Android 16 QPR1 adds full support for Live Updates, but apps will need changes

Live Updates on a Pixel 9 Pro running Android 16 QPR1

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.

Demo of Live Updates from Uber Eats in Android 16

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.

Live Update on the lock screen in Android 16 QPR1

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 news@androidauthority.com. You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it’s your choice.

Source link

Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today

Related Article

Global Refurbished and Used Mobile Phones Market Set to Expand

Refurbished and Used Mobile Phones Market The global refurbished and used mobile phones market is growing rapidly, fueled by the increasing demand for affordable yet high-quality smartphones. The market for refurbished and used mobile phones is projected to reach US$ 73.1 billion in 2025, with a significant growth trajectory that will see it rise to

The Best Apple Vision Pro Apps to Download in 2025

Apple’s spatial headset has come a long way in a short time. visionOS 2.4 arrived in April with Apple Intelligence tools that draft emails, suggest replies, and turn your photo roll into automatically edited “Memory Movies.” At WWDC a few weeks ago, Apple previewed visionOS 26, which layers live widgets into your room, lets multiple

China shows signs of tackling the price wars that are taking a toll on its EV industry

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government is signaling enough is enough when it comes to the fierce competition in the country’s electric car market. China’s industrial policy has engineered a remarkable transformation to electric vehicles in what is the world’s largest auto market. In so doing, it has spawned far more makers than can possibly

Charlize Theron Hates Dating Apps Too

Dating can be a lot of things, especially in 2025. Never has the pool of promising romantic prospects felt quite so shallow, and so over-filtered, even for Charlize Theron. Like many of us navigating modern romance, Theron is active on dating apps. And much like the rest of us, she’s far from impressed. In a

App Store revenue and downloads increased, but nor for gaming

Bank of America has released its latest App Store performance data, and observed that while revenue is growing faster than downloads, users are shifting how they spend their money. According to the report (via Investing.com), which cited SensorTower data, global App Store revenue rose 12% year over year in June, while downloads were up just

RV pressure, shifts in market dynamics, and EV momentum

03 July 2025 Read next The regions and technology pushing public EV charging forward 02 July 2025 Read next Monthly Market Update: Will European residual values continue to fall in 2025? 01 July 2025 Read next How is used-vehicle retail changing? 30 June 2025 Europe’s used-car market is under pressure from numerous shifting dynamics. What

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x