Android 16 was deployed on June 10. Android is Google’s mobile operating system for phones and tablets: the updates that this sixteenth version will therefore be offered first on Pixel devices, before being adapted by other manufacturers to their own models. The process can take time depending on the brand, but rest assured: the most popular manufacturers, such as Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola and Oppo, should launch their own version of this new system in the coming months.
Here are the five new products waiting for you if you use one of these devices.
Smarter notifications
Android 16 improves notifications management to avoid messages of messages. Similar notifications are now automatically grouped, which ends repetitive series from the same application. Those sent in burst are also more discreet, thus reducing the interruptions.
Another practical novelty: live notifications, which appear in the form of widgets interactive on the locked screen. You can, for example, follow the arrival of your Uber Eats order or the hockey match, without having to open an application or unlock your phone.
A “computer” mode in your pocket
The new Android version also introduces a new productivity -focused tool: Office mode. It allows you to connect your phone to an external screen, connect a keyboard and a Bluetooth mouse, and use it as a real computer. You can open several applications in separate windows, resize them and move them freely. Practical to respond to emails, consult your agenda or navigate the web without a computer.
For the moment, only Pixel 8 and more recent phone models are compatible with office mode, but other manufacturers should soon offer it. Some already offer their own version of a similar system, like Samsung with Samsung Dex.
Clear sound, simplified settings
If you are a constant person and use hearing aids, Android 16 improves their accessibility features. Thanks to the more efficient Bluetooth version the audio, you can now control your hearing aids from your phone, adjust the sound and choose the microphones on your phone to better capture the sounds of your environment with less latency.
During calls, you can also decide to use the microphone of your phone rather than that of hearing aids, which makes your voice clearer, especially in noisy environment. In addition, more precise settings of the volume and the sound profile are accessible directly in the accessibility settings.
Android 16: block scams, protect your data
The update also strengthens security with advanced protection mode, which encrypts your data, blocks malware and detects risky connections, all with one click.
In the event of theft, the artificial intelligence of the system can detect the sudden speed change from which your phone is submitted when a person tears the device from the hand. The latter then locks automatically to protect the data. With the advanced protection mode, the phone can also be locking if it remains long offline and request reinforced biometric authentication to ensure that you alone can access the data.
In addition, the verification codes you receive to connect to your bank account, for example, are no longer displayed on the locked screen if your device has not been recently used.
Artificial intelligence will also help you detect fraudulent calls and messages by displaying an alert in real time.
A new, more fluid look
Finally, the update comes with the expressive Material 3 design, a visual evolution in the world of Pixel devices. Even if this system is not officially part of Android 16, it will be gradually deployed on the Pixel 6 at the same time as the new version of the operating system, then will be gradually offered for other devices.
With the Material 3 Expressive design, your phone will be even more intuitive and personalized by automatically adapting the colors of the system to your wallpaper, by offering more fluid animations and optimizing energy consumption to preserve the battery.
Other manufacturers will be able, if they wish, adapt this new design to their own devices.
Read also: The best smartphones (smartphones), how to choose a smartphone and how to thwart fraudsters?
