Android 16 is launched and obtainable on supported Pixel gadgets, with new gadgets to comply with. The supply code is out there on the Android Open Supply Mission.
Key updates embody:
- Enhanced digicam and media APIs for professional customers, with night time mode scene detection, hybrid auto publicity and exact colour temperature changes. Improved UltraHDR picture assist with HEIC encoding and an embedded photograph picker.
- Apps concentrating on Android 16 can not opt-out of going edge-to-edge
- Modifications to how the system manages orientation, resizability, and facet ratio restrictions.
- System animations for back-to-home, cross-task, and cross-activity by default. As well as, this launch extends predictive again navigation to three-button navigation, that means that customers long-pressing the again button will see a glimpse of the earlier display earlier than navigating again.
- Progress model notifications which helps you to create progress-centric notifications that may denote states and milestones in a person journey utilizing factors and segments.
- RuntimeColorFilter and RuntimeXfermode, permitting you to creator advanced results like Threshold, Sepia, and Hue Saturation in AGSL and apply them to attract calls.
At Google I/O 2025, a number of developments had been introduced for Android, together with the rollout of Android 16, a Developer Preview for enhanced Android desktop experiences, and updates for Android customers throughout Google apps.
Key bulletins for builders:
- Adaptive apps: Construct a single, adaptive software that capabilities throughout varied kind components utilizing Jetpack Compose Adaptive Libraries, Navigation 3 library, and updates to the Window Supervisor Library in AndroidX.window 1.5.
- Efficiency Optimization: Use the redesigned UiAutomator API for benchmarking, macrobenchmarks and App Startup Insights to enhance app efficiency, and leverage R8 for troubleshooting and efficiency optimization.
- Enhanced Media Experiences: Use CameraX and Media3Effects for capturing high-quality video and Google Low-Gentle Enhance for real-time digicam brightness adjustment in low mild. Discover new digicam and media samples.
With the Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 launch, now you can entry related shows assist on appropriate Android gadgets. By connecting an exterior show to your Android gadget, you’ll be able to rework it right into a workstation. This offers customers the flexibility to maneuver apps past a single display to unlock Android’s full productiveness potential on exterior shows.
Desktop windowing is now steady as effectively. We’ve made enhancements within the stability and efficiency of desktop windowing in Android 16 and added some new options:
- Versatile window tiling: Customers can extra simply organize a number of app home windows aspect by aspect or in varied configurations, making it less complicated to work throughout completely different purposes concurrently on a big display.
- A number of desktops: Customers can arrange a number of desktop periods to match their distinct productiveness necessities and swap between the desktops utilizing keyboard shortcuts, trackpad gestures, and Overview.
- Enhanced app compatibility therapies: New compatibility therapies make sure that even legacy apps behave extra predictably and look higher on exterior shows by default.
- Multi-instance administration: Customers can handle a number of situations of supporting purposes (for instance, Chrome or, Hold) by the app header button or taskbar context menu.
- Desktop persistence: Android can now higher preserve window sizes, positions, and states throughout completely different desktops.
You’ll be able to check out these options at the moment in your related show with the Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 on choose Pixel gadgets.
In Android 16, adaptive apps are important to supply a constant person expertise throughout varied gadgets. Product managers ought to prioritize adaptive design in your apps to fulfill person expectations on foldables, tablets, Chromebooks, and different kind components.
By constructing adaptive apps, you’ll be able to enhance person engagement, improve app discoverability on Google Play, and guarantee accessibility for customers with disabilities. You can begin by checking how your app presently appears on massive screens, addressing frequent UI points, and incrementally optimizing your app display by display.
We have now a number of new testing movies so that you can try!
Automated testing is essential for scalable and environment friendly high quality assurance as apps develop in complexity. Nevertheless, the normal testing pyramid won’t be one of the best method. Study extra about utilizing a method that considers each the scope (check dimension) and the scale (code executed) of various check classes: launch candidate, software, function, element, and unit checks. This helps guarantee dependable outcomes and sooner execution occasions.
Android app builders ought to embrace automated testing (unit, smoke, airtight, screenshot) to switch time-consuming and error-prone guide testing. Study extra about how automation improves app high quality, supplies quick suggestions, catches bugs, and prevents function regressions, in the end growing developer productiveness and liberating up time for vital duties.
Android app builders ought to concentrate on the instruments and patterns utilized in scalable app testing: Study extra about utilizing screenshot checks, robolectric, gadget emulation, administration for flaky checks, and gradle managed gadgets on this video.
Right here’s a abstract of the AndroidX modifications, prioritized for app builders:
- New PhotoPicker Library: It is a main addition, offering a simple solution to combine with the system’s embedded photograph picker. It consists of each View-based and Compose-based elements, together with utilities for state administration and testing. This simplifies picture choice for customers and improves the person expertise.
- Lifecycle ViewModel Navigation3 Integration: This new library presents higher integration between ViewModels and the Navigation3 library. The important thing element is
ViewModelStoreNavEntryDecorator, which ensures everyNavEntryhas its personalViewModelStoreOwner. This helps to correctly scope and handle ViewModels inside your navigation graph, particularly when utilizing config modifications. - Emoji2 Library Replace: The replace to emoji2 consists of updates to emoji 16.0 and makes use of JSpecify nullness annotations which require Kotlin builders to make use of particular compiler arguments to implement appropriate utilization:
-Xjspecify-annotations=strict,-Xtype-enhancement-improvements-strict-mode.
That’s it for this week’s episode, with Android 16, Desktop Experiences, Adaptive Apps, Testing, AndroidX and extra!
Test again quickly in your subsequent replace from the Android developer universe!
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