Top 5 New Features in Android 16 For Developers Only So Far
Google has now made Android 16 available to developers, which makes many people wonder what's new and what might excite you as this moves to the beta version. According to the American website droid-life, this system has been tested on the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and here are its most prominent features:
A report from a couple of months ago suggested that Android 16 would be codenamed “Baklava” within Google and that’s now confirmed. If you head to the settings area of the first Android 16 DP1 build, you’ll see the name “Baklava” there where it will eventually say “ Android 16. ”
Audio sharing is back from previous 15 preview.
This audio sharing feature was first spotted in Android 15 DP2 and then didn't make it to Android 15 stable, nor is it in any of the Android 15 QPR builds, but it did appear in this first Android 16 DP1 build, so will we see it officially appear when Android 16 becomes stable in Q2 next year?
Audio Sharing is a Bluetooth feature that allows Bluetooth LE Audio devices to pair with your device while playing media, you're basically broadcasting a signal that others can connect to, which is kind of cool.
Google has improved its settings page a bit by putting your device name and password at the ready, with a toggle to improve compatibility with some device types, like hearing aids.
New modes feature
The new modes feature that was first introduced in Android 15 QPR2 is one of the features that was expected to appear in Android 15, but due to the release timeframe for that, it may also end up being an Android 16 feature.
For those who missed it, Google is replacing Do Not Disturb (DND) with a Modes area, where you can basically create multiple types of modes to quickly switch to. Some examples are bedtime mode, your regular Do Not Disturb mode, gaming, and then any other custom mode you might need.
This new modes feature also switches the quick settings tile from a Do Not Disturb toggle to a Modes button that shows all of your modes, which is kind of a downgrade, since turning on Do Not Disturb is now a two-tap action.
- Get rid of notifications
Like the audio sharing feature above, another feature returning from the Android 15 previews is Notification Quieting. This setting was first spotted in Android 15 DP1, and it's located in Settings > Notifications and is there to try to prevent an app from sending you too many notifications in a short period of time.
In the description above, Google says that when you turn on Notification Quieting, it will lower your device's volume and reduce alerts for up to two minutes if it sees "too many" notifications in a short time, and those notifications will still appear on your phone, just in the notification shade instead of with a big, loud chime like they normally do.
WiFi sharing just got more attractive now.
Look at the cute new QR code design that appears when you share your WiFi with someone, it's so cute.