Android 16 delivers its first beta, with Live Updates and a focus on large screens
Let's go for Android 16. After two months of Developer Previewsthe first beta of the operating system is out. A release date which follows one day the launch of Samsung's One UI 7 interface (for Android 15) on its Galaxy S25and that it is not a coincidence.
Among the new features announced, we find an option called Live Updates. It is reminiscent of both Apple's Live Activitied and, more recently, the Now Bar from Google's South Korean partner. The idea is the same: display contextual information on the lock screen, whether it is tracking the journey of a VTC or sports results.
Android 16 places emphasis on adapting applications to large screens. At a time when folding smartphones are becoming more and more numerous, and when it itself offers a Pixel 9 Pro Fold internationally, the American intends to hunt down black bands surrounding applications that are not optimized for original screen diagonals. It therefore provides developers, since it is mainly them that this beta is intended for, the APIs necessary to adapt their apps. The function even has a name: Google talks about Adaptive Apps.
Still in the wake ofUnpacked from Samsungwhich was the scene of the announcement of a Gemini extension allowing you to draw from several applications within the framework of the same request, Google announces the deployment of a similar function open to other manufacturers. All this of course needs to be clarified, but we can expect this specific integration of Gemini on smartphones from various brands.
Android 16 finally focuses on image capture, and promises additions to video capture and editing.
As always, Google allows any user to test its betas, since it is enough to register for its dedicated program (https://www.google.com/android/beta) to install it over the airthat is to say after a simple wifi download. The eligible devices are none other than Google smartphones, that is to say the Pixels, since their generation 6, Pixel Tablet included. If you decide to try the adventure, keep in mind that a beta potentially includes bugs and malfunctions. It is therefore better to wait a little before installing it on your device, especially as new betas will be deployed in February and March, before the launch of *”Platform Stability” versions in the spring.
