Android 16’s First Beta Version Out For Users

Google has introduced the beta version of Android 16 on Thursday. It encompasses live updates on the lock screen (like Live Activities on iOS), Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec for high-quality video recording, and a mechanism to make apps adaptable for different screen sizes and aspect ratios.

Notably, support for live updates will be the most visible change for consumers. Android is adopting a format to enable developers to push real-time updates with Android 16.

Google is also working on a framework to make apps more responsive.

Android 16 features a new Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec for high-quality video recording and post-processing. This will in turn offer features to creators including multi-view video and auxiliary video.

Via APV users can expect a “perceptually” lossless quality, which is closer to raw footage. Additionally, the codec will support a high bitrate range of footage for up to a few gigabits per second for 2K, 4K, and 8K.

Google is also introducing a feature that itself enables a camera within their app to switch to night mode for better-quality low-light pictures. This feature was also introduced on Instagram for selected users.

Previously, Google released its first developer preview in November instead of Q1 2025. The company wanted to fasten the updated version of the Android release by launching the final version in Q2 rather than Q3, thereby shipping a minor update later in the year. This is being done to ensure that device makers have enough time to issue updates and reduce the fragmentation of software versions across different devices.