Google announced Tuesday that it is releasing a slew of Android 16 updates, along with new general Android features and accessibility features. The rollout of new features in Android 16, which will arrive first on Pixel devices, marks a new chapter in how Android updates are delivered, as the company moves from once-a-year updates to more frequent releases.
Android 16 adds AI-powered notification summaries that quickly condense long messages and group chats into at-a-glance summaries. The new Notification Organizer automatically groups and silences low-priority notifications like promotions, news, and social alerts.
The update also provides more ways to customize your device, giving users access to custom icon shapes, themed icons, and options to automatically darken even apps that don’t have their own native dark theme.
Additionally, there are new parental control options within Android Settings that allow parents to set screen time limits, create downtime schedules, control app usage, and more for their children.
These updates will begin rolling out to eligible Pixel devices on Android 16 starting Tuesday.
Google is also releasing some new Android features that aren’t specific to Android 16. A new beta feature called “Call Reason” allows users to flag calls to saved contacts as “urgent.” The recipient will see this on the incoming call screen and will know that there is a time limit. If you miss a call, an “urgent” note will be left in your call log.
Google is also launching “Expressive Captions,” which will fully display the emotion of your audio with tags like (sad) or (happy), whether it’s a video message or a post on social media. The company says this will allow users to glean the full context of what is being said when audio is turned off.
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The tech giant is making it easier to find and end unwanted group chats. When an unknown number invites a user to a group, the user will receive an alert with important information about the group. Users can immediately choose to reply, leave the chat, or block and report the number.
Additionally, pinned tabs in Chrome now work just like they do on desktop. This means that pinned pages remain saved to the front of the browser, allowing users to pick up where they left off.
Google is also updating Circle to Search, a feature that lets users search from anywhere on their phone using gestures like circle, highlight, scribbling, and tapping. Users can now use this feature to analyze suspicious messages. When you start Circle to Search, you’ll see an AI summary that tells you whether a message is likely to be a scam.
In an accessibility update, Google is making it easier to use voice dictation with TalkBack on Android. Users will soon be able to start dictating on Gboard with just a two-finger double-tap. From there, Gemini’s smart dictation allows users to enter and edit text using natural commands. For example, a user can correct the date by saying, “Replace Monday with Tuesday,” or ask Gemini to “make it shorter.”
Google is also updating the “Guided Frames” feature in the Pixel camera app. Previously, this feature would notify users about things like faces in frames. In the future, more detailed descriptions will be provided, such as “A girl in a yellow T-shirt is sitting on a couch and looking at a dog.”
Additionally, users no longer need to physically tap their phone to start using voice access, allowing users to control their Android devices with voice commands. Users can now begin controlling their phones hands-free by simply saying, “Hey Google, start voice access.”
The company is also launching Fast Pair for hearing aids, starting with hearing aids from Demant, a Danish company that owns several major hearing aid brands, including Oticon, Sonic and Vernafon.
