I’ve been holding off on discussing Android 16 until we were closer to its release, but with the first substantial look revealed at Google I/O, I believe it’s time to say that this is how a platform should be updated.
If you’re a tech enthusiast or an Android aficionado, your perspective might differ, and that’s precisely the point. Google managed a significant OS update in a manner that feels recognizable to everyone, which is no small feat when introducing features that the platform had been missing.
What may seem like a mundane iterative update, akin to what you’d expect from Apple, is anything but. Beneath the surface are significant enhancements that we definitely need, including notable changes to the official Google Play Store and various Google apps. It seems Google took a close look at existing issues and chose to start resolving them.
Yet on the user experience front, you might not even realize you’re using a completely new platform aside from the fresh look introduced as part of Material 3 Expressive (coming in a SPR1 update later this year). The subtler adjustments are there if you know where to look, but switching from Android 15 to this latest beta isn’t the jarring experience we’ve encountered in previous updates.
Those earlier changes might have been exciting for some, but they often left average consumers feeling confused—these are the very people purchasing billions of smartphones.
Most importantly, I’m not seeing the usual uproar from disgruntled app developers this time around. Perhaps Google took extra time to listen and tackle concerns before they escalated, or it has found a way to evolve without unrest in the developer community. Given that apps are what drives any software platform in 2025, this is a smart strategy.
To be candid, I didn’t anticipate this. Not that I expected another early-2000s sci-fi aesthetic or anything, but I certainly didn’t foresee such a subtle update from Android, aside from the cosmetic alterations set for the QPR1 update.
I always advise against installing any beta update on your primary device, especially regarding developer previews, and I’m not changing my stance this time. However, if you choose to install the beta, I suspect you’ll share a similar observation. It’s not really the same as before, yet it feels somewhat familiar, even if it looks a tad different. That’s certainly a positive.
You can download the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta on several devices, particularly Pixel smartphones like the freshly launched Pixel 9a. There are even rumors that Samsung might be ready early this time around. When it eventually reaches you, I believe you’ll appreciate it; it will definitely feel familiar. That’s the win here.