A day after Apple introduced working system overhauls at WWDC 2025, Google has launched its personal set of main software program upgrades for telephones.
Starting Tuesday, a brand new launch of Android 16 is rolling out to Google’s Pixel smartphone lineup, including group chat to RCS, AI-powered edit solutions to Google Photos, and assist for company badges in Google Wallet. The launch additionally focuses on higher accessibility assist and improved customization for messaging and contacts.
Separate from Android 16, Google additionally introduced upgrades as part of its common characteristic updates for eligible Pixel telephones, “Pixel Drop.”
Android 16 enhancements
Android 16 now options iOS-style stay notifications on the lock display for real-time updates and Google’s new Material 3 Expressive design language. There are new capabilities for safeguarding towards theft and scams, together with an up to date superior safety mode to keep up safety and privateness for public figures.
Android 16 additionally provides assist for Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) audio gadgets, so as to use them as a substitute of your telephone’s mic for higher name high quality. You may also management quantity in your machine out of your telephone with new native controls.
Later this yr, Android 16 on Android tablets will get desktop-style windowing assist, Google says. The firm additionally plans to introduce customized keyboard shortcuts to allow you to outline actions for locating an app by means of your personal mixture of hotkeys.
For Android 16 and different supported releases of Android, Google is rolling out an replace to Google Messages that provides RCS group chat assist. You’ll have the ability to choose customized icons and mute notifications for particular chats for a specified time frame.
Android 16 additionally brings HDR screenshots, adaptive refresh price, and compelled grouping for notifications to scale back litter within the notification drawer.
Google Photos has an array of recent options in Android 16 and different supported releases. Soon, the app will have the ability to counsel modifying instruments like erase, transfer, or “reimagine” for parts of a picture.
Other Android 16 enhancements embody the flexibility to favourite gadgets within the Google Home app and assist to pay for public transit utilizing Google Wallet on Wear OS gadgets, so that you don’t have to take out your telephone.
Pixel June options
Alongside the brand new model of Android 16, Google is rolling out its newest set of month-to-month Pixel characteristic upgrades.
A brand new “Pixel VIPs” widget enables you to view interactions with favorites in your contact record. It exhibits you your final calls and messages with the particular person, together with any you acquired from WhatsApp, and updates comparable to birthday and placement if the contact chooses to share them.
Pixel telephones are additionally getting extra detailed captions for video content material, together with stay streams. You’ll see captions that describe if somebody is whispering, yawning, or clearing their throat, for instance.
Elsewhere, you possibly can create customized stickers utilizing textual content prompts straight from Google’s Gboard keyboard. Google is including assist for AI-powered summaries in French and German to the Recorder app. And customers in Australia will get Android’s Emergency SOS satellite tv for pc connectivity characteristic.
Google is including a battery well being indicator for customers with the Pixel 8a and newer Pixel gadgets (however not the Pixel 8 and eight Pro), and Pixel 5 and later gadgets are getting a brand new accessibility characteristic by means of the Magnifier app. You can use Magnifier to explain what you’re searching for, and the app will then spotlight the merchandise if there’s a match and provide you with suggestions by way of haptics.
Enterprise Android customers are additionally getting updates, together with the flexibility to retailer their company badges in Google Wallet. What’s extra, they will use Google’s Gemini chatbot app within the Google Docs app on Android to summarize content material, get insights, and translate textual content. Lastly, Google is enhancing Chrome on Android’s dealing with of PDFs with linked doc viewing.
June’s Pixel Drop updates begin rolling out Tuesday.
