What we know so far about upcoming features

Google switched things up with Android 15 when it decided to decouple the platform update from the Pixel 9 series. That decision gave both the software and hardware their own breathing room and independent timelines. With the official stable Android 15 update on the horizon, it’s time to look forward to what Google is cooking up for Android 16. Here’s what we know about Android 16 and the features we expect to see in the upcoming update in 2025.

Android 16: Name

Google used to name Android versions with dessert codenames, but it strayed away from that tradition with the release of Android 10, choosing to stick with only the version number for all future releases. Consequently, Android 16 will be known simply as “Android 16,” with no dessert codename officially used.

However, Google still uses the dessert codename internally. Android 16’s internal codename leaked recently as Baklava. This is interesting because Android 15’s codename was Vanilla Ice Cream, so you’d think Android 16 would be known as something that starts with a “W” (“Waffle” would have been a good one).

So why did Google jump from “V” all the way back to “B?” It’s a bit complicated, but it mainly involves big changes to Android’s backend. If you want to learn more, we explain Android 16’s unexpected Baklava codename in detail.

Android 16 expected release timeline

Google has not yet announced Android 16’s release timeline. However, based on the platform’s release history, one would expect it to be released in Q4 2025.

For reference, the first Developer Preview for Android 15 was released in February 2024. The Android 15 Beta 1 was released in April 2024, while the stable Android 15 update is expected to be released in October 2024. Android 15’s source code was released in September 2024.

However, there is evidence to suggest that Google might launch Android 16 much earlier than usual. Code within AOSP suggests we could see something as early as Q2 2025 — namely April, May, or June of that year. Obviously, this could be Google’s intention, but time will tell if it can actually pull that off.

If it does, it would likely mean an early launch again for the Pixel 10 series. The Pixel 9 surprised us all by launching in August 2024, months earlier than its expected October reveal. This adds further support to the idea that Google could launch Android 16 much earlier in 2025.

While Google has not yet shared any details about Android 16, we can start painting a picture of what we will get with the next update, thanks to Google’s QPR updates.

Google’s QPR updates and what they tell us about future Android releases

The Android platform follows an annual release schedule, which OEMs and the world at large have access to. Google also follows a second public release schedule for its Pixel devices in the form of QPR updates. QPR refers to Quarterly Platform Release, which is an update track where updates are released once every three months (quarter). So, we generally get an annual Android platform update on Pixels, followed by three QPR releases, and then the next annual Android platform update.

While the features included in the Android platform update are final and available to the world, features released in the QPR updates are available to Pixel devices until the next Android platform update incorporates them. Further, Google also runs a separate beta program for the QPRs months in advance.

This gives us situations where we can try out new features that are coming to Android 16 (by checking them out in Android 15 QPR 1 betas) before the stable Android 15 update is even launched!

As a result, we have a list of features that are coming to upcoming Android 15 QPR releases for Pixel devices, which are also likely to be added to the next Android platform update, Android 16. Let’s check them out!

Desktop windowing

We’ve talked about desktop windowing before as a leak, but Google officially introduced the feature in Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 for the Pixel Tablet. Google’s announcement doesn’t mention the release timeline, but we expect to see the feature in the wider Android 16 release.

Desktop windowing allows users to run multiple apps simultaneously and resize app windows, just like we’re used to doing on conventional desktops.

Google has fixed the taskbar’s position to the bottom of the screen. It can now show running apps and apps pinned by the user. There is also a new header bar, which houses window controls.

In addition to the announced feature, there’s a new hidden toggle called Enable desktop mode on secondary display, which replaces the old Force desktop mode toggle.

Redesigned Settings homepage

Android 15 Beta 3 included clues for a redesigned Settings homepage, but the changes didn’t go live in later betas. The new settings layout did go live in Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2, indicating that it is possibly on track for an Android 16 release.

On the left is an example of how the top-level page looks on Android 14 and the right image shows the new layout in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2.

Blocking old notifications

People who own and use multiple Android devices can relate to the notification flood that arrives whenever they boot up the less frequently used device. Right at boot, after the device establishes its internet connection, you’ll receive all notifications that weren’t delivered to this device, even if you have checked out the notifications from your other device.

Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 changed the way Android handles these older notifications. The system now rejects notifications that are more than two weeks old. These older notifications will only show some details to let you know which apps or contacts to check up on, but they will no longer alert you with a sound or vibration, or even show the full notification contents.

Compact heads-up notifications

If you are bothered by just how large the heads-up notifications can be when watching full-screen content, then Google is working on a solution. We spotted clues for compact heads-up notifications in Android 15 Beta 4, and the feature became more widely available with Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2.

You can see the compact layout in the second set of notifications below.

Most of the text in the notification is truncated, and any embedded images are hidden by default until you tap the dropdown arrow to expand them. However, the notification icon, notification title, and reply button are still shown for messaging apps like Telegram.

Notification cooldown

Android 15 Developer Preview 1 included a feature called Notification cooldown, located at Settings > Notifications. When enabled, this feature would gradually lower the volume of successive notifications coming from the same app. The feature prevents your phone from going off wildly when you receive a lot of notifications very quickly.

However, Google removed the feature from Android 15 Beta 1. The feature has not returned yet, but there’s evidence within Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 that it has not been abandoned.

Starting with the changes, the new chips for screen recording and screencasting will give you a timer right in the status bar.

They will also let you stop the screen recording or screencasting session without needing to pull down the status bar. Tapping on the chip will open a dialog that will let you stop the session.

There’s also a different icon now to indicate when a third-party app requests to record or cast the screen. The dialog more prominently asks you whether you want to “share your screen” rather than “start recording or casting.”

The experience is fairly functional, so we’re hoping to see it go live for the wide platform with Android 16.

Lock screen widgets

Android used to allow lock screen widgets in its early days, but the feature was removed in Android 5.0 Lollipop in 2014. Google has been working on bringing back lock screen widget support, and Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 finally adds them for the Pixel Tablet.

To access them, swipe inward from the right edge of the lock screen. Then, tap the “customize” card to open the widget editor, where you can add, remove, or reorder your widgets.

Stash notification bubbles

Google introduced the Bubbles API with Android 11 in 2020, allowing messaging apps to open conversations in a floating window. The floating window sits on top of other apps so you can quickly see or respond to messages from your favorite contacts. When you’re done chatting, you can minimize the floating window, which turns it into a small, floating icon that you can later tap to restore the window.

Bubbles are either always fully visible or hidden, with no in-between state. We managed to activate a third state in Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2, referred to as “stashing.” Bubble stashing lets you stash these notification bubbles to the side of the screen when they are not in use.

This partially minimizes the bubble icon, so it takes up less space on the screen. Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

Open any app in a floating bubble

While the Bubbles feature mentioned above is great, it only works for conversation notifications and can be opted out, so many apps don’t support it. However, in theory, most Android apps should work just fine when placed inside a floating window. Code within Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 suggests Google is testing this theory, as it includes references to a “bubble anything” feature.

Once activated, the Pixel Launcher adds a “bubble” button to the context menu that appears when you press and hold on any app on the home screen. Tapping this button opens the app — no matter what it is — in a floating bubble, as you can see below.

Here’s a video demonstrating what Android’s new “bubble anything” feature combined with the upcoming bubble bar will look like on tablets:

Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

Gemini button on the lock screen

We’ve spotted a flag within Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 that possibly enables another way to invoke Gemini, this time through a lock screen button. This flag controls the presence of a button on the lock screen that, when tapped, doesn’t do anything right now but could likely trigger the AI assistant (given the sparkle icon).

The button is pill-shaped and sits right below the fingerprint reader. It’s larger than the two lock screen shortcuts at the bottom and has a sparkle icon in the middle.

Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

Do Not Disturb (DND) mode changes and the introduction of Priority mode

Google is working to supercharge Android’s Do Not Disturb mode with a new Priority mode. We spotted extensive clues within Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 1, indicating that Google is planning to rename the Do Not Disturb mode entry point, tweak its UI, add a new Quick Settings tile, and introduce many other customization options.

The new DND mode UI that we activated has new toggles to enable grayscale mode, disable the always-on display, dim the wallpaper, and enable the dark theme. These four options take advantage of the new ZenDeviceEffects API.

The scheduling options from DND mode are being transferred to a custom Priority Mode. This new Priority Modes menu lets you create a fully custom DND mode schedule with its own name, icon, activation trigger, display settings, and notification settings.

There’s also a new Quick Settings tile for the Priority Mode, which co-exists alongside the DND mode tile.

With Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2, Google changed some behaviors related to Priority mode and also gave us a deeper look. The Quick Settings tile opens a dialog that lets you quickly choose which Priority Modes to enable and tells you how many are enabled, if any.

The updates to the Priority Modes menu in Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 starts with the new intro screen for the preexisting modes, Event and Sleeping. Currently, though, the graphic used for each intro screen is a placeholder, but Google will likely update these in a future release. Another change to the menu in QPR1 Beta 2 is the new UI for customizing the activation trigger and notification settings. In addition, the mode icon now lights up when it’s turned on.

Google has also added many new icons to choose from when creating a custom Priority Mode. While you can’t upload your own icon, Android now offers 40 icons to choose from in QPR 1 Beta 2.

Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 1 and Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it will be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

App switcher during partial screen sharing

Android 15 introduces a more private screen recording system that lets you record or cast a single app instead of your entire screen. However, if you need to change the app you are recording or casting, you have to end the current session and start a new one.

We spotted a flag within Android 15’s source code that enables a “task switcher feature for partial screen sharing.” After enabling this flag, when you start screen recording or screen casting an app and then switch to a different app, a new notification appears.

This notification informs the user that “sharing pauses when you switch apps.” The notification has two buttons: “share this app instead” and “switch back.” Tapping “switch back” launches the app with which the screen recording or casting session was started. Tapping “share this app instead” does nothing, though, as it appears the task switcher feature for partial screen sharing isn’t fully functional yet. It’s possible that this feature could get activated for Android 16.

Recent apps in taskbar

On Pixel foldables and tablets, the Android taskbar currently shows six apps pinned to the dock and two suggested apps. Although the Pixel Launcher suggests apps based on your recently used apps, they’re also based on those you most frequently use and your “routines.”

In the above video, you can see the two suggested apps getting replaced with the two most recently used apps.

Since this change was spotted with Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform. Many Android manufacturers already highlight recently used apps in the taskbar, so this change will benefit the Android platform at large.

Android lets you navigate its UI using keyboard shortcuts. Because there are so many keyboard shortcuts available, Android also has a dedicated menu listing them.

To help make the keyboard shortcut menu easier to use on tablets, Google could add the menu to the side navigation rail. We found code for this in Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2, and here’s what it would look like:

The redesigned keyboard shortcut menu should thus be easier to use on tablets since the shortcut categories will be closer to the left edge of the display. Since the change was spotted in Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

Touchpad gesture tutorial

We spotted a new tutorial for touchpad gestures in Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2. Google has created custom animations that explain how some of Android’s touchpad gestures work. These animations simulate the gesture used to go back (swiping left or right with three fingers), the gesture to go home (swiping up with three fingers), and the gesture to open the app drawer (pressing the action key on the keyboard).

It also created a notification that appears when the user connects a touchpad for the first time, inviting them to try the gestures.

Although Android also supports gestures to open the recent apps screen (swiping up with three fingers, then holding), open the notifications panel (swiping down with three fingers), and switch between apps (swiping left or right with four fingers), the tutorial in Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 doesn’t mention all of these. It’s likely that Google isn’t finished with this tutorial just yet and that it will be updated in a future beta.

Since the change was spotted in Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 intended for Pixel devices, it could be incorporated into future versions of the Android platform.

Improvements to Advanced Protection Mode

Advanced Protection Mode provides an extra layer of protection for people who have valuable data in their Google accounts. The program is targeted at users who are at an elevated risk of getting hacked, like IT admins, journalists, activists, business executives, and politicians. If you enroll in the Advanced Protection Program, then you’re forced to use a security key or passkey to sign into your Google account, you’re prevented from downloading files that Google Chrome marks as harmful, and you’re blocked from giving unapproved (by Google) apps access to your Google account data.

On your Android device, Google Play Protect will stay enabled, will block you from installing apps from outside the Google Play Store or other preinstalled apps, and will even warn you about apps on the Play Store that haven’t been approved by Google.

Trade-in mode for ADB

Trade-ins can take a lot of time, partially because every phone that has been traded in needs to be inspected. Non-functional devices are easy to inspect since they either have cracks that disqualify them or do not boot up, but functional devices need to be booted up and run through a series of tests to confirm that they are functioning properly. In order for the tests to run, the device needs to go through the setup screen like a brand-new phone and then enable ADB debugging, which is buried deep in the Settings menu. While most of these screens can be skipped in the setup, it still adds up time, but enabling ADB debugging cannot be avoided.

Android 16 could add a new trade-in mode to ADB, which would allow a very limited version of ADB to be available to Android devices right on the first screen of the setup wizard. This will make it easier for technicians to run automated diagnostics for device inspections.

The setup wizard will enable ADB trade-in mode and will disable it after setup has been completed. The technician can use ADB trade-in mode to put the device into an “evaluation mode” and bypass the setup, but it will also force a factory reset on the next boot. Alternatively, another command can be run to retrieve diagnostic information about the device and see if it passes an attestation challenge.

Smaller changes

There are plenty of smaller changes that we expect will be available in Android 16, based on leaked features:

• Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 includes an intensity slider for color correction settings. This slider lets you tweak the intensity of the color balance changes within the color correction modes.
• Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 2 includes customizations for the mouse pointer. These include a new pointer fill style selector, a pointer stroke style selector, and a pointer scale slider. They can be found under Settings > System > Touchpad & mouse.
• Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 1 and Beta 2 include a new keyboard switcher button. This button appears as a wireframe globe located under the keys and to the right of the hide button. The switcher dialog also looks more modern and is placed much lower on the screen to make it easier to select with one hand.
• Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 1 included new strings describing a settings page for external displays. Beta 2 included the change for the External Display page. This page allows the user to adjust the display resolution and rotation of external displays that are connected to a Pixel 8 series or Pixel 9 series device.
• Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 1 includes a new animation when you long-press on the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Quick Settings tiles.
• Android 15 QPR 1 Beta 1 includes a new predictive back gesture animation for the keyboard.

These are all the changes we expect to see in the Android 16 platform update in 2025. Let us know your favorite upcoming feature in the comments below!