android 16:

With Android 16 Beta 2, Google is making it more explicit that the Quick Settings editing interface isn’t merely for resizing and rearranging icons. Large plus and minus symbols are now present to make it abundantly clear that you can add and remove Quick Settings tiles.

In addition to these changes, the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Quick Settings tiles could once again become one-click toggles. If you notice in the screenshots above, the tiles for these two settings aren’t fully filled in for background color like the other tiles were. That is for a reason: tapping the icon would toggle the respective setting as it did in Android 14 while tapping the rest of the tile would open the panel as it does in Android 15.

Android 15 QPR1 Beta 1 also includes a new animation when you long-press on the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Quick Settings tiles.

Alongside, Android 16 will also organize the Quick Settings tiles into categories. We spotted strings within Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 that suggest the Quick Settings panel will organize tiles into at most seven different categories. These categories include Accessibility, Connectivity, Display, Privacy, Provided by apps, Unknown, and Utilities. They will appear in the Quick Settings editor, similar to what you can see below:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

The system won’t show categories for which you have already added the available tiles.

The revamped Quick Settings panel was earlier reported to require a two-finger swipe down to reveal it. With the release of Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3, Google has seemingly dropped this plan, letting you pull down the revamped Quick Settings tile from the right side of the status bar with a single finger instead of two fingers.

However, there’s no way to swipe between the notifications and the Quick Settings panel.

Further, Google is also considering changes to the expanded behavior of the Internet and Bluetooth tiles, going back to behavior found in relatively early Android versions. We managed to activate the change, wherein the Internet and Bluetooth tiles no longer popped out into floating panels but rather expanded to fill up the area within the Quick Settings panel, similar to how things worked in Android 5.1 to Android 8.1.

However, the feature is clearly still in development, as evidenced by the duplicated text and lack of data in the expanded tiles.

Google has confirmed several parts of this extensive Quick Settings redesign, including the resizable tiles, one-click toggles for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, updated brightness slider, blurred background for the Quick Settings and notifications panel, and the updated tile editor. You can see the confirmed changes in the video below:

New “Video Chat” panel for video call effects Android 16 Beta 4 includes strings for a new Quick Settings tile called Video Chat. The strings show that Android will support effects like background blur (which blurs your background environment), portrait relighting (which improves the lighting on your face), portrait touch-up (which retouches your face to remove imperfections), and studio-style mic (which suppresses background noise). For background blur, you’ll have the option to apply a light blur or a full blur to the background. The portrait relighting, portrait touch-up, and studio-style mic effects are simple on/off toggles.

We managed to activate the Video Chat Quick Settings tile and panel, and here’s what it looks like:

These effects don’t work yet. However, we expect these effects to work in any video chat app, as there would otherwise be little point in creating a dedicated Quick Settings panel for them.

New “switch users” widget With Android 16 Beta 2, Google has added a new multiuser widget called “switch users.” As the name implies, this widget lets you quickly switch users. It features large buttons that prominently show the user’s profile picture, and there’s also a button on the top right to open Android’s multiuser settings page.

Lock screen widgets Android used to allow lock screen widgets in its early days, but the feature was removed in Android 5.0 Lollipop in 2014. Google has been working on bringing back lock screen widget support, and Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 finally adds them for the Pixel Tablet.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

To access them, swipe inward from the right edge of the lock screen. Then, tap the “customize” card to open the widget editor, where you can add, remove, or reorder your widgets.

With Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1, we managed to activate a feature that lets you resize any lock screen widget to take up an entire column. This will allow certain widgets to show more information at a glance, as demonstrated in the video embedded below:

These widgets are currently intended for tablets only, not phones. However, if you are curious, lock screen widgets will indeed come to phones, too. Google has mentioned that lock screen widgets will be available in AOSP for tablets and mobile with the release of Android 16 QPR1, slated to arrive in late Summer 2025.

The feature isn’t yet live, but we managed to activate it on Android 16 Beta 2.1 for a demo:

As you can see in the video above, lock screen widgets on phones will work differently than they do on tablets. The 2×3 grid seen on tablets is too wide for the narrow displays of most phones, so Google’s solution is to display one column of widgets at a time. More importantly, the “glanceable hub” isn’t accessed by swiping inward from the right edge of the lock screen, as it is on tablets. Instead, it’s accessed by triggering the screen saver by placing the phone on a charger or docking it and, in the future, by placing it upright on a stand.

Google says that OEMs can customize the mechanism that triggers the lock screen widget experience but not the interface itself.

Lock screen minimalism We spotted a new feature within Android 15 QPR2 Beta that lets you declutter your lock screen without forcing you to unlock your phone to see your notifications. This feature is called lock screen notification minimalism and, when it goes live, can be found under Settings > Notifications.

The lock screen notification minimalism feature seems to hide everything but the icons for notifications. Here’s a comparison of what the lock screen looks like before and after the lock screen notification minimalism feature is enabled:

Without lock screen notification minimalism With lock screen notification minimalism

When this setting is enabled, however, only the app icon is shown in a small pill below the clock. Tapping this pill expands the notifications panel so you can see the entire content of each notification. While this lock screen notification minimalism feature does make it slightly less convenient to see your notifications, it significantly declutters your lock screen so you can see the beautiful wallpaper you set for it.

This lock screen notification minimalism feature has been removed from the Android 15 QPR2 Beta 3 build. In its place is a new “compact” notification layout option for the lock screen. This new setting can be found in the Settings app under the Notifications on lock screen settings. Previously, notifications on the lock screen were a dialog that lets you choose whether to show all notification content, hide all notification content, or show sensitive content only when unlocked, but Google is turning it into a page with more options.

On the new page, you can choose to have new notifications collapsed into a shelf on your lock screen (the “compact” option) or shown in a full list (the “full list” option). The description for the full list option, which states that it’s the “current default placement,” suggests that Android 16 won’t force the new compact layout on users.

Compact notification shelf Full list of notifications

Gemini button on the lock screen We’ve spotted a flag within Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 that possibly enables another way to invoke Gemini, this time through a lock screen button. This flag controls the presence of a button on the lock screen that, when tapped, doesn’t do anything right now but could likely trigger the AI assistant (given the sparkle icon).

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

The button is pill-shaped and sits right below the fingerprint reader. It’s larger than the two lock screen shortcuts at the bottom and has a sparkle icon in the middle.

Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

Lock screen note-taking Google has long been working on a feature that would let you jot notes through Google Keep on the lock screen of Android tablets. This feature was expected to arrive with Android 15, but it didn’t.

More recently, with Android 16 Developer Preview 2, Google has made Keep a system app, meaning users cannot easily uninstall it. While Google could have other reasons for doing so, this change could also be a step forward for the lock screen note-taking feature.

Redesigned lock screen In addition to all the above features, Google is also working on a redesigned layout for the lock screen, which looks cleaner than the current one when populated.

Here’s what the current lock screen looks like:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Here’s what we managed to activate in Android 16 Beta 4:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Primarily, this lock screen redesign relocates the At a Glance widget’s complications. The date and weather complications move below the clock when it’s centered and to the right of the clock when it’s at the top. The informational complication is now separate, sitting at the top when there are no notifications and below the clock when notifications are present.

Stash notification bubbles Google introduced the Bubbles API with Android 11 in 2020, allowing messaging apps to open conversations in a floating window. The floating window sits on top of other apps so you can quickly see or respond to messages from your favorite contacts. When you’re done chatting, you can minimize the floating window, which turns it into a small, floating icon that you can later tap to restore the window.

Bubbles are either always fully visible or hidden, with no in-between state. We managed to activate a third state in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2, referred to as “stashing.” Bubble stashing lets you stash these notification bubbles to the side of the screen when they are not in use.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

This partially minimizes the bubble icon, so it takes up less space on the screen. Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

Open any app in a floating bubble While the Bubbles feature mentioned above is great, it only works for conversation notifications and can be opted out, so many apps don’t support it. However, in theory, most Android apps should work just fine when placed inside a floating window. Code within Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 suggests Google is testing this theory, as it includes references to a “bubble anything” feature.

Once activated, the Pixel Launcher adds a “bubble” button to the context menu that appears when you press and hold on any app on the home screen. Tapping this button opens the app — no matter what it is — in a floating bubble, as you can see below.

Here’s a video demonstrating what Android’s new “bubble anything” feature combined with the upcoming bubble bar will look like on tablets:

Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

With Android 16 Beta 4, we spotted Google working to bring the bubble bar to phones:

The bubble bar on phones will allow users to switch between more than two apps. The expanded bubble bar only shows the five most recently opened bubbles, though the bubble overflow menu does list other, previously opened bubbles. Google is also developing different categories of bubbles: chat, note, app, and shortcut. These categories will determine whether an app badge is displayed.

Do Not Disturb mode changes, introduction of Priority mode, and renaming to Modes Google is working to supercharge Android’s Do Not Disturb mode with a new Priority mode. We spotted extensive clues within Android 15 QPR1 Beta 1, indicating that Google is planning to rename the Do Not Disturb mode entry point, tweak its UI, add a new Quick Settings tile, and introduce many other customization options.

The new DND mode UI that we activated has new toggles to enable grayscale mode, disable the always-on display, dim the wallpaper, and enable the dark theme. These four options take advantage of the new ZenDeviceEffects API.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

The scheduling options from DND mode are being transferred to a custom Priority Mode. This new Priority Modes menu lets you create a fully custom DND mode schedule with its own name, icon, activation trigger, display settings, and notification settings.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

If you’re worried about DND taking two taps to activate, we’ve spotted clues in Android 16 Beta 4 that indicate that Google is also working on a new, dedicated Do Not Disturb mode tile specifically for toggling it. This new tile looks and functions exactly like the original one did before Android 15 QPR2 introduced the Modes panel. Importantly, this new dedicated Do Not Disturb tile will exist alongside the current Modes tile. This means users can choose to add the new dedicated Do Not Disturb tile, keep the existing Modes tile, use both, or use neither in their Quick Settings.

There’s also a new Quick Settings tile for the Priority Mode, which co-exists alongside the DND mode tile.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

With Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2, Google changed some behaviors related to Priority mode and also gave us a deeper look. The Quick Settings tile opens a dialog that lets you quickly choose which Priority Modes to enable and tells you how many are enabled, if any.

The updates to the Priority Modes menu in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 starts with the new intro screen for the preexisting modes, Event and Sleeping. Currently, though, the graphic used for each intro screen is a placeholder, but Google will likely update these in a future release. Another change to the menu in QPR1 Beta 2 is the new UI for customizing the activation trigger and notification settings. In addition, the mode icon now lights up when it’s turned on.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Google has also added many new icons to choose from when creating a custom Priority Mode. While you can’t upload your own icon, Android now offers 40 icons to choose from in QPR1 Beta 2.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

In Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3, “Priority Modes” has been rebranded to just “Modes.” Google also added an icon in the status bar, lock screen, and AOD to correspond to the current mode that is enabled, making it much easier to tell at a glance.

Google also slightly tweaked the UI for the dialog that appears when you tap the Quick Settings tile. Modes are now displayed in a single-column, vertically scrolling list instead of a dual-column list.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Another small tweak is that the Quick Settings tile itself now displays the icon of the first mode that you enable. It also shows the name of the first mode but switches to the number of modes active if more than one is enabled. Speaking of which, if you ever have more than one mode enabled, then only the first one’s icon will appear on the status bar, lock screen, and AOD.

Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR1 Beta 1, Beta 2, and Beta 3 intended for Pixel devices, it will be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

Time zone change notification Your Android phone can automatically adjust the time when you enter a new time zone. However, you are not notified of such a change.

In Android 16 Beta 1, we spotted strings for a new “time zone change” feature that will appear under Settings > System > Date & time. The description says that the feature will let you “receive a notification when your time zone is automatically updated.”

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

The notification’s title will explain that “your time zone changed,” and the body will include exactly what time zone you’re now in.

This Time zone change notification went live in July 2025 Android Canary release. It may roll out to users with Android 16 QPR2 in December 2025, which would also mark it for the platform release for Android 17.

Better split-screen multitasking on phones Android’s split screen feature lets you display two apps side-by-side, either in a 50:50 ratio (i.e., divided evenly in half) or in a 70:30 ratio. With the release of Android 16 DP2, Google quietly updated the code for Android’s split-screen mode to support a 90:10 ratio.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

We managed to activate the 90:10 split-screen mode to give you a demo:

This change has the potential to offer several benefits. The 90:10 ratio is ideal for focusing on one app while keeping another open for quick reference. Tapping the smaller app window instantly enlarges it. While the existing 70:30 split offers similar functionality in theory, on smaller Android phone screens, the 70% portion can still feel cramped, while the 30% portion might be larger than necessary. Having a 90:10 option just adds greater flexibility.

Three-way split-screen multitasking on tablets In Android 16 Developer Preview 2, we spotted code for an in-development “flexible” split-screen mode and managed to activate it partially for the preview below:

This mode could work similarly to OnePlus Open’s Open Canvas feature, which lets you run up to three apps side-by-side. Two apps share 90% of the screen, and the third occupies the remaining 10%.

The genius of Open Canvas is that, while the third app is usually far too small to be usable, it can be quickly enlarged by tapping anywhere on the app window. Tapping like that shifts the screen so that the leftmost app now takes up 10% of the screen while the middle and rightmost apps take up the remaining 90%. You can swap app positions, change apps by dragging and dropping from the taskbar, or view all three apps by performing a four-finger pinch gesture.

It remains to be seen if Google implements all the gestures as Open Canvas.

More improvements to the screen recording system Android 16 could improve the screen recorder and screen caster indicator chips. We spotted and activated the change in Android 15 Beta 4.2, but the changes could arrive on Android 15 in a future QPR release and, thus, on the wider platform with Android 16. The chips also became more widely available in QPR1 Beta 2, indicating a probable release for the QPR update and then on Android 16.

For one, the new chips for screen recording and screencasting will give you a timer right in the status bar.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

They will also let you stop the screen recording or screencasting session without needing to pull down the status bar. Tapping on the chip will open a dialog that will let you stop the session.

There’s also a different icon now to indicate when a third-party app requests to record or cast the screen. The dialog more prominently asks you whether you want to “share your screen” rather than “start recording or casting.”

The experience is fairly functional, but it remains anyone’s guess when it actually arrives. With Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2, the system stops screen shares initiated by third-party apps when you lock the device.

App switcher during partial screen sharing Android 15 introduces a more private screen recording system that lets you record or cast a single app instead of your entire screen. However, if you need to change the app you are recording or casting, you have to end the current session and start a new one.

We spotted a flag within Android 15’s source code that enables a “task switcher feature for partial screen sharing.” After enabling this flag, when you start screen recording or screen casting an app and then switch to a different app, a new notification appears.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

This notification informs the user that “sharing pauses when you switch apps.” The notification has two buttons: “Share this app instead” and “Switch back.” Tapping “switch back” launches the app with which the screen recording or casting session was started. Tapping “share this app instead” does nothing, though, as it appears the task switcher feature for partial screen sharing isn’t fully functional yet. It’s possible that this feature could get activated for Android 16.

Redesigned media output switcher With Android 16 Beta 4, we found code for a redesigned media output switcher. This panel pops out when you tap the chip in the top right of any media playback notification.

Below is the current UI for the media output switcher, as seen in Android 15 on a Pixel device:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

In contrast, here’s the new UI for the media output switcher that Google is experimenting with in Android 16 Beta 4:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

The “connect a device” button has moved from the bottom of the list to just below the media info at the top. Second, the slider controlling the volume for the current output device has been tweaked. Instead of a thick, pill-shaped slider with the device name enclosed within, it’s now a thinner, continuous slider with the device name placed above the handle. The slider also shows a more appropriate icon for connected devices — in this case, a pair of earbuds. Lastly, the large pill enclosing each device under “Speakers & Displays” is gone, the only downgrade in this redesign.

Android has long allowed you to back up your contacts to your Google account, but Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1 includes code that indicates Google could be working on adding a dedicated Contacts Storage page to centralize the setting. This page will contain toggles to choose which account to sync contacts to, a button to add an account, and a toggle to disable contact syncing entirely.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Corner swipe gesture for invoking the default assistant With the introduction of Circle to Search, Google hijacked the long-press home button gesture (when using the three-button navigation system) from invoking the default assistant and made it launch the Circle to Search feature instead. Even if you disabled Circle to Search, you won’t get the gesture back on the three-button navigation system.

Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 includes code for a new corner swipe gesture that will let you invoke the default assistant even when using three-button navigation.

As you can see, you will have to swipe diagonally inwards from the corner to launch your device’s default assistant.

Keyboard shortcut menu in the side navigation rail Android lets you navigate its UI using keyboard shortcuts. Because there are so many keyboard shortcuts available, Android also has a dedicated menu listing them.

To help make the keyboard shortcut menu easier to use on tablets, Google could add the menu to the side navigation rail. We found code for this in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2, and here’s what it would look like:

The redesigned keyboard shortcut menu should thus be easier to use on tablets since the shortcut categories will be closer to the left edge of the display. Since the change was spotted in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

Touchpad gesture tutorial We spotted a new tutorial for touchpad gestures in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2. Google has created custom animations that explain how some of Android’s touchpad gestures work. These animations simulate the gesture used to go back (swiping left or right with three fingers), the gesture to go home (swiping up with three fingers), and the gesture to open the app drawer (pressing the action key on the keyboard).

It also created a notification that appears when the user connects a touchpad for the first time, inviting them to try the gestures.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Although Android also supports gestures to open the recent apps screen (swiping up with three fingers, then holding), open the notifications panel (swiping down with three fingers), and switch between apps (swiping left or right with four fingers), the tutorial in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 doesn’t mention all of these. It’s likely that Google isn’t finished with this tutorial just yet and that it will be updated in a future beta.

Since the change was spotted in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

PC-like external display management features Google is testing new external display management tools in Android 16 that bring Android closer to other desktop OSes. Android has a few issues when extending the screen from an Android phone to an external display — the mouse is fixed to one screen and can’t be moved between displays, and Android doesn’t let you switch between mirroring the screen and extending it, forcing you to tweak developer options and then reconnect the phone to change display modes.

To address the first issue, Google is enabling mouse cursor transitions across connected displays and adding the ability to rearrange them. The solution to the second issue is to add a toggle that switches between mirroring the built-in display and extending it. We managed to enable both of these PC-like external display management features in Android 16 Beta 2.1:

We’ve also spotted a new ‘Enable desktop experience features’ option that will soon appear in developer options to let you enable Desktop View on secondary displays. These desktop experience features can likely be enabled on secondary displays only or on both the device and secondary displays. We managed to enable the button in Android 16 Beta 3 but couldn’t get the feature itself to work.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

With Android 16 Beta 3, Google also added the ability to screen record the external display when your Android phone is connected to an external monitor.

Android’s Desktop Mode With Android 16 Beta 4, we managed to activate Android’s desktop mode. Given the feature’s unfinished state, we expect it to arrive either with a later Android 16 QPR release or with Android 17.

Compared to the current, barebones desktop interface that appears when you connect a Pixel device to an external display, Android’s new desktop mode actually displays the taskbar and status bar. The taskbar is a big addition, as it provides access to your pinned apps and a better version of the app drawer. The taskbar can also show recent apps while in desktop mode, making it easier to multitask.

It’s also possible to launch multiple apps in floating windows simultaneously using the new desktop mode. Further, you can freely move, resize, or snap windows to the side, just like on desktop operating systems. This makes it easy to drag and drop content from one app to another, provided the apps you’re using support drag-and-drop.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

There’s more work to be done on this feature, so we expect to learn more in the coming months.

“Postured” trigger for screen saver Android offers two ways to trigger the screen saver: while charging, or while docked and charging. The first option activates the screen saver whenever the device is charging, regardless of how or its physical state. The second option activates it only when the device is both charging and docked.

Android relies on the dock itself to pass along the docking state information, but unfortunately, many charging stands aren’t recognized as docks. Users have to thus use the charging trigger, which also gets triggered when the device is laid flat on a bedside dock, for example.

With Android 16, Google could introduce a new screen saver trigger called “postured,” which requires the device to be sitting upright, not flat. This would solve the problem of the screen saver triggering when the device is charging while laid flat on a table, as the screen saver will basically only activate when the device is upright and charging on a stand.

New Terminal app to run Linux apps in a virtual machine Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1 added a new “Linux development environment” toggle in Developer Settings, that lets you “run [a] Linux terminal on Android.” After enabling this option, a new Terminal app appears in the app list.

The Terminal app will download, configure, run, and interface with an instance of Debian (a popular Linux distribution) in a virtual machine. This will seemingly let developers run Linux apps on their Android devices through a virtual machine. We’ve played around with the feature and even managed to run Doom on Android 16’s Linux Terminal. With Android 16 Beta 4, Google uncapped the disk resize slider in the Linux Terminal app’s settings, letting users resize the disk to occupy most of the host device’s storage. We’ve even managed to improve memory availability since the app is limited to 4GB of RAM, which can be insufficient for developers.

Dedicated “Supervision” page for certain parental controls Google offers the “Family Link” parental control suite that makes it easy to create a managed Google Account for your child with explicit content filters enabled in Chrome and Google Search. The Family Link app provides a centralized hub for managing your child’s online activities, and you can easily access it either through the dedicated Android app or within Android’s Digital Wellbeing settings.

With Android 16 Beta 4, we managed to activate the dedicated “Supervision” entry within the Settings app.

To enable device supervision, you must enter a new PIN for the supervised account. Once you enable supervision, you can then activate web content filters for that account. By default, the system allows all websites and search results, but you can change these settings to block explicit sites in Chrome and explicit images, text, and links in Search. While these content filters won’t block all explicit content, they should effectively hide most inappropriate material on the web.

Parallel Module Loading Google is making a change that speeds up an early part of the Android OS’s multi-stage initialization process. The stage in question happens after the Linux kernel is loaded, and it sets up the basic environment necessary for the later stages of the boot process to take place.

During this stage, Android loads essential kernel modules, which are pieces of code that extend the kernel’s functionality and which can be loaded and unloaded on demand. Google is proposing a change called Parallel Module Loading to tweak how Android loads these modules. This would remove a bottleneck that previously existed, resulting in a noticeable improvement in module loading times. It remains to be seen how much of this improvement users will be able to experience in boot times, if at all they are noticeable.

Pixel: Redesigned Pixel wallpaper app Android 15 QPR1 Beta 1 includes clues around a redesign of the Pixel wallpaper app, aka the app called Wallpaper & Style on Pixel devices.

Here’s a video that compares the Pixel wallpaper app’s current UI to the in-development one we enabled.

For starters, the tabs to switch between customizing the home screen and customizing the lock screen are now gone. Instead, to switch from customizing the home screen to customizing the lock screen (or vice versa), you now simply swipe from one to the other in the carousel underneath where it says “Wallpaper & style.”

The next big change is to how lock screen clock customization is handled. Instead of swiping left or right to cycle through the available lock screen clock styles, all the available options will be shown in a bottom sheet. The lock screen clock color and size customization settings are also contained within this new bottom sheet, albeit in separate tabs.

Likewise, the lock screen shortcut customization UI is now part of a bottom sheet instead of a separate page. With this change, you no longer need to scroll to see all available lock screen shortcuts, as up to 10 shortcuts can fit on the sheet (only nine shortcuts currently exist for phones).

The same is true for the new system color palette picker, which shows two rows of palette options instead of one. Selecting a color palette causes the home screen preview to zoom in, allowing you to better preview the changes to your icons. The option to toggle the dark theme also appears when the preview zooms in, so you can quickly preview how your home screen looks with the dark theme enabled, too.

Note that the in-development UI is far from finished, so many features and assets are missing. Still, this early look gives us a good idea of what to expect from the new version of the app when it goes live in a future update.

Pixel: New lock screen clock options and customization With Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2, we spotted that the Pixel Wallpaper app has new clock style options.

Google is also preparing to add a new page for customizing the lock screen clock size, one that lets you tweak the weight, width, roundness, and slant. This page will be accessed by tapping a new pencil/edit button shown on top of each lock screen clock style card. While we weren’t able to get this pencil/edit button to appear, we were able to manually launch the new lock screen clock size page, as shown in the video below:

Pixel: Customize the shapes of home screen icons The Pixel Launcher in Android 11 used to let users customize the icon shapes for home screen icons, but this functionality was removed in Android 12. Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1 brings back the ability to customize the icon shapes for home screen icons, indicating the feature could make an appearance in the stable branch in a future stable release.

The in-development version of the Pixel wallpaper app (aka Wallpaper & Style) now contains a new “app shape & layout” menu in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1. This menu has two tabs: Shape and Layout. The Layout tab has familiar options for changing the layout of the home screen grid, while the Shape tab has six different options for changing the shape of home screen icons.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Pixel: Recent apps in taskbar On Pixel foldables and tablets, the Android taskbar currently shows six apps pinned to the dock and two suggested apps. Although the Pixel Launcher suggests apps based on your recently used apps, they’re also based on those you most frequently use and your “routines.”

Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 includes code that suggests that Google could swap the app suggestions on the taskbar with recently used apps.

In the above video, you can see the two suggested apps getting replaced with the two most recently used apps.

Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform. Many Android manufacturers already highlight recently used apps in the taskbar, so this change will benefit the Android platform at large.

Pixel: Manually set 80% charging limit Google Pixel smartphones have an Adaptive Charging feature that monitors your charging habits and limits charging to 80% until about one hour before the system predicts you’ll unplug your phone. This feature could be updated to add an option to manually cap charging at 80%.

The feature was spotted in Android 15 Beta 4.2 and rolled out more widely with Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2, so it will likely reach Pixel devices in a future QPR update or with Android 16.

Pixel: Screen-off fingerprint unlock With Android 16 Developer Preview 2, Google added a new setting for Pixel 9 devices that allows users to use the fingerprint sensor without switching on the display. This new setting is called “Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock” and is present under Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Face & Fingerprint Unlock > Fingerprint Unlock.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

The Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock feature is quite straightforward and works exactly as described on Pixel devices with an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. Here’s a short video demonstrating it:

With the release of Android 16 Beta 3, Google expanded the compatibility of this feature to all Pixel phones. However, with Android 16 Beta 4, Google mysteriously removed the feature, albeit users who activated it previously could still use it.

Pixel: Hide launcher widgets behind a menu Android 16 Developer Preview 2 includes code that suggests Google is preparing to tweak the Pixel Launcher so that its widget list does not show all available widgets by default. The widget list will add a new button to show all widgets, which will help clean up the menu if you have many apps or widget apps installed.

Pixel: Double tap to turn off screen In Android 16 Beta 4, there’s evidence that Google is working to add a gesture to turn off the screen with a double-tap on the lock screen, and we managed to activate the gesture for a first look.

With this new gesture, you can double-tap on an empty spot of the lock screen to turn off your Pixel phone’s screen.

With Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, we also managed to activate its Settings menu entry. When it goes live, the feature will be in Settings > System > Gestures.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Many Android phones already have this feature on their skins, but it would be the first time Pixels get it. The feature could also come to the broader Android platform.

Pixel: Pixel Thermometer app shortcut Android 16 Beta 4 includes code that indicates that Google could add a “Thermometer” option to Android’s lock screen shortcut customization page, intended for use with the Pixel Thermometer. We activated the feature to give you a look:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Pixel: Robust open/close detection The fourth beta of Android 16 has brought a new display setting to the Pixel Fold and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. This setting, called “robust open/close detection,” is said to help your Pixel foldable more accurately tell whether it is open or closed. However, the feature increases battery usage.

tmartin on Discord

Even though the feature has surfaced, it’s not immediately clear if it is functional yet.

Pixel: Pixel phones get Linux kernel 6.1 update With the release of Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1, Google pushed out a major Linux kernel version upgrade to all its Tensor-powered Pixels, unifying the kernel version across Tensor devices.

The Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel Tablet, and Pixel Fold are all being upgraded from Linux kernel 5.10 to 6.1, whereas the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel 8a are being upgraded from Linux kernel 5.15 to 6.1. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel 9 series was already running Linux 6.1, so there aren’t any changes for these devices.

This Linux kernel bump for Pixel devices will go a long way toward the Longevity GRF program.

Android 16 for TVs With the release of Android 16, Google is also apparently moving the TV-based Android TV operating system to a bi-yearly release schedule. This means that smart TVs on Android TV 14 could skip Android TV 15 and directly get the Android TV 16 update. Google’s I/O 2025 schedule mentions “preparing for Android 16 for TV,” so it’s coming for sure.

Note that the Android TV operating system is quite different from the conventional Android operating system, so the changelog for the Android TV 16 update will be different from the platform changelog for the Android 16 update for smartphones.

Android 16: Leaked Pixel-exclusive features coming with Android 16 QPR releases As mentioned earlier, Google releases QPR updates for Pixel devices, which tend to pack in features before they make their way to the subsequent Android platform update. However, if the feature is Pixel-exclusive, it won’t be coming to the Android platform update. Thus, these Pixel-exclusive features can be deemed to arrive on the base Android platform itself instead of a subsequent release.

For example, generic features spotted in Android 16 QPR1 betas will be coming to the wider platform with Android

Next week is the big Made by Google launch event for the Pixel Watch 4. We anticipate a spectacular refresh to the existing Pixel Watch lineup. Rumors have been floating around, accompanied by a healthy supply of leaks, so we have a good idea of what to expect. It is a given that the Pixel Watch 3 will be replaced by its successor as one of the best Android watches of today.

Google has already brought several new features to Wear OS 6, while some of the others will launch exclusively with the Pixel Watch 4. We’re expecting to see Gemini commands, a new Material 3 Expressive UI, and new watch faces. These will eventually come to older Pixel Watches, too, but it does point to the areas where Google will try to improve the Watch 4 hardware.

I also heard from a Qualcomm exec last year about what to expect from the next Snapdragon Wear chip. We expect the Watch 4 to replace the dated hardware of its predecessor, with an emphasis on improving AI and battery life.

Here’s everything we know or suspect about the Google Pixel Watch 4, as well as everything on our wishlist for Watch 4 upgrades to fix the issues I’ve noticed during and after my Watch 3 review.

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

Google will debut the Pixel Watch 4 along with the Pixel 10 family of flagship smartphones at its late summer event. The next Made by Google launch event is set to happen on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, a few weeks from now at 10 a.m. PT.

As per a leak, the price of the Pixel Watch 4’s Wi-Fi variants is expected to remain the same as last year — $349 for the 41mm and $399 for the 45mm sizes. Meanwhile, the same leak purports that the LTE models might actually be $50 cheaper than last year.

Once the Pixel Watch 4 sees the light of day, we are also hoping to see a price drop for the Pixel Watch 3.

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Google Pixel Watch 4: Leaked design changes

(Image credit: Bedros-P / Github)

A recent leak spilled the beans about the colorways of the upcoming Pixel Watch 4, complete with information on the shades of the watch bands as well. According to the report, the Watch 4 will come in Black/Obsidian, Gold/Lemon, Silver/Porcelain, Silver/Iris, and Moonstone hues. Whether these colors will come in both case sizes is still unknown.

As for the bands, we will see the Metal Mesh band in Matte Black and Polished Silver, the Performance Loop band in Moonstone, and the Gradient Stretch band in Lemongrass/Frost, Moonstone, Obsidian/Hazel, and Peony/Iris.

Back in April, OnLeaks and 91Mobiles released alleged Pixel Watch 4 renders showing what the upcoming smartwatch would look like. These aren’t official Google renders, but they show that this model may be about 2mm thicker than the Pixel Watch 3, with several key design changes.

(Image credit: OnLeaks/ via 91mobiles)

The rounded display look hasn’t changed, but it appears to have even smaller bezels than the Watch 3, which itself shrunk the Watch 2’s thick border. While the Watch 3 had 1.27- and 1.43-inch displays, we may be closer to the same 1.3- and 1.5-inch sizes as the Galaxy Watch 7.

We also see from the renders that the Watch 3’s four charging pins have been removed from the rear sensor package. Another more recent leak corroborates this change, giving us a glimpse at the Pixel Watch 4’s side-mounted charging in renders. This could signal a wireless charging coil, which could partially explain the thicker design. If it specifically supports the Qi2 standard, it would mean one fewer proprietary charging cable in our lives.

While a previous leak suggested the thicker design could indicate a thicker battery, a more recent report points toward the same design as last year, thinner bezels, and a larger size to potentially fit a bigger battery. Otherwise, the bottom sensor array seems to suggest we’ll see similar Fitbit-based health data as the last two generations.

Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Android Headlines) (Image credit: Android Headlines)

The renders show a return of the rotating crown and back button located above it. Intriguingly, the Pixel Watch 4 may have two new buttons, located along the left edge above and below the speaker slit. But we don’t know what these would do, yet; they’re so small that they may not even be functional buttons.

The leak also suggested that the Pixel Watch 4 will ship in two sizes: 41mm and 45mm. This matches the Pixel Watch 3, so no surprises there.

Google responded to criticism last year that the Pixel Watch 3 design is unrepairable, so it can only send you a new watch and throw away the old one if something goes wrong. A Google rep later said they are “thinking about” how to make the Pixel Watch design repairable, but there’s no sign yet from these design leaks whether the Watch 4 is any different in this regard.

Google Pixel Watch 4: Hardware

(Image credit: Qualcomm / Android Central)

At long last, Google might finally be making the Pixel Watch 4 easier to repair. Allegedly, the smartwatch has a redesigned build that finally allows access to its internals, making it easier to crack open and repair. This is a major win considering the last three Pixel Watches that were basically glued shut and a nightmare if damaged.

The Pixel Watch 2 and 3 use the 4nm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset with Arm cores, the same chip found in the OnePlus Watch 3 and Mobvoi TicWatch Atlas. But I have strong reason to believe the Pixel Watch 4 will get a long-overdue upgrade.

In 2023, Google and Qualcomm announced a RISC-V partnership, where they’d coordinate on developing the next Snapdragon Wear chipset using open-source, custom RISC-V cores.

Then, last year, I interviewed Qualcomm VP of wearables Dino Bekis about the Qualcomm-Google partnership, when he discussed the “feature-focused” and “AI-driven” Snapdragon Wear chipset coming “next year” (meaning 2025).

According to Bekis, this chip would deliver “more compute capability” and “headroom” for a significant boost over the current Gen 1. And he says the eventual goal is to make a chipset that delivers “a week’s worth of battery life” for Wear OS, instead of a couple of days.

(Image credit: Siemens)

Bekis says Qualcomm and Google are currently “working on” making Wear OS software compatible with RISC-V, which has the potential to make Wear OS watches last much longer with the same capacity. In theory, this new system and improved battery life would apply to the Pixel Watch 4, but there’s no guarantee it’s ready yet.

Complicating things, an internal Google document leaked last year suggesting that the Pixel Watch 5 (no, not the 4) could use a custom wearable Tensor chip with one ARM Cortex-A78 core and two ARM Cortex-A55 cores. For context, the Galaxy Watch 7’s Exynos W1000 SoC uses these same cores, but has four A55s, making the Watch 5 preemptively underpowered.

At the moment, we don’t know enough about the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 to say definitively if it’ll use RISC-V or not, nor if Google will leave it behind for Tensor a year from now. But I can strongly predict that the Pixel Watch 4 will make a significant performance boost over the Watch 3, which may help it run Gemini commands more efficiently.

Google Pixel Watch 4: Software

Image 1 of 6 (Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central) (Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central) (Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central) (Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central) (Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central) (Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central)

Word is that the Pixel Watch 4 will feature deep Gemini integration, boasting AI-based personal assistance and suggestions. Other rumored features include Loss of Pulse and over 40 exercise modes.

I had a chance to test a beta build of Wear OS 6 at Google I/O, giving me an early look at the new software that’ll launch first on the Pixel Watch 4 before coming to older watches. Read that, or my Wear OS 6 guide, for a full list of features, but these are the highlights:

The Material 3 Expressive UI adds more fluid scrolling, buttons and notification cards that shrink closer to the display edge while still showing info, and buttons that expand when tapped.

Dynamic theming will pull one primary and two secondary colors from the watch face to seed throughout the UI. There are also manual theme options.

3rd-party watch faces will be supported again through the Watch Face Push API.

Tiles now fit more buttons and information, making it easier to trigger actions without going into an app.

This version reportedly delivers 10% battery life improvements.

(Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central)

That GIF above shows Wear OS 6 in action on a Pixel Watch 3, with content morphing smoothly to fit however much display space it has.

Aside from this cool UI change and new developer tools like an improved AOD mode for apps, the main Wear OS upgrade coming soon is Gemini. Google has promised Gemini will come to Wear OS “in the coming months,” which could align with Wear OS 6 or come even sooner.

Just like Assistant on the Watch 3, you’ll be able to trigger Gemini on the Pixel Watch 4 with a long button press or “Hey Google” wake word. But Gemini will be better at natural language recognition and will have better vertical integration with other Google apps, so you can do things like ask Gemini to summarize your recent emails or messages.

Google Pixel Watch 4 wishlist

(Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central)

The Google Pixel Watch 3 still ranks second among the best Wear OS watches, closely matched to the Galaxy Watch 7. But if Google wants to surpass its Wear OS partner with the Google Pixel Watch 4, it should improve on its predecessor with our suggestions below.

Better battery life

The Pixel Watch 3 uses the Wear OS Hybrid Interface and efficient XML watch faces to extend its battery life; even though it’s only rated to last 24 hours with AOD, we’ve found the Watch 3 45mm can last two days in normal conditions.

Still, other Wear OS watches like the OnePlus Watch 3 can last five days! Google says Wear OS 6 will be 10% more efficient, but the Pixel Watch 4 would need a much more massive boost to become on par with rival brands. The leaked design renders suggest the Watch 4 will be thicker, so we can hope some of that bulk goes towards a larger battery capacity.

Boost performance and use it well

We brought up the likely possibility that Google will use a new Snapdragon or RISC-V chip in the Pixel Watch 4. But what will Google do with that power? Samsung’s new 3nm Exynos W1000 chip in the Galaxy Watch 7 is fast, but Samsung didn’t seem to do much with its “3.7x” power boost over the last chip.

Ideally, this new Snapdragon SoC would have a battery efficiency boost (see above) or some kind of revamped on-device neural processing for Gemini. Maybe it’ll be able to respond instantly to your health data and analyze it, like Apple’s new running coach but more specialized. Perhaps the Watch 4 could support better on-watch games? Basically, I’m curious if Google can put this extra headroom to good use.

(Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central)

Dual-band GPS and more sport specialization

The Pixel Watch 3 has some fantastic running-focused software like custom run workouts, Fitbit Premium AI-generated daily run workouts, weekly cardio load tracking versus your target load, running form analysis, and a Morning Brief showcasing your Daily Readiness to work.

Unfortunately, Google didn’t give the Pixel Watch 3 dual-band GPS, so it struggled with location accuracy during my testing and gave inaccurate mileage results. Samsung gave the Galaxy Watch 7 dual-band GPS, and I hope Google follows suit this generation.

Google could also piggyback on its new offline Google Maps capabilities and offer proper downloadable courses on the Pixel Watch 4 for runners, hikers, and cyclists; it could be a more user-friendly solution than what Garmin and other fitness brands offer.

We also want to see Fitbit’s capabilities improve for indoor workouts. Compared to Garmin or Samsung watches that can count your reps for strength training, the Pixel Watch 3 can only track basics like calories and time; the Watch 4 should put greater focus on this area.

(Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central)

New health data

The Pixel Watch 2 added continuous body response (cEDA), passive irregular heart rhythm warnings, and skin temperature data. The Pixel Watch 3 added Loss of Pulse for cardiovascular emergencies and a better HR algorithm, but not much else. Will the Pixel Watch 4 give us something new to get excited about?

Patents aren’t guaranteed to show up in products, but we’ve seen several intriguing Fitbit health patents over the years, including one for detecting arterial stiffness as a warning sign for cardiovascular issues, as well as several blood pressure monitoring patents over the years.

One Fitbit patent suggests using on-wrist games to monitor your mental health. Another describes a “Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS)” for generating a smartwatch “Fit Score” that warns you if the watch’s sensors aren’t reading your health data properly.

Other key upgrades

I like my Pixel Watch 3 a lot, but I’d like to see the Watch 4 add sapphire glass for better protection. If it’s really going to get 2mm thicker, then it’ll be even more susceptible to bonks and cracks over time.

Otherwise, I’m curious if we’ll ever see a “Pixel Watch Ultra” equivalent to the Galaxy Watch Ultra, one that has a more traditional metal bezel to go with a larger size and extra battery life. But we’ve had no hint of such a device (yet).

Pixel 10: In summary Google’s upcoming flagship series of smartphones, officially launching on 20 August

Should consist of four models, including a book-style foldable

A big shake-up of colourways, including ‘Limoncello’

MagSafe style charging tipped to be built-in with a range of ‘Pixelsnap’ accessories

The Pixel 10 series are launching next week and the phones have been leaked multiple times (that’s an understatement), so there are comprehensive details and images of all four models already.

It looks like Google will be launching a similar set of devices to the Pixel 9 phones. The Pixel 10 series will look very similar but come in a lot of new colours, headlining with Moonstone, and there are also various upgrades coming.

The regular Pixel 10 is thought to be getting an additional telephoto camera and every model is tipped to get Qi2 magnetic charging similar to MagSage. Google will launch its own range of Pixelsnap accessories as part of this.

A new Tensor G5 processor will power all the Pixel 10 phones and they are also rumoured to be getting bigger batteries. All of this will arrive at the same pricing as the Pixel 9 phones.

Here’s everything we know so far about the new Pixel 10 series, including the latest news, rumours and expert predictions on the release date, price and specs.

Latest Pixel 10 rumours

Yet more images have leaked of all the Pixel 10 phones, and Google has officially shown the Fold in a new teaser trailer. It’s also rumoured that most models will be eSIM-only in the USA.

Pixel 10: What to expect

In summary A similar design to the Pixel 9 series is expected

All powered by the new Tensor G5 chipset, which may be Google’s first fully in-house design

Camera hardware changes, including a telephoto on the cheapest model

Qi2 magnetic charging built-in, a first for a flagship Android phone

In summary Next ‘Made by Google’ event confirmed for 20 August

Pixel 10 series is almost certain to be unveiled there

Should go on sale soon after, tipped for 28 August

Fold model might be ‘delayed’

Google has sent out media invites for its next ‘Made by Google’ event, which will take place on 20 August. Specifically, it’ll begin at 1pm ET (6pm UK time) in New York City.

In it, “Pixel phones” are explicitly mentioned, all but confirming that the Pixel 10 series will be unveiled on that date. A total of seven devices are expected, but three others are unlikely.

This confirms what was already leaked in an earlier report, which also suggested the phones would be going on sale on 28 August. It’s also thought that the devices will go up for pre-order on the day of the launch.

However, the Fold may once again be ‘delayed’. Leaked information suggests the 10 Pro Fold won’t go on sale until 9 October, alongside the Pixel Watch 4 and Pixel Buds 2a.

The 9 Pro Fold and Pixel Watch 3 arrived a little later, in September, but this would represent a longer wait for the foldable and smartwatch.

Here’s Google’s official trailer for the Pixel 10 launch – see if you can spot the not-so-subtle dig at Apple. Google has also shown the Pixel 10 Pro Fold in an official trailer.

August certainly makes sense, going by last year’s Pixel 9 launch, which occurred earlier than the typical October timing.

Here’s when the previous core flagship Pixel models were launched:

Google Pixel 9 series: August 2024

Google Pixel 8 series: October 2023

Google Pixel 7 series: October 2022

Google Pixel 6 series: October 2021

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Sources: Android Headlines | Android Headlines (2) | Android Headlines (3) | Engadget | The Verge | GSMA | Winfuture

How much will the Google Pixel 10 cost?

In summary Pixel 10 series should start at £799/$799 again

EU pricing suggests no change compared to Pixel 9 series

US prices suggest no change either

Following Roland Quandt’s leak suggesting European prices for the Pixel 10 will remain the same as the previous generation, we now have yet another leak from Android Headlines with the full US pricing, which also confirms storage capacities.

These prices are identical to the Pixel 9 series, suggesting the starting prices of all four models will remain the same in the UK, too.

There are two key takeaways from the leak, which are that the Pixel 10 Pro XL won’t come in a 128GB model and the 10 Pro Fold now gets a larger 1TB option.

Pixel 10 prices

128GB – $799

256GB – $899

Pixel 10 Pro prices

128GB – $999

256GB – $1,099

512GB – $1,219

1TB – $1,449

Pixel 10 Pro XL prices

256GB – $1,199

512GB – $1,319

1TB – $1,549

Pixel 10 Pro Fold prices

256GB – $1,799

512GB – $1,919

1TB – $2,149

Sources: Roland Quandt | Android Headlines

See our Google Pixel 2025 Event Guide.

Pixel 10 FAQ 1. What is the Google Pixel 10? The Pixel 10 is Google’s 2025 range of own-brand Android smartphones. 2. What is the price of the Pixel 10? The Pixel 10 phones look like they will carry the same prices as the Pixel 9 models, starting at £799/$799. 3. Is the Google Pixel 10 coming out? The Google 10 phones are officially being launched on 20 August at a Made by Google event in New York. They are expected to be available to pre-order straight away, though some models will go on sale later than others. 4. What will Pixel 10 look like? The Pixel 10 phones will look very similar to the Pixel 9 series in design. However, Google is tipped to introduce a range of new colourways, including Moonstone and Limoncello. 5. Will the Pixel 10 have better battery life? It seems likely, yes. The phones are rumoured to have larger batteries than before as well as a more efficient processor in the Tensor G5.

That’s all we currently know about the Pixel 10 series. See our guide to the best phones you can buy to learn more about what they’ll be up against.

With the recent launch of the Galaxy Watch 8, Samsung will be watching closely to see if its Ultra-style “Cushion Design” can pay off and reverse its poor sales. Depending on the results, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 could either stick with the status quo or course correct to the old circular style.

Samsung’s Watch 8 squircle plans leaked over a year in advance, so we’re not expecting the Watch 9 to rock the boat. So if we accept that the squircle is here to stay, what else should the Galaxy Watch 9 add or change?

Based on our time reviewing the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic and our Galaxy Watch 8 hands-on, here’s what we’d like (or expect) to see from the Galaxy Watch 9.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Models

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

Samsung sold a Galaxy Watch 8, Watch 8 Classic, and Watch Ultra (2025) this year. Since Samsung traditionally sells Classics on alternating years, the safest bet is that we’ll only see a Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra (2026) next year.

We’re still a big fan of the 2022 Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, which Samsung skipped for the Ultra last year. Now that Samsung has started selling three models per year, we’d love to see a Pro resurrection that’s lighter and longer-lived than the Classic and Ultra.

Unfortunately, since a titanium frame and long battery life are key Ultra selling points, we won’t get our hopes up about a Watch 9 Pro.

There’s also a decent chance Samsung will sell a cheap Galaxy Watch FE 2 next year. Apple releases its budget SE watches every 2–3 years, and since the first Watch FE came out in 2024, Samsung might follow its rival’s lead in 2026.

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Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Likely specs and features

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

Samsung rarely backslides on features offered from past generations, so it’s safe to say that the Galaxy Watch 9 will come in two sizes, each aluminum case sporting a 5ATM water-resistant and MIL-STD-810H protective rating.

The last two Galaxy Watch generations used the 3nm Exynos W1000 chip with 2GB of RAM. Aside from the old Tizen OS watches, we’ve never seen one chip last three generations of Galaxy Watches, so there’s a possibility of a new, faster 3nm chip, or at least a new coprocessor to handle background tasks and AI more efficiently.

We’ll eventually see Galaxy Watches go beyond Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 5GHz into 6.0 and 6GHz. And we could see the Watch 9 add ultra-wideband (like the Pixel Watch 3 has), enabling features such as digital car keys, paired watch/phone unlocking, or better Find My tools. But we can only speculate if the Watch 9 gets them or a later generation.

(Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central)

Since Google continues to make Wear OS more battery efficient every year, Samsung won’t feel much pressure to increase the Watch 9’s capacity too far beyond the Watch 8’s 325/435mAh capacity, sticking to the same 40-hour estimate.

That also applies to the 10W WPC fast charging that the last three generations of Galaxy Watches have used. Faster charging can deteriorate battery capacity, so Samsung will let rivals like the OnePlus Watch 3 beat the Galaxy Watch 9 for speed. We would love to see Samsung adopt Qi2 charging on the Watch 9, at least.

Lastly, Samsung should bring back the same BioActive sensor that enables all of the new health tracking tools like Antioxidant Index, Running Coach, Vascular Load, and AGEs Index. It could improve it with new LEDs, like the Watch 7 added, but the fundamentals will be unchanged.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: What we want and expect to see

The Galaxy Watch 8 had a clear strategy: stick to the same hardware template with a thinner, squircle “Cushion Design” and a bunch of new Galaxy AI health tools. The Galaxy Watch 9 will probably continue down this same path.

Samsung has publicly speculated about a Samsung Health subscription, and most of its Galaxy AI disclaimers say that the tools are free through 2025. So it seems likely the Galaxy Watch 9 will push out even more health and fitness tools to justify a subscription.

We don’t necessarily want to pay monthly for Health tools, but it seems a likely possibility. Let’s focus instead on the Galaxy Watch 9 tools that we do want.

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

Better battery life

Samsung is working on denser all-solid-state batteries, or “Dream Batteries,” according to a report. It claims that Samsung wants to insert this tech into Galaxy Buds, the Galaxy Ring 2, and future Galaxy Watches.

We’d love to see this in the Galaxy Watch 9, but the report suggested these “dream batteries” may not be ready until the Galaxy Watch 10 in 2027. And it may also be more expensive than your typical lithium-ion battery, and we don’t want the Watch 9 price to rise again so soon.

In the meantime, we can only hope that some combination of a more efficient Wear OS 7, a better coprocessor, or extra capacity will make the Watch 9 longer-lived. I doubt we’ll see it come close to the OnePlus Watch 3, but if it can hit 50 hours per charge instead of 40, that alone would be worth an upgrade.

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

Thicker watch bands

Plenty of Galaxy Watch fans’ wishlists would start with a return to a more circular design. But since Samsung isn’t likely to relent on its squircle look anytime soon, I’ll instead bring up this request from my colleague Brady, who is currently reviewing the standard Watch 8.

He likes the Watch 8 design in person, calling it “super thin” and praising the contrast between the dark screen and metallic squircle. But he doesn’t like how the current Galaxy Watch 8 bands look “really narrow compared to the thick squircle case,” emphasizing instead of masking the squircle’s size.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra has wider bands that proportionally match its size. I’m not sure if the current Dynamic Lug system can accommodate a wider band, but hopefully, this is something Samsung can figure out by the Galaxy Watch 9 launch.

(Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central)

New Gemini tools

This request is as much about Google and its Wear OS 7 plans as about Samsung. But now that Gemini on Wear OS has launched, we hope that the AI will continue to improve, integrating more closely with Google & Samsung apps and improving smarts.

We’re hoping that any upgrades to the Exynos processor will lead to faster and smarter AI responses. But beyond that, we’d like to see Gemini integrate more closely with Samsung Health so it can provide direct coaching based on your data.

We’d also like to see Gemini Live come to Wear OS watches for more in-depth conversations. And while this isn’t specific to on-watch AI, it might be handy if Samsung and Google could train an AI tool that lets you take a photo of a plate for nutrition logging.

(Image credit: Michael Hicks / Android Central)

New Samsung Health data and coaching

If Samsung’s going to charge money to judge our bodily health, it needs to earn it. I suspect we’ll get some kind of Health Coach AI, but it’ll need to be highly accurate and tailored to your body’s data, rather than some generic LLM chatbot.

Samsung has been working on non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, and this would certainly fit into Samsung’s current mold of judging your body’s heart health and antioxidant levels — assuming that it’s ready and accurate enough to be relevant.

Otherwise, Samsung has done a good job of surprising us with tools like the antioxidant index that we never expected, so we’ll simply hope that Samsung has more tricks in store that its multicolored LED sensors can detect.

Don’t wait a year Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Check Amazon View at Samsung Sleek style The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is available now and has some trade-in deals and cash-back credit to soften the price. The latest model has a brighter 1.34-inch display with a bunch of new Samsung Health tools and the latest One UI 8 Watch tools, months before the last-generation models.