Latest news with #LiveUpdates
Android Authority
9 hours ago
- Android Authority
Android 16 QPR1 adds full support for Live Updates, but apps will need changes
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority TL;DR Google is preparing to launch 'Live Updates,' a feature similar to iOS's Live Activities that prominently displays progress-style notifications. Once live, these special notifications will appear fully expanded on the lock screen and as a persistent chip in the status bar for at-a-glance updates. The feature is already fully functional in the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta, suggesting it will likely roll out in the next quarterly update. Google's stable Android 16 update, released last month, brought many under the hood changes, but most of its major user-facing features aren't live yet. A key example is Live Updates, Android's version of iOS's Live Activities. These are a special type of notification designed to be prominently displayed on the status bar and lock screen. While the stable Android 16 release adds preliminary support by allowing apps to create these notifications, the OS doesn't yet treat them any differently from standard ones. However, full support for the Live Updates feature is just around the corner, as it's already active in the latest beta release and could arrive in the next quarterly update. You're reading an Authority Insights story. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. These reports reflect developments at the time of writing. Some features or details uncovered in leaks may change before official release. The stable release of Android 16 provides the foundation for Live Updates by introducing a new 'progress-style' notification template. This template simplifies the process for developers to add progress bars to their app notifications — something especially useful for rideshare, food delivery, and navigation services. While this isn't entirely new functionality, as apps like Uber already use custom-built progress bars, the new template means developers no longer need to build them from scratch. Currently, Android 16 treats these progress-style notifications just like any other. However, the Live Updates feature will elevate them. Once active, progress-style notifications will appear fully expanded on the always-on display and lock screen, eliminating the need to wake the screen or pull down the notification shade. Furthermore, apps supporting Live Updates can push short messages to an always-visible status bar chip. Tapping this chip will reveal the full progress notification, offering a quick glance at an update without interrupting your workflow. Google An example of Live Updates from the Uber Eats app on the AOD (left), lock screen (left middle), status bar (right middle), and heads-up notification (right). While Google confirmed that full support for Live Updates will arrive on Pixel phones later this year, the company never specified exactly when. When the first Android 16 QPR1 betas rolled out, the feature appeared to be disabled, as neither our test app nor the Android 16 Easter egg triggered the full experience. The reason, it turns out, is that Google changed the requirements for a notification to be promoted to a Live Update. Previously, I demonstrated that notifications needed to meet three criteria to qualify as a Live Update: they had to use the new progress-style template, be marked as ongoing, and provide a short summary for the status bar chip. With these in place, a notification would become a Live Update, assuming the feature was enabled in the OS. The Live Updates feature is disabled by default in the stable Android 16 release but is active in the QPR1 beta. However, for a notification to be promoted in the beta, it must now meet additional criteria. The two main changes are that the app must declare the new POST_PROMOTED_NOTIFICATIONS permission and call the requestPromotedOngoing API . While there are other minor requirements, these two additions are the key changes from the stable release of Android 16. Using a lightly modified version of Google's sample app on my Pixel 9 Pro running Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2, I was able to get the full Live Updates experience working. The feature functions exactly as expected, with the notification appearing fully expanded on the lock screen and as a chip in the status bar. Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority It even looks quite nice on the always-on display; the notification is presented as a clean outline, which helps it stand out against a wallpaper. Managing Live Updates is also straightforward. You can press and hold a notification and tap 'Turn off,' or you can disable the feature from the app's main notification settings page. Given that Live Updates is fully functional in the Android 16 QPR1 beta, a formal announcement from Google likely isn't far off. Developers need to know that the feature is live so they can add support for it, so the longer Google waits to announce it, the longer users will have to wait for their favorite apps to roll it out. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
12-06-2025
- Android Authority
Android's ongoing call interface is getting way more useful in QPR1 Beta 2
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority TL;DR Android 16 QPR1 beta introduces upgraded functionality for the ongoing call chip. This long-overdue update makes phone calls easier to interact with. This update gives us a look at how Live Updates will work. It's been four years since Google added the ongoing call chip to Pixels in Android 12. That's the bubble in your status bar during calls that displays how long you've been on the phone for. All these years later, the Android 16 QPR1 beta 2 that arrived earlier this week has added some much-needed functionality to the ongoing call chip. Until now, tapping on the call chip would bring you to the full-screen call UI, as you can see above. In Android 16 QPR1, this has changed to display the same UI element that you'd see in the notification shade, where you can hang up, toggle the speaker, and mute your microphone. To access the full-screen UI, tap this pop-up. This is a welcome change to the ongoing call chip, and reminiscent of what Samsung did with timers, media controls, and other items in the Now Bar in One UI 7. Interestingly, phone calls on One UI 7 and the One UI 8 beta still use the old phone call chip behavior. We might consider this a preview of how interacting with Live Updates will work, a feature that Google has implemented in a basic form in Android 16, with more functionality to come in future releases. Live Updates work similarly to Apple's Live Activities and Samsung's Live Notifications. Hopefully, we'll see more apps utilize Live Updates and status bar chips soon. Are you excited for the full Live Updates experience on Android? Let us know below. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
The Verge
10-06-2025
- The Verge
Android 16 is here, but its big redesign isn't ready
Google rolled out a bunch of new features with Android 16 on Tuesday, but the company appears to be saving its big Material 3 Expressive redesign for a future update. The update doesn't feature the design language's revamped elements, and a source tells Android Authority 's Mishaal Rahman that Google is planning to launch the new look on September 3rd, 2025, instead. With Android 16, Google is starting to roll out support for Live Updates with progress-centric notifications and enhanced settings for users with hearing aids. The updates are coming to Pixel devices first, but according to Google, Android users will have to wait for another update to see Live Updates 'fully realized.' Google officially took the wraps off Material 3 Expressive following a leak last month, which features updates to icon shapes, type styles, and color palettes with 'more natural, springy animations' across the Android interface. You can still check out some Material 3 Expressive updates in the Android 16 QPR1 beta that's available now, but Rahman notes that Google plans on launching more design updates in the next Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2. Google is expected to include Android's desktop mode in a September launch as well. The new mode, which builds on Samsung's DeX platform, optimizes apps and content for large-screen devices. It will allow you to resize multiple app windows across your screens, as well as connect phones and tablets to external displays for a desktop-like experience. Users with a Pixel 8 and up can try out these features in the Android 16 beta, but the rest of us will likely have to wait a few more months.
Android Authority
10-06-2025
- Android Authority
Android 16 offers an early taste of Live Updates, but its best features will have to wait
TL;DR Live Updates introduce a new way for Android to let apps communicate ongoing processes. With today's release of Android 16, we start to see support for apps featuring progress-centric notifications. Full Live Updates support, where these notifications are actually handled differently by the system, will not arrive until later this year. Google just released Android 16 stable, and while there's a lot going on there, there's also a fair amount that we're not getting just yet. Google's delivering plenty of both new system- and app-level features, but there's a lot it's announced that's still a work in progress. We can try the new Desktop Mode experience in beta right now, for instance, but it won't be coming to Android 16 users at large until a future update. And you've probably heard a lot about Material 3 Expressive already, and while we've seen lots of early previews, it's really not hitting Android 16 with full force until QPR1 lands. While those are the big ones, we're also aware of lots of other Android 16 changes that Google's been talking about, but unless you've been paying particularly close attention to all the developer-focused minutiae, it could be easy to lose track of exactly what functionality we can expect, and when. And that's exactly what we'd like to set the record straight on when it comes to Android 16's support for Live Updates. Google announced Live Updates all the way back when introducing its first Android 16 beta, describing them thusly: Live Updates are a new class of notifications that help users monitor and quickly access important ongoing activities. Smartphone fans were quick to draw comparison's to Apple's Live Activities introduced in iOS 16, which aim to accomplish the same thing — giving users an interactive, continually updated notification for keeping track of something that's actively going on. Common examples we often talk about are navigation apps showing your progress towards your destination, or a food-delivery app indicating how close your meal is. Google An example of Live Updates from the Uber Eats app on the AOD (left), lock screen (left middle), status bar (right middle), and heads-up notification (right). While Google is clear that Live Updates are arriving with Android 16, the company's choice of language in today's announcement only subtly establishes that this rollout is far from complete: These live updates are starting with compatible ride-share and food delivery apps. 'Starting' is the part to pay attention to there, as the experience you'll first get with these apps and their new notifications is not quite the same shape that Live Updates will ultimately take. This initial form really just addresses what Google calls 'progress-centric user journeys' — notifications that will indicate how far along we are, updating with milestones. For apps that implement them, you'll be able to see these progress-bar notifications in Android 16. But for the moment, at least, they're just going to work much like any other Android notification. The full Live Updates experience isn't coming until some point later this year, however. In that gallery above, you can see the more feature-rich evolution we're due, with stuff like that full-size view for your always-on display, or that compact chip view that persistently floats there just out of way at your screen's top edge. Changes like these are going to be the ones that really set Live Updates apart from anything like the notifications we have now, and while progress bars are an important first step, we're most excited to see how the full package ends up coming together. When can you expect that to happen? Like we said, we're expecting this for sometime later in 2025, but so far Google has not offered a firm ETA for just when that might be. QPR1 and QPR2 are the obvious targets, but it's still too early to say which might deliver the full impact of Live Updates. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
The Verge
10-06-2025
- The Verge
Android 16 has arrived with iPhone-style Live Updates
Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Android 16 is officially here, and it includes Google's take on the iPhone's Live Activities. On Tuesday, Google announced that Live Updates are rolling out first with ride-share and food delivery apps, allowing you to track the progress of your ride or delivery with persistent, real-time notifications. Google first started working on Live Updates last year before rolling the feature out in beta in January. We could soon see Live Updates go beyond ride-share and food delivery apps, too, as users also spotted Google Maps using live updates for navigation in the Android 16 beta. Live Updates will appear in the Now Bar on Samsung devices, and in Live Alerts on Oppo and OnePlus phones. GIF: Google Android 16 will also clean up your general notification drawer by automatically grouping alerts from the same app. Another update aims to improve call quality for people wearing hearing aids with their device. Right now, Google says most LE hearing devices use their front-facing microphones for audio input, though these mics are meant to pick up the sound of people speaking to you rather than your own voice. If you're wearing hearing aids while on a call, you can now switch to using your phone's microphone instead. Android 16 includes native control for hearing devices, which lets you adjust volume, set a default microphone for calls, and more. Additionally, you can now enable Advanced Protection — a feature that protects at-risk users from harmful apps, unsafe websites, online attacks, and more — on your phone. Google is readying the launch of its DeX-like desktop experience for Android with custom keyboard shortcuts, too, which developers can begin testing starting today before a wider rollout later this year. Google also announced several other smaller but notable updates coming to its apps. That includes the ability to set a custom icon for RCS group chats in Google Messages, and mute notifications on group chats for specific durations. Google is bringing a redesigned editor to Photos to more devices as well, along with a way to add more time to your Safety Check. GIF: Google Meanwhile, Google Home is getting an update that should make it easier to manage smart home products from different places, as it will now let you create shortcuts for specific devices for Favorites in Google Home. That means you can pin your security cameras to your Google TV, or pin your thermostat controls to your Wear OS smartwatch. If you have a Wear OS watch, you'll now be able to tap city transit cards without opening your Google Wallet app, too. Android 16 will roll out Pixel devices first, while more Material 3 Expressive design updates will head to Android 16 and Wear OS 6 on Pixel devices later this year.
