Android 16 offers a lot of innovations that I’m eager to test out on my Android phone, including Material 3 Expressive, a redesigned Quick Settings menu, and Live Updates. It seems like one of the biggest Android updates in a long time.
There weren’t many obvious adjustments that would have excited me. Prior to Google revealing new features at The Android Show: I/O Edition on May 13, Android 16 was looking like a really dull update.
New Quick Settings panel
With each significant Android update, Google alters the Quick Settings panel almost like a ritual. That tendency will continue with Android 16, and I’m looking forward to the modifications Google has planned. Resizable toggles are being added. Additionally, one-click Bluetooth and Wi-Fi toggles are returning.
The tiles have a new appearance and take considerably less room than they did previously, which is another obvious alteration. Extending the Quick Settings panel will provide a depth effect by blurring the background, similar to what is seen on some Chinese Android skins.
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Google appears to have drawn inspiration from the updated Control Center for Android 16 Quick Settings panel in iOS 18. It seems to be a significant improvement in usability.
The June release of Android 16 will not have the updated Quick Settings panel. It will come later in the year instead.
Material 3 Expressive
Google’s latest phone and tablet design language, Material 3 Expressive, makes its debut with Android 16. It is also among the OS’s most significant user-facing modifications. It doesn’t significantly alter the appearance. Rather, it expands upon Material Design 3 by including bolder fonts, larger buttons, slick and lively animations, and more.
The timing of Material 3 Expressive is perfect. The current look felt outdated because Google introduced Material look 3 with Android 13 four years ago. Additionally, it maintains familiarity while bringing about the appropriate enhancements. Rather than droning on about Material 3 Expressive, I’ll let this Google GIF speak by itself:
This polish is present throughout Android 16, particularly when switching the system volume or closing apps from the recent apps menu. It also features smooth animations and haptic feedback. Android 16 will upgrade the dynamic color themes in addition to Material 3 Expressive, allowing apps to use additional colors from your wallpaper.
One of the main Android 16 improvements that I am most looking forward to is Material 3 Expressive, which looks good based on what Google has demonstrated. The one sour note? When Android 16 is first made available to the public in June, Material 3 Expressive will not be included. It will come later in the year instead.
Live Updates
Apps for food delivery have permeated our daily lives. Uber, Grubhub, and other food delivery apps provide real-time, urgent notifications, unlike other apps. The same is true of sports apps. Instead of launching the app, you would prefer to get real-time information in the notification shade on your phone.
Even while Android’s notification panel is more capable than iOS’s, it has trouble efficiently delivering real-time updates. With Live Activities, Apple nailed this, making it simple to monitor real-time food delivery status and sports scores.
Google’s Android 16 will have a feature called Live Updates, which is modeled after iOS. It will show the status of your meal delivery in real time on the notification shade or the lock screen of your phone. When you use Always-On Display, the status is displayed. Additionally, Google’s approach enhances the Live Update notification with helpful Call, Message, and Tip buttons.
It’s time-consuming and annoying because I have to open the meal delivery app all the time to see how it’s doing. A feature akin to the iPhone’s Live Activities was added to the skins of Android manufacturers such as OnePlus and Oppo, although the execution is unreliable and glitchy. Google should address these problems with an official solution.
Ultra HDR support for HEIC images
I use my phone to shoot a lot of photos. I have my phone’s camera app set to save JPEGs in the space-efficient HEIC format because they take up a lot of storage. The catch is that images saved in the HEIC format are not compatible with Ultra HDR on Android. I therefore use JPEG for my photos, which uses up all of my 2TB of Google One storage.
This will be altered with Android 16’s addition of Ultra HDR capability for HEIC photos. Additionally, Google is developing UltraHDR support for AVIF files, which should be available soon.
With Android 14, Google debuted Ultra HDR. It enables images to have improved color and a wider dynamic range. These enhancements are provided without any compatibility problems. On devices with SDR screens, Ultra HDR JPEG images immediately revert to the SDR gain map. Google mandated Ultra HDR support for phones with performance class 15 starting with Android 15.
Let’s hope Google upgrades the Pixel Camera app to enable saving shots in HEIC by default rather than JPEG, because Android 16 now supports Ultra HDR for HEIC files.
Advanced Protection mode
Google has strengthened Android’s security over the past few years by adding a number of features. However, there is still opportunity for improvement. In addition, I believe that Android’s security features fall short of those of the iPhone.
Google is making a significant effort to address issue with Android 16. Major security-related settings will be consolidated under a new Advanced Protection mode. To activate offline device locating or Theft Detection, you won’t need to go far into your phone’s settings menu.
With a single Advanced Protection toggle, you can enable all available security measures in Android across several categories. The list is as follows:
- Intrusion Logging
- Theft Detection Lock
- Offline Device Lock
- Inactivity Reboot
- USB Protection
- Google Play Protect
- Unknown App Protection
- Memory Tagging Extension
- Android Safe Browsing
- Chrome Safe Browsing
- Javascript Protection
- Unsafe Link Protection
- Spam and Scam Protection (Google Messages)
- Spam and Scam Protection (Phone by Google)
- Called ID & Spam
- Automatic Call Screening
- 2G Network Protection
- Disable Auto-Reconnect to Insecure Networks
Numerous security mechanisms are dispersed across the operating system. For instance, the Google Play Protection option is located under Security & Privacy, whereas the Caller ID & Spam protection settings are located in the Phone app settings.
With Android 16, a new security feature called Intrusion Logging generates and preserves a device activity record for study after a compromise. It is safe but easily accessible because it is kept in the cloud and is end-to-end encrypted.
Another new security feature in Android 16 is Inactivity Reboot, which will restart your phone automatically after 72 hours of inactivity and lock-up. This will guarantee that no user data may be viewed until the device is opened by entering the password or PIN.
I won’t gain much from Android 16’s Advanced Protection Mode. I only activate these functions when I’m on the road. Nevertheless, it’s a useful innovation that will make Android more secure.
Despite being a feature-rich version, Android 16 will not ship with all the new goodies in June and still lacks several long-awaited additions. Rather, Google will make more significant improvements later in the year, most likely in conjunction with a quarterly platform release and the Pixel 10 family. Additionally, some improvements may not be available for non-Pixel phones because the manufacturer may choose not to incorporate them into their skin.If you want the latest Droid Tools news, follow us on X @droid_tools and like our page on Facebook to stay updated.
Google Pixel Watch 5 (45mm)
Robert Haba is the founder and editor-in-chief of Droid Tools. A lifelong gadget enthusiast with over a decade following the Android ecosystem, he built this publication to cut through the noise and give readers honest, real-world coverage of the tech they actually use.
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