Posted by Matthew McCullough – VP of Product Administration, Android Developer
At present, Android is launching just a few updates throughout the platform! This consists of the beginning of Android 16’s rollout with particulars for each builders and customers, a Developer Preview for enhanced Android desktop experiences with related shows, updates for Android customers throughout Google apps and extra, plus the June Pixel Drop. We’re additionally recapping all of the Google I/O updates for Android builders targeted on constructing wonderful, adaptive Android apps.
At present we’re releasing Android 16 and making it out there on most supported Pixel gadgets. Search for new gadgets working Android 16 within the coming months.
This additionally marks the supply of the supply code on the Android Open Supply Venture (AOSP). You may study the supply code for a deeper understanding of how Android works, and our concentrate on compatibility means which you could leverage your app growth expertise in Android Studio with Jetpack Compose to create purposes that thrive throughout your complete ecosystem.
Main and minor SDK releases
With Android 16, we have added the idea of a minor SDK launch to permit us to iterate our APIs extra rapidly, reflecting the speedy tempo of the innovation Android is bringing to apps and gadgets.
We plan to have one other launch in This fall of 2025 which additionally will embody new developer APIs. At present’s main launch would be the solely launch in 2025 to incorporate deliberate app-impacting habits modifications.
Along with new developer APIs, the This fall minor launch will choose up characteristic updates, optimizations, and bug fixes.
We’ll proceed to have quarterly Android releases. The Q3 replace in-between the API releases is offering a lot of the brand new visible polish related to Materials Expressive, and you may get the Q3 beta immediately in your supported Pixel system.
Digicam and media APIs to empower creators
Android 16 enhances assist for skilled digicam customers, permitting for evening mode scene detection, hybrid auto publicity, and exact shade temperature changes. It is simpler than ever to seize movement images with new Intent actions, and we’re persevering with to enhance UltraHDR pictures, with assist for HEIC encoding and new parameters from the ISO 21496-1 draft commonplace. Assist for the Superior Skilled Video (APV) codec improves Android’s place in skilled recording and post-production workflows, with perceptually lossless video high quality that survives a number of decodings/re-encodings with out extreme visible high quality degradation.
Additionally, Android’s picture picker can now be embedded in your view hierarchy, and customers will recognize the flexibility to go looking cloud media.
Extra constant, lovely apps
Android 16 introduces modifications to enhance the consistency and visible look of apps, laying the inspiration for the upcoming Materials 3 Expressive modifications. Apps concentrating on Android 16 can not opt-out of going edge-to-edge, and ignores the elegantTextHeight attribute to make sure correct spacing in Arabic, Lao, Myanmar, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Telugu or Thai.
Adaptive Android apps
With Android apps now working on quite a lot of gadgets and extra windowing modes on massive screens, builders ought to construct Android apps that adapt to any display and window measurement, no matter system orientation. For apps concentrating on Android 16 (API degree 36), Android 16 consists of modifications to how the system manages orientation, resizability, and side ratio restrictions. On shows with smallest width >= 600dp, the restrictions not apply and apps will fill your complete show window. It’s best to verify your apps to make sure your current UIs scale seamlessly, working properly throughout portrait and panorama side ratios. We’re offering frameworks, instruments, and libraries to assist.
You may take a look at these overrides with out concentrating on utilizing the app compatibility framework by enabling the UNIVERSAL_RESIZABLE_BY_DEFAULT flag. Learn extra about modifications to orientation and resizability APIs in Android 16.
Predictive again by default and extra
Apps concentrating on Android 16 could have system animations for back-to-home, cross-task, and cross-activity by default. As well as, Android 16 extends predictive again navigation to three-button navigation, which means that customers long-pressing the again button will see a glimpse of the earlier display earlier than navigating again.
To make it simpler to get the back-to-home animation, Android 16 provides assist for the onBackInvokedCallback with the brand new PRIORITY_SYSTEM_NAVIGATION_OBSERVER. Android 16 moreover provides the finishAndRemoveTaskCallback and moveTaskToBackCallback for customized again stack habits with predictive again.
Constant progress notifications
Android 16 introduces Notification.ProgressStyle, which helps you to create progress-centric notifications that may denote states and milestones in a person journey utilizing factors and segments. Key use circumstances embody rideshare, supply, and navigation. It is the idea for Stay Updates, which will likely be totally realized in an upcoming Android 16 replace.
Customized AGSL graphical results
Android 16 provides RuntimeColorFilter and RuntimeXfermode, permitting you to writer complicated results like Threshold, Sepia, and Hue Saturation in AGSL and apply them to attract calls.
Assist to create higher performing, extra environment friendly apps and video games
From APIs that can assist you perceive app efficiency, to platform modifications designed to extend effectivity, Android 16 is concentrated on ensuring your apps carry out properly. Android 16 introduces system-triggered profiling to ProfilingManager, ensures at most one missed execution of scheduleAtFixedRate is instantly executed when the app returns to a legitimate lifecycle for higher effectivity, introduces hasArrSupport and getSuggestedFrameRate(int) to make it simpler in your apps to benefit from adaptive show refresh charges, and introduces the getCpuHeadroom and getGpuHeadroom APIs together with CpuHeadroomParams and GpuHeadroomParams in SystemHealthManager to offer video games and resource-intensive apps estimates of obtainable GPU and CPU sources on supported gadgets.
JobScheduler updates
JobScheduler.getPendingJobReasons in Android 16 returns a number of the explanation why a job is pending, because of each specific constraints you set and implicit constraints set by the system. The brand new JobScheduler.getPendingJobReasonsHistory returns the checklist of the newest pending job motive modifications, permitting you to higher tune the way in which your app works within the background.
Android 16 is making changes for normal and expedited job runtime quota based mostly on which apps standby bucket the app is in, whether or not the job begins execution whereas the app is in a prime state, and whether or not the job is executing whereas the app is working a Foreground Service.
To detect (after which cut back) deserted jobs, apps ought to use the brand new STOP_REASON_TIMEOUT_ABANDONED job cease motive that the system assigns for deserted jobs, as a substitute of STOP_REASON_TIMEOUT.
16KB web page sizes
Android 15 launched assist for 16KB web page sizes to enhance the efficiency of app launches, system boot-ups, and digicam begins, whereas lowering battery utilization. Android 16 provides a 16 KB web page measurement compatibility mode, which, mixed with new Google Play technical necessities, brings Android nearer to having gadgets delivery with this essential change. You may validate in case your app wants updating utilizing the 16KB web page measurement checks & APK Analyzer within the newest model of Android Studio.
ART inner modifications
Android 16 consists of the most recent updates to the Android Runtime (ART) that enhance the Android Runtime’s (ART’s) efficiency and supply assist for added language options. These enhancements are additionally out there to over a billion gadgets working Android 12 (API degree 31) and better by way of Google Play System updates. Apps and libraries that depend on inner non-SDK ART constructions might not proceed to work appropriately with these modifications.
Privateness and safety
Android 16 continues our mission to enhance safety and guarantee person privateness. It consists of Improved safety towards Intent redirection assaults, makes MediaStore.getVersion distinctive to every app, provides an API that permits apps to share Android Keystore keys, incorporates the most recent model of the Privateness Sandbox on Android, introduces a brand new habits throughout the companion system pairing circulation to guard the person’s location privateness, and permits a person to simply choose from and restrict entry to app-owned shared media within the picture picker.
Native community permission testing
Android 16 permits your app to check the upcoming native community permission characteristic, which would require your app to be granted NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES permission. This modification will likely be enforced in a future Android main launch.
An Android constructed for everybody
Android 16 provides options resembling Auracast broadcast audio with suitable LE Audio listening to aids, Accessibility modifications resembling extending TtsSpan with TYPE_DURATION, a brand new list-based API inside AccessibilityNodeInfo, improved assist for expandable components utilizing setExpandedState, RANGE_TYPE_INDETERMINATE for indeterminate ProgressBar widgets, AccessibilityNodeInfo getChecked and setChecked(int) strategies that assist a “partially checked” state, setSupplementalDescription so you may present textual content for a ViewGroup with out overriding data from its kids, and setFieldRequired so apps can inform an accessibility service that enter to a kind area is required.
Define textual content for optimum textual content distinction
Android 16 introduces define textual content, changing excessive distinction textual content, which pulls a bigger contrasting space round textual content to enormously enhance legibility, together with new AccessibilityManager APIs to permit your apps to verify or register a listener to see if this mode is enabled.
Get your apps, libraries, instruments, and recreation engines prepared!
In case you develop an SDK, library, software, or recreation engine, it is much more essential to organize any needed updates now to stop your downstream app and recreation builders from being blocked by compatibility points and permit them to focus on the most recent SDK options. Please let your builders know if updates to your SDK are wanted to totally assist Android 16.
Testing entails putting in your manufacturing app or a take a look at app making use of your library or engine utilizing Google Play or different means onto a tool or emulator working Android 16. Work by way of all of your app’s flows and search for practical or UI points. Overview the habits modifications to focus your testing. Every launch of Android comprises platform modifications that enhance privateness, safety, and general person expertise, and these modifications can have an effect on your apps. Listed below are a number of modifications to concentrate on that apply, even when you aren’t but concentrating on Android 16:
- Broadcasts: Ordered broadcasts utilizing priorities solely work inside the identical course of. Use one other IPC when you want cross-process ordering.
- ART: In case you use reflection, JNI, or some other means to entry Android internals, your app would possibly break. That is by no means a greatest apply. Check totally.
- 16KB Web page Measurement: In case your app is not 16KB-page-size prepared, you should utilize the brand new compatibility mode flag, however we suggest migrating to 16KB for greatest efficiency.
Different modifications that will likely be impactful as soon as your app targets Android 16:
Get your app prepared for the longer term:
- Native community safety: Take into account testing your app with the upcoming Native Community Safety characteristic. It should give customers extra management over which apps can entry gadgets on their native community in a future Android main launch.
Bear in mind to totally train libraries and SDKs that your app is utilizing throughout your compatibility testing. Chances are you’ll must replace to present SDK variations or attain out to the developer for assist when you encounter any points.
When you’ve revealed the Android 16-compatible model of your app, you can begin the method to replace your app’s targetSdkVersion. Overview the habits modifications that apply when your app targets Android 16 and use the compatibility framework to assist rapidly detect points.
Get began with Android 16
Your Pixel system ought to get Android 16 shortly if you have not already been on the Android Beta. In case you don’t have a Pixel system, you may use the 64-bit system pictures with the Android Emulator in Android Studio. If you’re presently on Android 16 Beta 4.1 and haven’t but taken an Android 16 QPR1 beta, you may decide out of this system and you’ll then be provided the discharge model of Android 16 over the air.
For the perfect growth expertise with Android 16, we suggest that you just use the most recent Canary construct of Android Studio Narwhal. When you’re arrange, listed below are among the issues it is best to do:
Thanks once more to everybody who participated in our Android developer preview and beta program. We’re wanting ahead to seeing how your apps benefit from the updates in Android 16, and have plans to carry you updates in a fast-paced launch cadence going ahead.
For full data on Android 16 please go to the Android 16 developer web site.
