Android 16 is coming soon in its stable version. Many features are being revealed during beta 3, such as battery health and a separation between notifications and the shortcuts panel.
The media Android Authority has gotten its hands on another new feature: the notification summary. A feature that is reminiscent of the one introduced with iOS 18, despite the big nonsense it could have produced.
Gemini at work
Google would find a new use for its LLM (Large Language Model) Gemini which would be at the helm behind this function.
To be more precise, beta 3 of Android 16 introduces a new string called "notification summary" linked to a new page in the settings menu. This would be located in the notifications menu and would offer a single sliding button that can activate and deactivate the function. The description details the latter as follows: "automatically summarize conversation notifications from apps."
An interesting detail, since Google is therefore targeting a very specific type of notifications. Over the versions of Android, the Mountain View firm has continued to create various categories of notifications. This means that if a developer wants their content to be summarized by Gemini, they will have to send it in this very specific form of "conversation notifications."
Google wants to avoid the quagmire encountered by iOS
In theory, only messaging apps use this very specific type. This means that the notification summary planned for Android 16 would have, at least initially, a much tighter scope than that of iOS. The Apple company has undoubtedly taken the blame for its competitors and Google would like to play it safe here.
On the other hand, Google could be considered a bit weak on this subject. If Apple took its time to deploy Apple Intelligence, iOS is now well launched in the race for AI features.
An important point to note about the rollout of all this: if this feature was seen in a beta of Android 16, it is technically visible on Android 16. However, this does not mean that we will definitely see it on the new OS, expected in May 2025. Google could choose to integrate it into one of its quarterly updates, or wait until Android 17 to offer something more complete than a simple summary messages.
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