Google rolled out its first public beta of the year on Thursday (Jan. 23), bringing with it a lock screen upgrade to tackle notification clutter. The new beta is shaking things up by letting apps be resized on larger screen devices, making sure they work in full-screen mode on tablets and foldables. There are three more public beta releases expected before Android 16 officially drops in Q2.
Android 16’s possible new lock screen functions in beta
According to Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman, Google is working on a new “Compact” notification view for the lock screen in Android 16. He found the feature tucked away in the Android 15 QPR2 Beta 3 update that dropped on Tuesday, but it’s not live yet as he had to manually enable it.
Rahman thinks Google is holding off on rolling it out until Android 16 officially launches. The feature is expected to provide a “fully customizable notification view section for the lock screen.” The idea is that the Compact notification view will shrink all your notifications into a small pill right below the clock, showing just the app icons for your alerts. If you want to see the full list, just tap the pill, and it’ll expand everything for you.
Along with the new notification views, Android 16 is also set to introduce Live Updates. These dynamic notifications are designed to help you keep track of important ongoing activities and get real-time updates. Think of it as Android’s version of Live Activities, which Apple brought to iPhones back in 2022.
Resizable apps
Right now, some apps can lock themselves into portrait mode or specific aspect ratios, which is super frustrating for devices like tablets, Chromebooks, and even upcoming XR gadgets.
Big news: Google has just announced that Android will soon make ALL apps resizable on large screen devices!
Currently, apps can lock themselves to portrait orientation or certain aspect ratios, which sucks for large screen devices like tablets, Chromebooks, and upcoming XR… pic.twitter.com/RQbf4aV9z8
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) January 23, 2025
With Android 16, that’s changing. On large-screen devices, Android will override apps’ restrictions on resizing and orientation changes—though this will only apply to apps targeting API 36, not games. Developers can still choose to opt out in Android 16, however, the option is going away in the next Android version.
In a blog post, Google said: “Users expect apps to work seamlessly on all their devices, regardless of display size and form factor. To that end, Android 16 is phasing out the ability for apps to restrict screen orientation and resizability on large screens.”
Featured image: Google