Android 16 is an ambitious OS update. It doubles down on on-device artificial intelligence and evolves Material You for a more personalized user interface. It also updates how apps show live information. What do these changes mean for everyday users and their Android phones? The easiest way to understand Android 16’s features is to see them in action inside popular apps. Here are Android 16’s key capabilities and the apps that demonstrate them best.
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Google Photos uses Android 16 to edit images faster
Android 16’s on-device AI and context-aware image processing shine in Google Photos. The app now understands your images and suggests Magic Eraser or Reimagine edits to a specific photo area. For example, if you tap a beach photo, you’ll see a suggestion to erase background tourists.
These suggestions use on-device intelligence, so they feel instantaneous and work offline. The result is a user-friendly photo editing experience. It’s a perfect example of Android 16’s broader theme of infusing AI smarts into everyday apps.
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Google Maps uses Android 16 to keep directions visible at all times
Source: Lucas Gouveia/Android Police | EKA UDALTSOVA/Shutterstock
When you navigate with your phone, you’ll repeatedly unlock it for updates. Android 16 fixes that with Live Updates, a new type of persistent notification for real-time information. The best example is Google Maps.
With Android 16, Google Maps can pin turn-by-turn directions and ETA on your lock screen and status bar. As you drive or walk, your next turn and remaining travel time stay visible at a glance. If you lock your phone or switch to another app, that navigation update continually refreshes to reflect traffic or route changes.
This feature is Android’s answer to the Live Activities introduced by iPhones. Android 16’s Live Updates work beyond navigation. Delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash now pin a single, continuously refreshing notification to your lock screen and notification panel. You’ll see statuses such as Order confirmed, Driver picking up your order, or 5 minutes away, along with a progress bar or icon.
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Android 16 lets WhatsApp match your phone’s color scheme
Source: Lucas Gouveia/Android Police | Fleur_de_papier/Shutterstock
Material Design 3 Expressive offers deep personalization for app interfaces and notifications in Android 16. WhatsApp takes advantage of this. Instead of its default green header, the app can tint its notification bubbles and quick-reply UI to match your wallpaper or system theme. Your chats and alerts adopt your chosen palette, unifying the device’s look and making it feel uniquely yours.
In addition to visual overhauls, Android 16 debuts a feature called Notification Cooldown. When an app sends notifications in quick succession, Notification Cooldown gradually lowers alert volume and vibration. It prevents notification overload while preserving critical alerts such as calls, alarms, and priority conversations. In an active WhatsApp group chat, Notification Cooldown lets the first message notify you normally. It then delivers later messages more quietly to reduce distractions.
Source: Lucas Gouveia/Android Police | svetlana-81/Shutterstock
Lock screen widgets were introduced in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Users could swipe left or right on the lock screen to access multiple widgets for the clock, calendar, email, and third-party apps. However, Google removed the lock screen widget. After nearly a decade, Android 16 brought widgets back to the lock screen.
A good example is Spotify’s new lock screen widget. It displays the currently playing song, album art, and basic playback controls. Plus, you can configure the widget to appear only in specific modes, such as driving mode, for minimal distractions during critical times.
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Android 16 makes Google Keep more intelligent and pleasant on the eyes
Google Keep showcases Android 16’s AI and design improvements. Keep adds AI through Google’s Gemini model integration. Gemini’s on-device understanding distills lengthy notes or idea collections into quick summaries. When you write a journal entry, a Summarize note suggestion appears. It creates a concise highlight reel of your content, similar to Gmail’s summary cards for long email threads.
Google Keep’s Help me create a list feature uses generative AI to write lists from prompts. For example, entering Groceries for a week for a vegetarian family of three generates a shopping list like:
- Fresh vegetables: spinach, bell peppers, carrots
- Fruits: bananas, apples, berries
- Plant-based proteins: tofu, lentils, chickpeas
- Whole grains: quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat bread
- Dairy alternatives: almond milk, soy yogurt
- Snacks: nuts, hummus, granola bars
Keep features a cleaner Material You design that matches Android 16’s aesthetic. The interface adapts color themes, and new layouts make notes easier to read. The latest Android adds lock screen note-taking in Keep, allowing you to jot down thoughts without unlocking your phone.
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Android 16 improves Gmail alerts with dynamic grouping
Source: Justin Ward / Android Police
Gmail uses AI summaries and smarter notification controls to manage emails more effectively in Android 16. This was once an experimental lab feature, but it’s becoming the default. If you receive a lengthy email chain, Gmail displays a summary card at the top of the conversation.
These summaries update dynamically as new replies come in, so you’re always informed of the key points without scrolling through dozens of messages. Your phone can crunch the text locally and show the synopsis instantly when you tap a notification.
Speaking of notifications, Android 16 makes them less spammy, which benefits Gmail. The system now forces notification grouping for clutter-prone apps. In Gmail’s case, if you get five emails simultaneously, Android 16 groups them into one expandable notification card. This way, you see Gmail – 5 new messages and can expand to view, rather than a cascade that floods your lock screen.
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Android 16 improves privacy when posting to Instagram
Source: Unsplash
Android 16 doubles down on privacy tools that benefit apps where you share personal media, with Instagram being a prime example. In Android 16, the system’s improved photo picker allows you to grant apps one-time or limited access to your photos, rather than your entire library.
When you want to post a picture to Instagram, use the Android 16 photo picker to select an image without giving Instagram blanket permission to view all your media. For example, you can retrieve recent vacation shots via cloud search and share only the images you choose. Android 16’s privacy-by-design approach lets mainstream apps adopt APIs that respect user data.
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Fitbit and Samsung Health now talk to each other via Android 16
Source: Lucas Gouveia/Android Police | Maridav/Shutterstock
Android 16 fully integrates Health Connect into the OS and expands its data scope. Health Connect is an Android system service that standardizes data sharing between health and wellness apps. Android 16 improves Health Connect. It can now securely store more medical data, including allergy information, immunizations, and daily medications.
Fitness apps, such as Samsung Health and Fitbit, can access this broader health data. The result is a more holistic health-tracking experience on your phone. For example, you might record a blood pressure reading in one app and have Samsung Health (or Google’s Fitbit app) automatically import that data via Health Connect.
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Everyday apps show how Android 16 improves the experience
Android 16 is a comprehensive upgrade that makes your smartphone more personal and helpful. As we’ve seen through these examples, the power of Android 16 comes alive when apps leverage its new features. These improvements often go unnoticed by users, not because they’re minor, but because things start working better, more intuitively, and with less friction.
