After a first glimpse of it last January, Android 16's Live Updates are back in the spotlight. At its Google I/O 2025 conference, the American giant presented new concrete examples of what the feature will look like.
Real-time notifications from your apps on Android 16
During its keynote, Google presented several concrete scenarios to illustrate this new Android 16 feature. On a Pixel, a Galaxy S25 Ultra, or even an Oppo device (the devices shown in the example), you could follow an Uber Eats delivery and navigate on Google Maps without unlocking your phone. The information is displayed as a progress bar with details such as the estimated time of arrival, for example.
The advantage of these "Live Updates" is obviously to offer live notifications, which evolve without the user needing to open an application. This is an important new feature for Android, but already present on Apple since iOS 18 with its "Live Activities". The goal is obviously to make the user experience smoother, especially in time-sensitive use cases like travel or food orders, for example.
We'll have to be patient
Despite a convincing demonstration, Google remains cautious about the timeline. In its blog post and on stage, the company specifies that over-the-air updates will be available "in the coming year." In other words, they won't be ready for the launch of the new version of Google's mobile OS, and they're also not included in the first beta of Android 16 QPR1.
This delay is partly due to the need for updates on the developer side. Apps must integrate this new format for live updates to work properly. Google also plans to promote this new feature through interactive widgets. The company indicates that developers will soon be able to measure the effectiveness of their widgets and customize their appearance more easily, but again, these are announcements without a specific date.
Source: 9to5Google
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