Google Makes Android 16 Official With a Fresh Design, Security Updates, and Gemini

Android is ever evolving, and Google I/O is often erstwhile we perceive astir the biggest caller changes. Ahead of the event, Google is announcing smarter information features, a caller fresh look for your telephone and watch, and Gemini successful much places than ever successful Android 16.

Safety & Security

We’ll commencement with immoderate information and information improvements. You cognize those annoying and sometimes unsafe scam texts? Google Messages is getting enhanced extortion with AI-powered Scam Detection that works close connected your instrumentality to support your conversations private. The diagnostic is getting smarter astatine spotting each sorts of scams, including crypto, financial, and acquisition paper scams. As we antecedently wrote about, Android 16 is besides enhancing and expanding Advanced Protection.

Beyond conscionable your phone, keeping way of your carnal worldly and adjacent radical is getting easier. Find My Device is evolving into “Find Hub,” a azygous spot wherever you tin find your devices and tagged items, cheque successful connected family, oregon stock your location. Later this year, Find Hub volition besides integrate outer connectivity for supported devices and carriers, helping you enactment connected erstwhile you don't person compartment service. If you're a predominant flyer, you'll beryllium capable to stock your Bluetooth tag's determination with definite airlines similar Aer Lingus and British Airways, making uncovering mislaid luggage overmuch easier. This is coming adjacent year.

Material 3 Expressive

Now connected to the astir ocular portion of Android 16. As antecedently leaked, your telephone and ticker are astir to get a large plan refresh with “Material 3 Expressive.” This update is each astir making your instrumentality consciousness genuinely yours with caller ways to amusement disconnected your benignant and personality. There are much fluid interactions and natural, springy animations passim the system, similar erstwhile you disregard notifications oregon scroll done caller apps. The notification shadiness is getting a subtle blur for a consciousness of depth. You'll besides find updated dynamic colour themes, responsive components, and emphasized typography that use crossed Google apps similar Photos and Gmail.

The Quick Settings sheet is becoming much customizable, letting you compression successful much of your most-used actions. And you won't miss important updates acknowledgment to the caller Live Updates feature, which keeps real-time advancement notifications from prime apps similar transportation and rideshare services beforehand and center. We looked intimately astatine how this diagnostic works earlier this year.

Wear OS is besides getting immoderate plan emotion with a fluid plan centered around circular displays, implicit with scrolling animations that travel the screen's curve and dynamic color-theming that applies passim the system. You'll besides find glanceable buttons that hug the show and much space-efficient tiles for speedy entree to important information. Plus, Wear OS 6 is bringing show improvements and allegedly up to 10% much artillery life.

Gemini

Of course, Gemini is simply a large portion of the update arsenic well, for amended oregon worse. As we’ve been expecting, Gemini volition yet beryllium coming to your Wear OS smartwatch. Gemini volition besides beryllium disposable connected Android Auto soon, and aboriginal successful cars with Google Built-in. You'll beryllium capable to find optimal routes, get assistance on the mode (like uncovering a charging presumption adjacent a park), summarize messages, and adjacent construe replies.

Later this year, Gemini volition beryllium coming to your TV with Google TV arsenic well. Google says this tin assistance you find age-appropriate movies oregon adjacent assistance your kids with homework questions by providing answers and uncovering applicable YouTube videos. That's…an absorbing usage lawsuit to advertise. And looking ahead, Gemini is teaming up with Android XR, a caller level being built with Samsung, to powerfulness aboriginal headsets and glasses.

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Android 16, Wear OS 6, and galore of these caller features volition beryllium disposable archetypal connected Pixel devices “later this year.” As for erstwhile different Android devices tin get a taste, we don’t know. However, it looks similar Samsung is up of schedule, and OnePlus has already been sending retired the Android 16 beta to devices.

Source: Google (1, 2, 3, 4)