These 3 features have just made Android 16 much more exciting

As difficult as it can believe, we are only a few months old from the public release of Android 16. We have had developers’ overviews since last November and beta outings since January, and we expect the final version to be ready in May or June.

Until now, the update has not given us much to hope. There are a lot of developers and under the caps, but in terms of exciting changes oriented on users, Android 16 was lacking. Apart from the improvements to the photo selector, live update notifications and improving the management of the application for tablets and foldables, it promises to be a fairly dull update.

Fortunately, it seems that things take a look to better. Google published Android 16 Beta 3 on March 13 and hiding inside this version is a handful of small small but promising features. I must admit that they made me much more excited by Android 16 than before.

The first change – and undoubtedly the biggest – that fascinates me is the revised quick parameters. The quick parameters in “Stock” Android have largely remained the same from Android 13, but Android 16 will introduce a new fractionation design. Instead of seeing your quick notifications and parameters on the same page, Android 16 will divide them on two pages. You will get your notifications when you slip into the upper left corner and your quick settings after slipping at the top right.

I could take or leave the split design itself. What I am most geek is the new look on the quick parameter page. On the one hand, your quick settings are now to be scrolled vertically and take the whole page – which means that you can install a plot More tilting on your screen. In the current state of things today, Android 15 on a pixel shows only eight fast parameters switch to both. However, with this new design in Android 16, you can see 16 (or more) appropriate buttons at the same time. It is a big upgrade.

In addition, Google seems to experiment with additional sizes and conceptions, including a new small square which occupies half the space of standard rectangular buttons. Also visually pleasant as large rectangular bubbles can be, I am really happy that more practical conceptions are with Android 16. The smallest icons always look while allowing you to press many more features on your screen. It’s a winner-win if you ask me.

Finally, in addition to being more practical, I also like that Google opens up quick parameters to greater personalization of users. Especially compared to skins such as a user interface and oxygenos, Stock Android has pale in relation to giving you total control over what your fast parameters look like and feel. So that it finally changes in Android 16 is a big problem for me.

The biggest drawback is that this new parameter / quick notification panel will probably not be ready in time for the first Stable Android 16 version. However, we should see it with a future Android 16 update on the road, and I cannot wait.

In Android 15, personalization of the home screen for Pixel phones is quite basic. You have applications’ grid choices, accent colored selections and the theme option the icons of your application with the accent color you choose. And … that’s about it. But Android 16 will add another option to the mixture: application icons forms.

Although we do not live in Android 16 Beta 3, we have managed to allow the functionality, and it works as you can imagine. In a new “Form and application arrangement” page, you can choose one of the six forms to apply to all the icons of your application. Some are simple, such as a circle or a squirt, while others have more unusual conceptions – including the “cookie on four sides” and the “complex clover”.

Although I don’t like what it looks like, I like to see Google bring more customization options to the pixel launcher. Personalization of the application icon has been a pillar of Skins and Android launchers for years, but the Google pixel launcher has always been late in this department. I am also encouraged that it is an even more to come – such as the management of personalized icons or the personalization of application icons on an individual basis. This is one of the reasons why I preferred to use Oxygenos 15 so recently, and I am delighted to see Android 16 take measures to improve things here.

He may or may not be ready in time for the first public version of Android 16, but I believe my fingers it is.

This latest Android 16 functionality is not technically part of Android 16 Beta 3. However, Google recently confirmed its existence as something that will be part of Android 16 QPR1, which is planned for a deployment of September. The functionality I’m talking about is locking screen widgets. Google added locking screen widgets specifically for Android tablets last year, but Android 16 will also bring them to phones.

As a person who has an Android iPhone and phone, iOS 16 locking screen widgets have been one of my new favorite iOS features in recent years. Personalization of my locking screen to display my shopping list, upcoming calendar events, a Google Maps search widget or even a shortcut to chatgpt is just as cool and practical.

I am a big fan of the widget, but it is not long in lacking in a reception screen space to put said widgets. The locking screen is an excellent canvas for them, especially to quickly take a look at your calendar or your task list, or to display memories of Google Photos. Admittedly, it is a bit silly to defend Google for rearialing a feature that previously existed with Android 4.2 (and was then deleted with Android 5.0), but I am always very happy to see lock screen widgets make a return.

Although it is certainly not the most exciting Android update that we have ever had, Android 16 promises to be well and concentrates better than a few weeks ago. A large part of the update is always focused behind the scenes and I will not notice it immediately, but it is reassuring that some goodies oriented by users give us new toys with which to play. With a panel of quick parameters and remained notification, new options for personalization of application icons and the reintroduction of locking screen widgets, I don’t think we can call Android 16 “boring” longer.

We should better see these modifications during Google E / S in May, and it is also possible that Google displays additional Android 16 functionalities which have not yet been revealed. Even if it is not the massive overhaul that Android 13 was, there are exciting changes here, and I can’t wait to get my hands on them.