The first beta version of Android 16 brings iOS-style live notifications

Google released the first public beta for Android 16 on Thursday after releasing two developer betas last year. New features include live updates on the lock screen (such as Live Actions on iOS), an Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec for high-quality video capture, and a framework for developers to adapt their apps to different screen sizes and aspect ratios.

For consumers, support for live updates will be the most visible change. apple Presented Live Actions With iOS 16 in 2022, showing ever-changing updates like delivery status, workouts or sports scores. Android now implements this format so developers can push real-time updates natively with Android 16.

Google is also adding frameworks and tools to make apps more responsive when it comes to design. The company is phasing out size limit controls for developers so their apps can look and work better on large screens like tablets and foldable devices.

Android 16 also gets a new Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec for high-quality video recording and post-processing. The company said this codec will help creators with faster editing capabilities and features such as multi-frame video and companion video. This is probably a direct response to Apple ProRes and ProRes Raw formats.

With APV, the company says users can expect lossless quality that’s “perceptually” closer to raw footage. Moreover, the codec will support high-bitrate image ranges of up to several Gbps for 2K, 4K and 8K.

Google is also adding a way for apps to know if the camera should switch to night mode for better low-light images. The company worked with Instagram to bring This feature to users of selected devices last year.

Android 16 will also bring improvements on the accessibility front with a new required field indicator in APIs. With this new feature, apps can tell the user that a specific field is mandatory. Google said this could also be useful for situations where users need to check the terms and conditions box.

Google took a different approach with the release of Android 16 First developer preview in November instead of Q1 2025. The company wanted to speed up the Android release update cycle by shipping the final version in the second quarter instead of Q3 and sending a minor update at the end of the year. This is Google’s effort to ensure that device manufacturers have enough time to issue updates and reduce the fragmentation of software versions across different devices.