My Four Favorite Android 16 Features That Haven’t Launched Yet
Earlier this month, Google announced the launch of Android 16 , which will be available first on Pixel devices. If you have a Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro (released in 2021) or a later device, you should already have the software update.
However, you won’t have many of the new features that Google is pushing with this Android update — an update that feels like a placeholder for what’s coming later this year. If you reboot your phone after installing Android 16 and look back to see what’s new, you may be disappointed.
Here are a few important points: First, Android 16 was released much earlier this year (in June) than Android 15 (in October), most likely to get ahead of the launch of the Google Pixel 10. It looks like most of Android 16’s major updates will arrive sometime in September or October.
Second, these major Android releases are, now more than ever, primarily aimed at Pixel phones. Each Android phone maker contributes its own version of the Android code Google provides, and may not support every feature — or add extra features that Google hasn’t gotten around to. Samsung’s One UI 8 , based on Android 16, is the best example.
Adding to the confusion are the additional Pixel Drops that Google regularly rolls out for its phones and tablets. The latest of these arrived alongside Android 16, bringing with it features like Pixel VIPs , which give selected contacts a higher priority on your device.
So while Android 16 doesn’t bring much new to my Pixel phone just yet, there’s still plenty to come: here are four key updates I’m looking forward to.
Material 3 Expressive
Google has already told us about the major design update coming to Android 16, throwing around phrases like “emotional impact,” “more engaging,” and “makes you feel something” — which really means more color, more curves, and screens that don’t look as spartan as those in Android 15.
It looks good in the screenshots Google shared, but I haven’t seen it in Google’s own apps or in Android’s settings menu yet (that should happen in September, according to Android Authority ). After that, third-party developers will push their own updates, so it’ll take a while for everything to become Material 3 Expressive-ized.
Current updates
Android can already display real-time information like timers and Uber ratings in persistent notifications, but Live Updates on Android 16 will make those notifications much more visible, detailed, and interactive — much like Live Activities on iOS . Samsung is already ahead of the curve here, with the Now Bar available in One UI 7.
However, I haven’t seen any apps that use Live Updates yet. It looks like Android 16 is just laying the groundwork for the feature, and it’s up to app developers to implement it – I expect this to happen gradually over the next few months.
Full Desktop Mode
Android 16 is much more capable on larger screens, with better window resizing and grouping controls so it feels more like a desktop. It’s an update that’s already available, but only for Android tablets — you won’t be able to use it on an external monitor connected to your Pixel phone just yet.
We know from the Android 16 beta and Google I/O 2025 that support for phone functionality is on the way, so you’ll be able to use your phone in desktop mode when connected to a monitor, but it’s not there yet. This is another area where Samsung is already ahead, with its Samsung DeX tool .
Accumulation of notifications
The last announced but not yet launched feature of Android 16 is notification stacking, or “forced automatic notification grouping,” as it’s officially called . “Your notifications will be automatically grouped together to keep everything looking compact and organized,” Google said in a blog post announcing Android 16.
I’m still waiting here, too. Android actually does a pretty good job of grouping notifications from the same app, so I’m not entirely sure what exactly will be different, but based on the limited number of screenshots shared, it looks like the grouping will be more compact and easier to manage.