Google Rolls Out Android 16 Version; What's In There For You

The latest version of Android is here! The Android 16 Beta 2 rolled out to developers and testers on Thursday.

The latest version of Google's smartphone operating system includes new features. These are designed to improve the camera performance of handsets running on Android. This also includes a UltraHDR HEIC photos and hybrid auto-exposure mode. Here's a detailed look at what new features it brings to you!

Android 16 Updates

So, what new features does the latest update brings? You can get new privacy improvements. Also the company is expected to release the stable version of Android 16 to eligible Google Pixel smartphones. This might come by the second quarter of 2025. Here's a detailed look at what more new features you can get:

Now developers will have access to a new hybrid auto-exposure mode. This enables access to auto-exposure adjustments. Thus, allowing you to adjust both ISO and exposure time. These changes comes as a part of the Camera2 API. The aim is to improve the experience of pro users with Android smartphones.

Next professional video recording applications will also be able to perform precise adjustments of white balance based on the correlated colour temperature. All thanks to the new COLOR_CORRECTION_MODE_CCT on Android 16.

Android 16 will also include new protections against intent redirection attacks. Thus, protecting you from attacks that use maliciously app to gain access to your private files and other details.

Developers will no longer be allowed to opt out of edge-to-edge display mode. This means that your apps will need to extend its content to the edges of the screen. Thus, giving you a more immersive look.

Looking ahead, Google also mentioned that apps designed for Android 16 will need to request granular permissions. This will allow to read data from Health Connect, which is the default data repository on a user's smartphone. This features comes as an alternative of using the BODY_SENSORS permissions.