These 3 features just made Android 16 a lot more exciting

As hard as it is to believe, we’re just a few short months away from Android 16’s public release. We’ve had Developer Previews since last November and beta releases since January, and we’re expecting the final release to be ready in May or June.

So far, the update hasn’t given us much to look forward to. There are loads of developer-focused and under-the-hood tweaks, but in terms of exciting user-facing changes, Android 16 has been lacking. Outside of improvements to the photo picker, Live Updates notifications, and improving app support for tablets and foldables, it’s shaping up to be a pretty dull update.

Thankfully, it looks like things are taking a turn for the better. Google released Android 16 Beta 3 on March 13, and hiding inside this release are a handful of small yet promising new features. I have to admit, they’ve made me significantly more excited about Android 16 than I previously was.

The first — and arguably biggest — change I’m excited about is the overhauled Quick Settings. Quick Settings in “stock” Android has largely stayed the same since Android 13, but Android 16 will introduce a new split design. Instead of seeing your notifications and Quick Settings on the same page, Android 16 will split them across two pages. You’ll get your notifications when you swipe down from the top left corner and your Quick Settings after swiping down from the top right.

I could take or leave the split design itself. What I’m most geeked about is the new look of the Quick Settings page. For one, your Quick Settings are now vertically scrolling and take up the entire page — meaning you’ll be able to fit a lot more toggles on your screen. As it stands today, Android 15 on a Pixel shows just eight Quick Settings toggles at a time. However, with this new design in Android 16, you’ll be able to see an appropriate 16 (or more) buttons at once. That’s a big upgrade.

Furthermore, Google appears to be experimenting with additional toggle sizes and designs, including a new small square that takes up half the space of the standard rectangle buttons. As visually pleasing as the big, rectangular bubbles may be, I’m really glad that more practical designs are coming with Android 16. The smaller icons still look great while letting you squeeze much more functionality on your screen. That’s a win-win if you ask me.

Finally, in addition to being more practical, I also love that Google is opening up Quick Settings to more user customization. Especially compared to skins like One UI and OxygenOS, stock Android has paled in comparison with giving you full control over what your Quick Settings look and feel like. For that to finally be changing in Android 16 is a big deal to me.

The biggest downside is that this new Quick Settings/notification panel likely won’t be ready in time for the first stable Android 16 release. However, we should see it with a future Android 16 update down the road, and I cannot wait for it.

In Android 15, home screen customization for Pixel phones is pretty basic. You have some app grid choices, accent color selections, and the option to theme your app icons with the accent color you choose. And … that’s about it. But Android 16 will add another option to the mix: app icon shapes.

Although not live in Android 16 Beta 3, we managed to enable the functionality, and it works as you’d expect. In a new “App shape & layout” page, you can choose one of six shapes to apply to all your app icons. Some are straightforward, like a circle or a squircle, while others have more unusual designs — including “four-sided cookie” and “complex clover.”

Although I don’t like how all of these look, I do love seeing Google bring more customization options to the Pixel Launcher. App icon customization has been a pillar of third-party Android skins and launchers for years, yet Google’s Pixel Launcher has always lagged in this department. I’m also encouraged that this is a sign of even more yet to come — such as custom icon pack support or customizing app icons on an individual basis. This is one of the reasons I’ve preferred using OxygenOS 15 so much recently, and I’m thrilled to see Android 16 is taking steps to improve things here.

This one may or may not be ready in time for the first Android 16 public release, but I’m crossing my fingers that it is.

This last Android 16 feature isn’t technically part of Android 16 Beta 3. However, Google did confirm its existence recently as something that’ll be a part of Android 16 QPR1, which is set for a September rollout. The feature I’m talking about is lock screen widgets. Google added lock screen widgets specifically for Android tablets last year, but Android 16 will bring them to phones, too.

As someone who carries an iPhone and an Android phone, lock screen widgets with iOS 16 has been one of my favorite new iOS features in recent years. Customizing my lock screen to show my shopping list, upcoming calendar events, a Google Maps search widget, or even a shortcut to ChatGPT is equally cool and convenient.

I’m a big widget fan, but it doesn’t take long to run out of home screen space to put said widgets. The lock screen is a great canvas for them, especially to quickly glance at your calendar or to-do list, or to display some Google Photos memories. Admittedly, it is a bit silly to champion Google for re-adding a feature that previously existed with Android 4.2 (and was then removed with Android 5.0), but I’m still very happy to see lock screen widgets make a return.

While certainly not the most thrilling Android update we’ve ever had, Android 16 is shaping up nicely and coming into focus better than it was a couple of weeks ago. Much of the update is still centered on behind-the-scenes changes you and I won’t immediately notice, but it’s reassuring that some user-facing goodies will give us new toys to play with. With a revamped Quick Settings and notification panel, new app icon customization options, and the reintroduction of lock screen widgets, I don’t think we can call Android 16 “boring” any longer.

We should get a better look at these changes during Google I/O in May, and it’s also possible that Google will show additional Android 16 features that haven’t been revealed yet. Even if it’s not the massive revamp that Android 13 was, there are exciting changes here, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on them.