Android 16 review: Post-hype

The progress notifications will also have a large status bar chip with basic information visible at all times. Tapping on it will expand the full notification. However, this is also not implemented in the first release of Android 16. Yes, this is a recurring theme with Google’s new OS.

More fun still to come

You may notice that none of the things we’ve discussed in Android 16 are exactly riveting—better security features and cleaner notifications are nice to have, but this is hardly a groundbreaking update. It might have been more exciting were it not for the revamped release schedule, though. This Android 16 release isn’t even the Android 16. There will be a second Android 16 update later in the year, and some of the most interesting features aren’t arriving as part of either one.

Traditionally, Google has released new versions of Android in the fall, around the time new Pixel phones arrive. Android 15, for example, began its rollout in October 2024. Just eight months later, we’re on to Android 16. This is the first cycle in which Google will split its new version into two updates. Going forward, the bigger update will arrive in Q2, and the smaller one, which includes API and feature tweaks, will come at the end of the year.

Google has said the stylish but divisive Material 3 Expressive UI and the desktop windowing feature will come later. They’re currently in testing with the latest beta for Android 16 QPR1, which will become a Pixel Drop in September. It’s easy to imagine that with a single fall Android 16 release, both of these changes would have been included.

In the coming months, we expect to see some Google apps updated with support for Material 3, but the changes will be minimal unless you’re using a phone that runs Google’s Android theme. For all intents and purposes, that means a Pixel. Motorola has traditionally hewed closely to Google’s interface, while Samsung, OnePlus, and others forged their own paths. But even Moto has been diverging more as it focuses on AI. It’s possible that Google’s big UI shakeup will only affect Pixel users.