Android devices incorporate many optional hardware components, including still or video cameras, GPS, orientation sensors, dedicated gaming controls, accelerometers, gyroscopes, barometers, magnetometers, proximity sensors, pressure sensors, thermometers, and touchscreens. Developer options are initially hidden since Android 4.2 « Jelly Bean », but can be enabled by actuating the operating system’s build number in the device information seven times. Since Android devices are usually battery-powered, Android is designed to manage processes to keep power consumption at a minimum. Adoptable storage, introduced on Android 6.0, allows the internal storage of the device to be spanned with the SD card, treating it as an extension of the internal storage. When connecting or disconnecting charging power and when briefly actuating the power button or home button, all while the device is powered off, a visual battery meter whose appearance varies among vendors appears on the screen, allowing the user to quickly assess the charge status of a powered-off device without having to start it. On more recent phones, its place is occupied by a task key used to access the list of recently used apps when actuated.
Software similar to Google Play Store 11
To try it out, open the Terminal app and tap the Display button in the top-right corner to launch a session that supports graphical output. This Time zone change notification went live in the July 2025 Android Canary release and was graduated to the stable release with Android 16 QPR2 stable release. The notification’s kudosbet title will say “Your time zone changed,” and the body will include the exact time zone you’re now in. The description states that the feature will allow you to “receive a notification when your time zone is automatically updated.” Your Android phone can automatically adjust the time when you enter a new time zone. A new toggle in Android 16 QPR2 allows you to disable Failed Authentication Lock.
Customizable keyboard shortcuts
Chinese companies are building a PC and mobile operating system, based on Android, to « compete directly with Microsoft Windows and Google Android ». For example, as Android was developed initially as a phone OS, hardware such as microphones were required, while over time the phone function became optional. Some other hardware was initially required, but those requirements have been relaxed or eliminated altogether. Some hardware components are not required, but became standard in certain classes of devices, such as smartphones, and additional requirements apply if they are present.
How do I install the Google Play Store APK on my Android device?
- Back in July 2025, we spotted Google working on a Handoff feature that would allow users to sync notifications, share files, and continue apps across their Android devices.
- Android 17 QPR1 Beta 1 also brings an option to change the Terminal’s resolution through a new “Display resolution” setting.
- Once activated, the launcher adds a “bubble” button to the context menu that appears when you press and hold on any app on the home screen.
- With Android 17 Beta 4, Google has introduced Background Audio Hardening, placing stricter limits on apps that try to play audio, request audio focus, or change volume while running in the background.
- With Android 17 Beta 3, widget padding, text size, and layout attributes automatically scale based on the density difference between the app’s original context and the target display.
Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 introduced subtle background blur (as mentioned above) to specific parts of the Android UI, namely the notification shade, Quick Settings panel, and Recents screen. These changes were spotted and enabled in Android 16 Beta 4 and are widely available in Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, but they are unlikely to be available in the Android 16 stable release. With Android 16 Beta 3, Google is giving app developers a chance to test if their apps are affected by this upcoming change. Local Network Protection will eventually require apps to request specific permission to access the local network. Later QPR betas give us even more features that can be chalked up to the next platform release, unless they are completely Pixel-exclusive.
The app will not receive any subsequent updates you make to a contact’s information, further protecting your privacy by preventing apps from tracking changes over time. This feature works only for conversation notifications and can be opted out of, so many apps don’t support it. With the Android 17 Beta 2 release, Google officially announced the EyeDropper API, which allows apps to request a color from any pixel on the display without requiring sensitive screen-capture permissions.
As a result, we have a list of features that are coming to upcoming Android 16 QPR releases for Pixel devices, which are also likely to be added to the next Android platform update, Android 17. A close look at an official screenshot (seen above) shows a menu displaying Play Protect status, bootloader status, and build number info. This will detect apps that hide or change their icons and then launch from the background or abuse accessibility permissions.
Updates to the Android Photo picker are handled through Google Play Services, so this change might not be restricted or even tied to Android 17. Because of this limitation, apps that need this functionality end up baking in a separate mechanism (usually a button or similar entry point outside the Photo picker) to click a new photo. Android 17 Beta 3 adds support for Vendor-defined camera extensions, allowing hardware partners to provide Android apps with access to camera features such as ‘Super Resolution’ and cutting-edge AI-driven enhancements. With Android 17 Beta 3, widget padding, text size, and layout attributes automatically scale based on the density difference between the app’s original context and the target display. Android 17 Beta 3 introduces a separate Assistant volume slider, allowing you to change the Assistant’s volume independently from the media volume.
Charging while powered off
- Google has developed several variations of Android for specific use cases, including Android Wear, later renamed Wear OS, for wearable devices such as wrist watches, Android TV for televisions, Android Things for smart or Internet of things devices and Android Automotive for cars.
- Following news of Google’s monthly schedule, some manufacturers, including Samsung and LG, promised to issue monthly security updates, but, as noted by Jerry Hildenbrand in Android Central in February 2016, « instead we got a few updates on specific versions of a small handful of models. And a bunch of broken promises ».
- These changes were spotted and enabled in Android 16 Beta 4 and are widely available in Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, but they are unlikely to be available in the Android 16 stable release.
- The platform is also focused on supporting developers with tools like ARCore and Unity to build applications for upcoming XR devices.
- With Treble, the new stable vendor interface provides access to the hardware-specific parts of Android, enabling device makers to deliver new Android releases simply by updating the Android OS framework, « without any additional work required from the silicon manufacturers. »
- Not much was known about the secretive Android Inc. at the time, with the company having provided few details other than that it was making software for mobile phones.
- In Android 6.0 « Marshmallow », the permissions system was changed; apps are no longer automatically granted all of their specified permissions at installation time.
With Android 17 Beta 3, the change is now live, though it remains to be seen if it will persist till the stable release. With Android 12, Google combined the two toggles into a singular Internet tile. Before Android 12, the OS had separate Quick Settings toggles for Wi-Fi and mobile data.
Following news of Google’s monthly schedule, some manufacturers, including Samsung and LG, promised to issue monthly security updates, but, as noted by Jerry Hildenbrand in Android Central in February 2016, « instead we got a few updates on specific versions of a small handful of models. And a bunch of broken promises ». In 2020, David Wang under his company Corellium released Project Sandcastle which made Android run on the iPhone 7. As a result, technical obstacles including locked bootloaders and restricted access to root permissions are common in many devices. Moreover, modified firmware such as CyanogenMod sometimes offer features, such as tethering, for which carriers would otherwise charge a premium. Android’s standard C library, Bionic, was developed by Google specifically for Android, as a derivation of the BSD’s standard C library code. Development of the Linux kernel continues independently of Android’s other source code projects.
Desktop Mode and related changes
At Google I/O 2026, Google has introduced new “Metric Style” notifications template that expands Live Updates to health and fitness apps, timers, and travel app use cases. In the first Android 16 stable release, the Android system treats these notifications just like other notifications. Instead, the first release supported progress-centric notifications, a new type of notification that merely displayed progress and milestones on ride-share and food delivery apps.
If you’d like to try the changes ahead of its stable rollout, you can already do so, starting with Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1. As such, we’re labeling these features as “carry over features” as they technically went live with Android 16, but will most likely reach the wider Android platform with Android 17. These features are live on Pixel phones running Android 16, but Android OEMs could adopt them as part of the Android 17 platform update. Google added features to Android 16 after the initial stable release, primarily through the Android 16 QPR1, QPR2, and QPR3 releases.