[Google Pixel Update📱] Android 16 QPR2 Beta 3.3 now available!

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Android 16 in beta form has landed on a major milestone today by reaching platform stability. Android 16 Beta 3 is here and brings us one step closer to a stable release over the coming months, likely at Google I/O in May.

Pixel device owners, you can now download Android 16 Beta 3 and get to playing around to see if anything is new. Since we have been through a couple of beta builds already, there may not be any major changes, but we’ll only know once we have it on device (which we’re doing at this moment).

WHAT’S NEW IN ANDROID 16 BETA 3: On the developer-side of things, Google did share a couple of changes to expect in Beta 3. This new build brings support for Auracast broadcast audio on the Pixel 9 and adds outlines of text for better contrast. The Auracast addition brings support for compatible hearing aides and earbuds to be able to hear direct audio streams in public places, like airports, concerts, and classrooms. The text outlines help bring out text areas to those with low vision (see below).



The other noteworthy item is LAN Network Protection (LNP). This is a feature coming to a future Android release and it will allow users yo have more control over which apps can access devices on their local network. That actually sounds pretty useful.

And that’s mostly it from Google. Again, this is Beta 3 and we weren’t expecting massive changes. There’s always a chance something sneaks in that Google didn’t note in their announcement, so we’ll do our best to find any.

ANDROID 16 BETA 3 BUG FIXES: Google fixed a handful of bugs with this build in addition to those new features. The most noteworthy are the first two listed below that attempt to address excessive battery drain and unexpected reboots. For those annoyed at your At a Glance widget being weird, it might be fixed now too.

Developer- and user-reported issues

• Fixed various issues that were causing excessive battery drain in some cases. (Issue #396603519, Issue #396757426, Issue #400066003, Issue #397088375)
• Fixed issues that sometimes caused devices to reboot unexpectedly. (Issue #400003800)
• Fixed an issue that caused the At a Glance widget to display out of date information on the always-on-display. (Issue #392132215)

Other resolved issues

• Fixed various other issues that impacted system stability, performance, and Bluetooth pairing.

DOWNLOAD ANDROID 16 BETA 3 ON PIXEL: For those looking to get Beta 3 up and running on your supported Pixel device, it’s easy at this point to do so, as you aren’t being asked to flash images or OTA files any longer. Of course, you could do that, Mr. Tech Guy, you just don’t have to. At this point, we are well into the Android 16 Beta program and the updates arrive over-the-air.

Release date: March 13, 2025
Build: BP22.250221.010
Emulator support: x86 (64-bit), ARM (v8-A)
Security patch level: March 2025
Google Play services: 25.07.33

Here’s the full list of Android 16 Beta devices:

• Pixel 6 and 6 Pro
• Pixel 6a
• Pixel 7 and 7 Pro
• Pixel 7a
• Pixel Fold
• Pixel Tablet
• Pixel 8 and 8 Pro
• Pixel 8a
• Pixel 9
• Pixel 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold

And here are your options to get Android 16 Beta 3 on your device:

• Easiest way: If you own one of those devices, the easiest way to get Android 16 Beta 3 is to sign-up for the Android Beta Program (here). You’ll simply click the “Opt In” button next to your device on that page to join and then sit back and wait for Google to push an update as Android 16 over-the-air.
• Already on an Android 16 DP or Beta build: If you are already on an Android 16 Developer Preview or Beta build, Google says that you will receive the Beta 3 update over-the-air. Of course, you can manually flash a factory image or OTA file as well, since the over-the-air process often takes forever to process.
• Flash an image: Want to get updated in the fastest possible way by flashing a factory image or OTA file through adb? That’s always an option! I’ll be going the OTA route, but factory images will be available too. You’ll find Android 16 Beta 3 factory images here and the OTA files here.

Time to dive in!

// Android Developers

 

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TL;DR

• Google is continuing its work to split up Android’s notifications and Quick Settings panels.
• The media player now appears at the top of the Quick Settings panel, and you can now switch between pages by swiping.
• The new split notifications and Quick Settings panels aren’t live yet in Android 16 Beta 3, and we don’t know when this new design will roll out.

The third beta of Android 16 is finally here. Being the Platform Stability release, Beta 3 will be very close to the stable update we’ll see in June. This means no major changes are expected between now and then, which is disappointing for those anticipating significant design changes. Google will revamp Android’s user interface, though, and the latest beta includes several improvements to the new split notifications and Quick Settings panels. Here’s your latest look at Android’s upcoming notification and Quick Settings panel redesign.

To provide context, we’ve been tracking Google’s efforts to overhaul the notifications and Quick Settings panels since last September. Google aims to separate these panels into distinct pages, a change that’s intended to create more space for notifications and Quick Settings tiles. Consequently, Google is also making Quick Settings tiles resizable to display more of them at once.

However, a few weeks ago, it became apparent to us that this new design wouldn’t be ready for Android 16. We came to this conclusion due to the presence of several unfinished aspects. For instance, while Google is working on light mode compatibility, the panels still suffer from significant text contrast problems. The company is also refining how certain Quick Settings tiles expand, but this implementation remains incomplete. Crucially, the media player was still absent from the panels, and there was no intuitive way to switch between them.

With the latest code changes in Android 16 Beta 3, however, Google has addressed several of these issues. The media player is now prominently placed at the top of the notifications and Quick Settings panels, and there are now two new ways to switch between them. 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.



Personally, I find the new swipe gesture unintuitive. Some people will likely try to switch between panels by swiping left or right, as that’s how several other Android-based OSes with split panels operate. As a result, it’s possible some people will struggle to adapt to Google’s method.

Of course, this assumes that Google doesn’t make any further changes, which is quite possible given the split panel design is still in development. Google will likely continue to refine the new panels to not only address the issues I described earlier but also add new features. In Android 16 Beta 3, for example, 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.

While it’s very unlikely that Google will release this new design in the initial Android 16 stable release, it could still arrive later this year in a quarterly update for Android 16. We’ll continue to monitor future Android builds for any further changes to Android’s notification and Quick Settings panels.

 

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TL;DR

• The Pixel Launcher is adding an icon shape customization feature in a future Android release.
• The feature isn’t live yet in Android 16 Beta 3, but we managed to enable it to show what the feature’s like.
• There will be six total shapes to choose from, including the default circle.

While many third-party Android launchers offer extensive customization options, the stock launcher on Google Pixel phones is more limited. To its credit, the Pixel Launcher does have some pretty unique features, but the lack of even basic icon customization options leaves many users wanting more. An icon shape changer is finally coming to the Pixel Launcher, and we were able to activate it for an early look.

Back in November, we spotted the first signs of Google’s work to bring back icon shape customization to Pixel devices, a feature that existed in Android 11 but was later removed. In the first beta of Android 15’s second quarterly release, we discovered a new “app shape & layout” menu in the Pixel wallpaper app. The menu featured two tabs: Shape and Layout. The Shape tab offered six options for changing home screen icon shapes, while the Layout tab provided several options for adjusting the home screen grid layout.

Unfortunately, the icon shape customization feature was non-functional at the time. However, we successfully activated it after some tinkering in the third beta of Android 16. The feature is straightforward, applying a mask to all Pixel Launcher app icons across the home screen, app drawer, and folders. App icon appearances outside these contexts, such as the recents screen and Settings app, remain unchanged.



Google is currently offering 6 different icon shapes, including the default circle. Names for these shapes aren’t shown in the Pixel wallpaper app, but they are, respectively: “circle”, “square”, “four-sided cookie”, “seven-sided cookie”, “arch”, and “complex clover”. These include more rounded options, and more complex geometric shapes.

The new icon shape customization feature is part of the in-development version of the Pixel wallpaper app that Google has been working on since August of last year. We don’t know when it’ll be released, but hopefully Google doesn’t hold it back for too long, as many people, including several on the Android Authority team, find the Pixel Launcher’s feature set lacking compared to alternatives. Changing app icons is currently only possible with third-party launchers on Pixel devices, so the addition of icon shape customization will give users one less reason to switch from Google’s launcher.

 

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With Android 16 Beta 3, Google is now more specific about how “Limit to 80%” will fully charge your Pixel to “every one to two weeks.”

Previously, the Info text at the bottom of the Charging optimization page explained how your “Phone will occasionally charge to 100% to recalibrate estimated capacity.”

This text has been updated with Android 16 Beta 3 to provide a more specific time range: “Your phone will charge to 100% once every one to two weeks to maintain battery level reporting accuracy.”

Google introduced this 80% charging limit in December with Android 15 QPR1, and it’s been a popular setting for those that prioritize the longevity of their battery. Some want an easier way to turn this off than going to Settings > Battery > Charging optimization. A Quick Settings Tile to turn off Adaptive Charging or Limit to 80% might be handy when you always need a fully charged Pixel, like during trips.

Meanwhile, Android 16 Beta 3 introduces another tap to get to Charging optimization since it has been moved to the bottom of the Battery health page, which will presumably arrive in June with the broader OS update.

Android 15 vs. 16​

 

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TL;DR

• Google is testing new icons for various status bar elements like WiFi, mobile data, airplane mode, and battery level.
• We previously spotted the new designs for the WiFi, mobile data, and airplane mode icons last year, but the battery level icon has been significantly revamped since we last saw it.
• Instead of having a white background at all times, the new battery level icon we spotted in Android 16 has a vivid green background when the device is charging and a red background when it’s low on power.

Google doesn’t change up Android’s user interface all that often, much to the dismay of vocal power users online. The upcoming Android 16 update, for example, doesn’t look all that different from last year’s release or the previous year’s. However, we know that Google is hard at work revamping Android’s UI, as we’ve seen extensive evidence of various UI changes in the past few months. One area that we thought Google had abandoned was the status bar, but in the most recent beta release, we discovered that the company has renewed work on revamping the status bar icons, including a new battery icon that’s more colorful.

Last year, we discovered that Google was preparing a revamped status bar with new icons and haptics. We found some new icons for various status bar elements like the Wi-Fi signal strength, mobile data signal strength, airplane mode, and battery level. Considering that Google hasn’t tweaked the basic design of these icons since Android 5.0 Lollipop’s release in 2014, we thought the changes were pretty noteworthy. Some people weren’t fans of the new icons, though, so we were curious if Google planned to change them up before release.

Months passed by with no signs of the new status bar icons, even though the other changes we spotted—the haptic feedback for the Quick Settings panel and volume slider—landed in the stable release of Android 15. Google experiments with UI changes all the time, so we simply thought that Google may have scrapped its plans to roll out the new icon designs. Fast forward to the release of Android 16 Beta 3 the other day, though, and we now have evidence that Google is back at work on the new status bar icons.

Android 15 icons charging

 

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Summary​

• Android 16 Beta 3 hints at future UI changes. Rhe beta reveals potential redesigns, including a dynamic lock screen clock integration within the notification panel.
• The beta also includes an experimental feature for see-through notifications on the lock screen and in heads-up alerts, aimed at improving visibility of underlying content.
• The clock and notification changes aren't live in the new Beta, and it's unlikely that they'll be present in the stable Android 16 release.

 

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TL;DR

• Android 16 lets you screen record what’s happening on an external monitor.
• Previous versions of Android only let you screen record the built-in display.
• This is a minor change but will ultimately prove useful once Google builds out Android’s new desktop mode.

Using Android’s built-in screen recorder feature, it’s easy to record the screen of an Android phone. However, if you connect your Android phone to an external monitor, there’s no easy way to record what’s happening on the external display. That’s because Android’s screen recorder currently doesn’t support recording the content of external displays, but that’s set to change in the upcoming Android 16 update.

When I connected my Pixel phone running Android 16 Beta 3 to an external monitor, I noticed that the Android screen recorder dialog now had a third option in the dropdown menu: “Record HDMI Screen.” When I disconnected the phone from the external monitor, the options reverted to the familiar “Record one app” and “Record this screen.”

The option to record a HDMI screen isn’t present on my Pixel running the latest stable release of Android 15, which means this feature is new to Android 16. I don’t know exactly which preview release of Android 16 added this option, though.

The “Record HDMI Screen” option, as expected, allowed me to record what was happening on the external monitor, separately from the phone’s built-in display. The resulting screen recording was encoded and saved the same way as standard phone screen recordings. However, there was one minor difference: the internal ID that Android assigns to the external monitor was appended to the file name. Unfortunately, this new feature has some limitations.

First, the option to pick the external monitor wasn’t available when a third-party screen mirroring app requested to record the screen. The option also wasn’t there when I tried to cast the screen using Android’s built-in Cast tile. Android 16 basically only allows the built-in screen recorder to capture what’s happening on external monitors, which is unfortunate since there are some apps that could benefit from this feature.

Hopefully Google expands this capability in a future Android release. Google is working on a new desktop mode experience called Desktop View, so having the ability for apps to record or cast what we’re doing on external monitors would be useful.

This feature expands upon a lesser-known capability of last year’s Android 15 release: the ability to take a screenshot of external displays. Since Android 15, the OS saves separate image files for every display that’s connected to an Android device. Like with screen recordings, Android appends the ID of the external display to the file name of the screenshot. There isn’t a straightforward way to trigger the Gemini assistant or Circle to Search on an external display, so I’m not sure if similar limitations apply regarding third-party apps and screenshots of external displays.

 

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The Android 16 Beta 3 is only 5 days old and yet Google is already releasing Beta 3.1 to try and button up a few issues. The new Android 16 Beta 3.1 dropped moments ago and is available for your Pixel device to install.

The update should be minor, but this is Google really attempting to squash any bugs that are remaining before they push out a stable update, likely at Google I/O in May. Of course, we’ll still see Android 16 Beta 4 in between there, this just shows how eager Google is to tighten up the code.

Here’s the release info for this Android 16 Beta 3.1 update:

Release date: March 18, 2025
Build: BP22.250221.013
Emulator support: x86 (64-bit), ARM (v8-A)
Security patch level: March 2025
Google Play services: 25.07.33

Android 16 Beta 3.1 Fixed Bugs: As for bugs, there are 4 items listed in the release notes. Google fixed a bug in the Settings app that was causing it to repeatedly crash, as well as an issue that was causing screen brightness to weirdly oscillate. They also addressed a performance issue that was causing battery drain from high CPU load and a memory leak.

• Fixed an issue that caused the system Settings app to crash repeatedly on launch if the system language was set to a language other than English. (Issue #403303683)
• Fixed an issue that caused the screen brightness to oscillate between an app-specified brightness setting and the automatic, system-specified or user-specified brightness settings. (Issue #392522561)
• Fixed a performance issue that was causing excessive battery drain from high CPU load.
• Fixed a performance issue that sometimes caused memory leaks in the system server.

To grab this latest update, you’ll want to join the Android Beta Program and download it over-the-air. You can also manually flash factory image or OTA files. You’ll find Android 16 Beta 3.1 factory images here and the OTA files here.

 

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TL;DR

• Multiple Pixel phone users are reporting significant boosts in Geekbench GPU scores after updating to the Android 16 beta.
• Android Authority can confirm that Pixel phones are performing better in this benchmark since launch, but that this is also the case on the most recent Android 15 stable release.
• The reason for this performance increase hasn’t been confirmed but likely has to do with recent GPU driver updates.

While Google Pixel phones certainly aren’t the cream of the crop when it comes to raw GPU performance, they can still play most of the best mobile games and handle a lot of graphically demanding tasks. They may not perform as well as other flagship phones with different chipsets, though. However, all hope’s not lost for Pixel fans, because GPU performance isn’t set in stone from the factory. Post-launch software updates can eke out more performance from the GPU, and recent Android updates appear to have given Pixel phones a big boost in GPU performance.

Pixel users on Reddit’s /r/Pixel_Phones community recently reported achieving significantly higher Geekbench 6 GPU scores. The increase is particularly evident in Vulkan API benchmark results, compared to historical Pixel Geekbench 6 averages. Typically, benchmarking is performed around a device’s launch, so the average score likely reflects initial performance. Seeing percent increases like 62% for a Pixel 7a, 31% for a Pixel 8, and 32% for a Pixel 9 highlights a significant improvement across the board.

eddit users attribute this boost in GPU performance to changes in Android 16. However, my Pixel 6a is running the latest stable release of Android 15, and it still saw a nearly 23% increase in the Geekbench 6 GPU benchmark. In fact, my Pixel 6a scored a total of 8252 points in the test, outperforming even the Pixel 9 Pro. Therefore, it’s unlikely that anything particular in Android 16 is responsible for this boost in GPU performance.

The boost likely results from Google shipping newer GPU drivers in recent Android updates. All Tensor-powered Pixels use an Arm Mali GPU, but they do not ship with the latest available GPU driver version. Specifically, the GPU driver in the Android 15 update for Tensor G1, G2, and G3 Pixels was released by Arm in February 2024. For Tensor G4 Pixels, the driver was released in December 2023. Google has shipped newer GPU drivers with subsequent quarterly releases, coinciding with Pixel Drop updates, and the Android 16 beta includes an even newer GPU driver.

Here is a table I made that lists the Arm Mali GPU driver version for all Tensor-powered Pixels for Android 15 and later:

Android Version	Tensor G1 Pixels	Tensor G2 Pixels	Tensor G3 Pixels	Tensor G4 Pixels
Android 15	r48p0	r48p0	r48p0	r47p0
Android 15 QPR1	r49p0	r49p0	r49p0	r49p0
Android 15 QPR2	r51p0	r51p0	r51p0	r51p0
Android 16 (Beta 3)	r52p0	r52p0	r52p0	r52p0

And here is a table I made that lists the release date for each GPU driver version:

Mali GPU Kernel Driver Version	Release Date
r47p0	2023-12-14
r48p0	2024-02-19
r49p0	2024-04-18
r51p0	2024-08-14
r52p0	2024-10-03

While improved benchmark scores don’t always guarantee better real-world performance, the Geekbench GPU test “measures GPU compute performance for everyday tasks, including machine learning and computer vision, using tests that model real-world applications,” so it’s very likely the increased performance will be reflected in some real-world tasks. However, how much of an impact it’ll have depends on whether apps use the Vulkan graphics API and whether they use features that got a big improvement in the recent driver update. Further testing is needed to quantify real-world performance gains and identify which apps benefit most significantly.

 

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TL;DR

• All Pixel phones can now use the Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock feature in Android 16 Beta 3.
• The Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock feature lets you unlock your Pixel phone even when its screen is off.
• It was first introduced in Android 16 DP2 but only worked on the Pixel 9 series.

Since the Pixel 6, every Pixel phone (excluding foldables) has featured an under-display fingerprint scanner. Unlike many other smartphones, however, Pixel phones currently require the screen to be on for the fingerprint scanner to function. Thankfully, this limitation will be addressed in the upcoming Android 16 update for Pixel.

The Android 16 update for Pixel phones is set to introduce a new Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock feature. When this feature is enabled, the fingerprint scanner will be active even when the screen is off. To enable the Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock feature, navigate to Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Face & Fingerprint Unlock > Fingerprint Unlock. Then, within the “when using Fingerprint Unlock” section, enable the Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock toggle.

Once enabled, you can press the fingerprint scanner area when the screen is off, and your Pixel phone’s screen will illuminate and unlock if the correct finger is used.



Google initially introduced the Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock feature in the second developer preview of Android 16, but it was limited to the Google Pixel 9 series. However, with the release of Android 16 Beta 3, the company expanded compatibility to all Pixel phones. I confirmed it works on my Pixel 6a, and a tester verified it on their Pixel 7 Pro. While there’s a possibility Google could remove the feature in the stable Android 16 release, there’s no apparent reason for them to do so.

If you prefer not to wait for the official Android 16 release or join the beta program, enabling the always-on display is your only current option to keep the fingerprint scanner active. Otherwise, simply wait for the Android 16 rollout and then enable the Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock toggle in the Fingerprint Unlock settings, as it will be disabled by default.

 

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As hard as it is to believe, we’re just a few short months away from Android 16’s public release. We’ve had Developer Previews since last November and beta releases since January, and we’re expecting the final release to be ready in May or June.

So far, the update hasn’t given us much to look forward to. There are loads of developer-focused and under-the-hood tweaks, but in terms of exciting user-facing changes, Android 16 has been lacking. Outside of improvements to the photo picker, Live Updates notifications, and improving app support for tablets and foldables, it’s shaping up to be a pretty dull update.

Thankfully, it looks like things are taking a turn for the better. Google released Android 16 Beta 3 on March 13, and hiding inside this release are a handful of small yet promising new features. I have to admit, they’ve made me significantly more excited about Android 16 than I previously was.

Big upgrades to Quick Settings​

The first — and arguably biggest — change I’m excited about is the overhauled Quick Settings. Quick Settings in “stock” Android has largely stayed the same since Android 13, but Android 16 will introduce a new split design. Instead of seeing your notifications and Quick Settings on the same page, Android 16 will split them across two pages. You’ll get your notifications when you swipe down from the top left corner and your Quick Settings after swiping down from the top right.

I could take or leave the split design itself. What I’m most geeked about is the new look of the Quick Settings page. For one, your Quick Settings are now vertically scrolling and take up the entire page — meaning you’ll be able to fit a lot more toggles on your screen. As it stands today, Android 15 on a Pixel shows just eight Quick Settings toggles at a time. However, with this new design in Android 16, you’ll be able to see an appropriate 16 (or more) buttons at once. That’s a big upgrade.

In-development notification panel UI in Android 16.

Furthermore, Google appears to be experimenting with additional toggle sizes and designs, including a new small square that takes up half the space of the standard rectangle buttons. As visually pleasing as the big, rectangular bubbles may be, I’m really glad that more practical designs are coming with Android 16. The smaller icons still look great while letting you squeeze much more functionality on your screen. That’s a win-win if you ask me.

I love that Google is opening up Quick Settings to more user customization.​

Finally, in addition to being more practical, I also love that Google is opening up Quick Settings to more user customization. Especially compared to skins like One UI and OxygenOS, stock Android has paled in comparison with giving you full control over what your Quick Settings look and feel like. For that to finally be changing in Android 16 is a big deal to me.

The biggest downside is that this new Quick Settings/notification panel likely won’t be ready in time for the first stable Android 16 release. However, we should see it with a future Android 16 update down the road, and I cannot wait for it.

More customizable app icons​

In Android 15, home screen customization for Pixel phones is pretty basic. You have some app grid choices, accent color selections, and the option to theme your app icons with the accent color you choose. And … that’s about it. But Android 16 will add another option to the mix: app icon shapes.

Although not live in Android 16 Beta 3, we managed to enable the functionality, and it works as you’d expect. In a new “App shape & layout” page, you can choose one of six shapes to apply to all your app icons. Some are straightforward, like a circle or a squircle, while others have more unusual designs — including “four-sided cookie” and “complex clover.”

I'm encouraged this is a sign of even more customization yet to come.​

Although I don’t like how all of these look, I do love seeing Google bring more customization options to the Pixel Launcher. App icon customization has been a pillar of third-party Android skins and launchers for years, yet Google’s Pixel Launcher has always lagged in this department. I’m also encouraged that this is a sign of even more yet to come — such as custom icon pack support or customizing app icons on an individual basis. This is one of the reasons I’ve preferred using OxygenOS 15 so much recently, and I’m thrilled to see Android 16 is taking steps to improve things here.

This one may or may not be ready in time for the first Android 16 public release, but I’m crossing my fingers that it is.

Lock screen widgets​

This last Android 16 feature isn’t technically part of Android 16 Beta 3. However, Google did confirm its existence recently as something that’ll be a part of Android 16 QPR1, which is set for a September rollout. The feature I’m talking about is lock screen widgets. Google added lock screen widgets specifically for Android tablets last year, but Android 16 will bring them to phones, too.

As someone who carries an iPhone and an Android phone, lock screen widgets with iOS 16 has been one of my favorite new iOS features in recent years. Customizing my lock screen to show my shopping list, upcoming calendar events, a Google Maps search widget, or even a shortcut to ChatGPT is equally cool and convenient.

I’m a big widget fan, but it doesn’t take long to run out of home screen space to put said widgets. The lock screen is a great canvas for them, especially to quickly glance at your calendar or to-do list, or to display some Google Photos memories. Admittedly, it is a bit silly to champion Google for re-adding a feature that previously existed with Android 4.2 (and was then removed with Android 5.0), but I’m still very happy to see lock screen widgets make a return.

Android 16 is shaping up nicely​

While certainly not the most thrilling Android update we’ve ever had, Android 16 is shaping up nicely and coming into focus better than it was a couple of weeks ago. Much of the update is still centered on behind-the-scenes changes you and I won’t immediately notice, but it’s reassuring that some user-facing goodies will give us new toys to play with. With a revamped Quick Settings and notification panel, new app icon customization options, and the reintroduction of lock screen widgets, I don’t think we can call Android 16 “boring” any longer.

We should get a better look at these changes during Google I/O in May, and it’s also possible that Google will show additional Android 16 features that haven’t been revealed yet. Even if it’s not the massive revamp that Android 13 was, there are exciting changes here, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on them.

 

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The Android team is releasing a fresh Android 16 beta this week, labeled as Android 16 Beta 3.2. It’s a minor update, aimed at fixing a few bugs that we’ve seen complaints about.

With all of these bug fixer updates getting pushed, expectations are relatively high for the stable builds to be quite, umm… stable. We still expect the first stable builds sometime around Google I/O, plus a Beta 4 to come before then.

Here’s the release info for this Android 16 Beta 3.2 update:

Release date: April 2, 2025
Build: BP22.250221.015
Emulator support: x86 (64-bit), ARM (v8-A)
Security patch level: March 2025
Google Play services: 25.07.33

Android 16 Beta 3.2 Fixed Bugs: This minor update includes a few fixes, most notably for miscalibrated haptic feedback. We know how frustrating that can be for users. Google also lists a battery drain issue fix, and a Pixel 6 lineup screen flicker issue fix. Full details below.

• Fixed an issue that caused haptic feedback to be miscalibrated in some cases. (Issue #392319999, Issue #400455826)
• Fixed an issue that caused excessive battery drain even while a device wasn’t in use. (Issue #398329457)
• Fixed an issue for Pixel 6 and 6 Pro devices that sometimes caused the screen to flicker when taking photos or videos with the camera.
• Fixed various other issues that were impacting system stability and usability.

To grab this latest update, you’ll want to join the Android Beta Program and download it over-the-air. You can also manually flash factory image or OTA files. You’ll find Android 16 Beta 3.2 factory images here and the OTA files here.

 

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TL;DR

• Android 16 introduces a new API called SettingsPreferenceService that lets apps contribute their preferences to the Android Settings app.
• This API lets apps declare which of their own preferences can be read or written by Android Settings, which currently has no ability to control app settings.
• It’s debatable whether Android developers will actually take advantage of this API, though, as iOS offers a similar API that few iOS developers take advantage of.

The Android Settings app is the go-to place for changing device settings, but it’s not typically where users go to change individual app settings. This is because apps generally have their own interfaces for changing settings that are independent of the Android Settings app. Android 16 adds a new API that lets apps integrate their own settings with the Android Settings app, and if this API becomes broadly adopted, it could transform Android Settings into a one-stop shop for both device and app settings.

Android 16 introduces SettingsPreferenceService, an API that “is to be implemented by apps that contribute to the Android Settings surface.” Apps can choose which preferences to expose to Android Settings, and they can choose to make those preferences read-only or writable. More specifically, developers can mark certain preferences as DEEPLINK_ONLY, indicating that they cannot be changed directly, but a direct link to the preference’s settings will be provided. They can also mark preferences as EXPECT_POST_CONFIRMATION, meaning the user will have the option to revert the changes. Further, they can mark preferences as NO_DIRECT_ACCESS, indicating the preference is too sensitive to be changed directly, or NO_SENSITIVITY, meaning the preference can be changed without explicit consent. To aid users in understanding each preference, developers can provide a title and summary for the Android Settings app to display.

Documentation for SettingsPreferenceService class in Android 16

Summary of the SettingsPreferenceMetadata class in Android 16

Prior to Android 16, apps had no way to contribute their own preferences to the Android Settings app. Some Android apps, like Niagara Launcher, utilize an obscure API to provide a link to their own settings pages within Android Settings, but this is simply a link and not direct access to app settings. If more Android apps were to adopt this new Android 16 API, then changing settings for individual apps would become much easier, as users would only have to find them within the Android Settings app. However, the effectiveness of this feature depends entirely on how many developers adopt this new API, which Google has not yet publicly discussed outside of publishing some documentation. It remains unclear whether the company intended to make this API available to third-party apps, as the Android source code mentions that this API is to be used by system apps to contribute settings, and that the OS will only bind to SettingsPreferenceService declarations made by those system apps.

If this API is intended for third-party apps, it’s likely it won’t be broadly adopted, given that the equivalent feature on iOS isn’t widely used. My colleague Rita El Khoury examined her iPhone and found that only a handful of apps — mostly first-party Apple apps — integrated some preferences within the iOS Settings app. Most of her apps did not contribute any preferences, and those that did contributed only a few. The fact that this feature is so underutilized in iOS suggests it won’t be very popular on Android, either, as developers will have the same reasons not to contribute preferences on Android as they do on iOS.

Many popular apps on iOS, such as Gmail, Asana, and Slack, don’t contribute their preferences to the iOS settings app.

Nonetheless, it’s interesting to see Google attempt to add this functionality. It would be nice if the Android Settings app were to become a one-stop shop for all preferences, whether they be for the device or for apps. Having to navigate the variety of app interfaces to find settings can be confusing for the average user, but at the same time, developers don’t want to give up control over how users interact with their apps.

 

[limmk]