Google late last week released the first-ever public beta update of the upcoming Android 16 software to Pixel 6 and newer devices enrolled in Android Beta Program. There’s app adaptivity, there’s Live Updates, some camera and security improvements, but then there’s not a lot of features or UI changes in this build to make it worth it for Android users to jump the gun and install the beta software, rather than wait out for the final stable build. Taylor Kerns from Android Police spent the weekend combing through everything the new Android 16 update has to offer and he writes:
[…] It’s been smooth sailing — but in my experience so far, it also hasn’t been any different from using Android 15. If you’re an enthusiast on the fence about hopping on the beta, know that you’re not missing much at this point. Android 16 will bring changes later on, but as far as the beta goes, not much has changed on the user side. […] Android’s reached a certain level of maturity. In terms of moment-to-moment look and feel, Android 16 Beta 1 is almost indistinguishable from Android 15 — which itself wasn’t much different from Android 14, or 13. In 2021, we called Android 12 “your phone’s biggest update in years,” but since then, subsequent versions have been iterations on that foundation.
