Without anyone expecting it Google launches Android 16
Early on, and without anyone expecting it, Google has just officially released the first developer preview of Android 16. Developer Preview 1 is now available on compatible Google Pixel phones, although the new features - as is usual with these early releases - are not very relevant at the moment.
The main release will be in Q2 next year, which will be the one with planned behavioral changes that could impact apps, according to them themselves. There will be a new release in Q4, but not as significant. The first beta of Android 16 could be seen sooner than we think, in January 2025.
In total, there will be 5 major beta updates until it finally releases in May or June of next year. A date of June 3 is being considered. It doesn’t seem like they plan to wait until the last months of 2025 as they have in other years. That’s what they have planned, although the dates may change slightly depending on how developments unfold.
- Features coming with Android 16
Of course, it's still too early to know all the new features Google will be implementing in Android 16, although this Developer Preview 1 already gives us a glimpse that the biggest updates are to the Gallery and Image Selector APIs, which seek more privacy and user control.
From now on, the user will be able to control which files the app accesses when loading multimedia content, without having to see the entire gallery. Developers will also have more control, as they will be able to implement the selection tool as part of the app, while maintaining security and privacy updates.
There are also improvements to Health Connect to support more data, information, and new health records, with the app being able to read and write electronic health records (EHRs) according to the international standards for rapid healthcare interoperability (FHIR). Currently, this functionality is limited due to the sensitive nature of the data and the early stage of development, but the new option is important for tracking health status.
The latest news is in Privacy Sandbox, which has been updated to the latest version, and now seeks to address some issues related to third-party cookies and user tracking systems for digital profiling. This improvement is unlikely to be visible to the average user.
We can read this far, because at the moment we do not know much and the only thing we can do is wait for further progress in the development of Android 16 and more information...