- Android 16 is out now, with new features like live updates and security tools
- Many other Android 16 features – along with its visual overhaul – aren’t present, and are rumored to be landing on September 3
- This initial rollout is just for Pixel phones, with other brands set to roll out Android 16 later this year
Android 16 has now landed, and if that seems unusually early to you, you’re right, as the last few versions of Android have all landed towards the end of their release years, with Android 15 only launching back in October.
So this is a quick turnaround for Google’s latest Android version – which perhaps explains why the most anticipated and substantial feature is absent.
Specifically, Android’s visual overhaul – dubbed Material 3 Expressive – which Google showed off not so long ago, isn’t here yet. That will be landing as part of Android 16’s QPR1 (quarterly platform release 1), which according to a source speaking to Android Authority will roll out to Pixel devices on September 3 – that’s around the time we’d typically expect to see new numbered versions of Android.
September 3 is reportedly also when we’ll see Android 16’s desktop mode, which lets you connect your phone to a monitor and interact with a desktop interface, much like Samsung has been offering for years with its DeX mode.
And we’ll probably also see smaller updates then, like a more organized sound settings screen, which has been spotted by Android Authority in the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta.
Still, that doesn’t mean this first version of Android 16 isn’t worth downloading. It includes various new features, such as live updates that give you real-time updates on things like food deliveries and Uber requests on your lock screen.
You can also activate Advanced Protection mode to help keep your phone protected from unsafe websites, scam calls, harmful apps, and other threats. Not all of the features within Advanced Protection are new, but now you can activate all of these safeguards with a single tap.
Grouped notifications and accessibility improvements
Android 16 will also group notifications from a single app to keep things organized, and there are improvements for users of hearing aids, as you can now choose to use your phone’s microphone for audio input during calls (rather than the hearing aid’s microphone), and natively control your hearing aid’s volume from your phone.
There are also smaller updates, like a trade-in mode that provides quicker access to key device details, thereby speeding up the trade-in process when you’re selling your phone.
These features and others are rolling out now to supported Pixel phones (meaning the Google Pixel 6 and up). If you’re using another phone brand then you’ll have to wait a bit longer, with Google saying updates for handsets from other brands will arrive “later this year”.
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