Android 16, codenamed “Baklava,” is now officially available from Google. This is one of the first big Android releases in a long time. This update, which came out on June 10, 2025, adds a number of new features that are meant to improve the user experience, increase productivity, and make security stronger. Android 16 will first be available on supported Google Pixel devices (Pixel 6 and newer). In the next few months, it will also be available on other brands like Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, and more. Here’s a closer look at what makes Android 16 a big step up.
A New Age of Alerts
Live Updates: You won’t have to keep checking your food delivery or ride-sharing app anymore. Android 16 adds a new type of notification called “Live Updates” that lets you track services like DoorDash or Uber in real time. These notifications, which focus on your progress, show up on the lock screen or Always-on Display. They come with progress bars and quick actions, like calling your driver. Samsung’s Now Bar and OPPO/OnePlus’ Live Alerts both have this feature built in, and more apps are planned to support it.
Auto-Grouping: Android 16 automatically groups notifications from the same app to cut down on clutter. You can expand the group with just one tap. This keeps your notification shade neat and easy to use.
Notification Cooldown: This feature lowers the volume of notifications and limits notifications from the same app to two minutes to stop spam notifications. It does not affect priority alerts like calls or alarms. In Settings > Notifications, users can turn this off.
Desktop Windowing Can Help You Get More Done
Android 16 makes multitasking even better, especially on tablets and foldable phones with big screens:
Desktop Windowing: Google and Samsung work together to make it possible for users to open, move, and resize multiple app windows on a single screen, just like on a computer. This feature makes work easier by making the interface look like a PC, just like Samsung DeX and ChromeOS. It will be available on compatible devices later in 2025.
Custom Keyboard Shortcuts: Users can make their own hotkeys to make it easier to move around and launch apps, which makes working on bigger screens easier.
Taskbar Overflow: This feature makes it easier to manage several open apps by giving you a visual way to get to them when the taskbar is full.
These improvements to multitasking, along with the promise of support for external displays in the future, make Android 16 a game-changer for people who want to be more productive.
Better Accessibility
Android 16 puts a lot of emphasis on making things available to everyone by making big improvements to accessibility:
Better support for hearing aids: Android 16 lets users with LE Audio hearing aids switch to the phone’s microphone for clearer calls in loud places. You can now easily adjust the volume and other settings for hearing devices directly from your phone. This makes the experience more seamless.
Vertical Text Support: Android 16 adds low-level rendering and measurement for vertical writing systems to better support languages like Japanese. This is good for both developers and users.
Strong Security Features
Security is still a big part of Android 16, and there are new tools to keep user data safe:
Advanced Protection Mode: This mode is made for people who are at a high risk, like journalists or public figures. It provides the best mobile security from Google, protecting against online attacks, harmful apps, unsafe websites, and scam calls. It has memory checks, USB protection, and intrusion detection that will work in the cloud in the future.
Identity Check: This feature requires biometric authentication outside of trusted locations to stop people from taking over your account.
Trade-in Mode: This makes it safer to trade in a device by letting you access diagnostics on a wiped device.
Scam Detection: Google Messages can now find scam texts thanks to AI built into the device. This adds an extra layer of security.
In addition, Android 16 hides sensitive notifications (like OTP codes) on the lock screen when there is a high risk, which builds on the security features of Android 15.
Improvements to the camera and media
Android 16 makes making and playing media better:
The Advanced Professional Video (APV) Codec is made for recording professional-quality video. It supports YUV 422 color sampling, 10-bit encoding, and bitrates of up to 2 Gbps. This guarantees that the video is of high quality and can be used in post-production.
UltraHDR and Motion Photos: Android 16 adds support for UltraHDR images in HEIC format and new Intent actions for taking motion photos. This makes the camera better for social and productivity apps.
Auracast Technology: Android 16 lets you stream audio to multiple devices, like headphones or speakers, without having to pair them up first.
Linux Terminal and Cloud Connection
Android 16 adds to the Linux Terminal feature that was first seen in Android 15 QPR2. This lets users run Linux apps in a virtualized Debian environment. This feature, which is based on the Android Virtualization Framework, can run graphical apps like Doom, showing how it could work like a desktop.
The Android Photo Picker now works with cloud-based media services like Google Photos, so users can choose photos that are stored in the cloud without having to switch apps.
Coming soon: Material 3 Expressive
Android 16 is the first step toward the Material 3 Expressive design language, but the big UI change with bright animations, colors, and blur effects won’t be available in the first version. The QPR1 update, which is coming out later in 2025, promises a more personalized and smooth user experience.
Improvements in performance and development
Android 16 adds a minor SDK release model, which speeds up API iterations. In the fourth quarter of 2025, a minor release (maybe Android 16.1) will come out with new APIs, improvements, and bug fixes. Developers gain from:
Adaptive Apps: Apps that work with Android 16 can no longer limit how the screen can be oriented or how big it can be on big screens. This makes sure that the apps work well on all devices.
Memory Optimization: Support for 16KB memory pages lowers usage and page faults, especially on systems with bigger page sizes.
Generic Bootloader (GBL): A standardized bootloader makes it easier for device makers to start up their devices.
Availability and Rollout
You can get Android 16 right now on Pixel 6 and later devices by going to Settings > System > Software updates. Updates will come out later in 2025 from other companies, such as Honor, Lenovo, Samsung, and Xiaomi. Most devices that were released in the last two years should get the upgrade. Users can also sideload the update or use the Android Flash Tool to install it by hand.
A word of warning
Some people have said that the first version of Android 16 had bugs that caused apps to crash and interfaces to stop responding, especially on Pixel devices. These problems might be fixed in future updates, but people who get the update early should back up their data first.
Last Thoughts
Android 16 is a forward-looking release that improves productivity, accessibility, and security while setting the stage for new features like Material 3 Expressive and more desktop functionality in the future. Its early release fits with Google’s goal of getting updates out faster so that more devices can use the newest features sooner. Android 16 has something for everyone, whether you’re tracking a delivery, using a tablet for more than one thing at once, or protecting your data. Find out if your device is compatible and jump into the future of Android now.
