Mobile development: Android 16 removes restrictions for app display

Following the Developer Preview, Google has now launched the beta phase for Android 16, which will initially only run on supported Google Pixel devices. Beta 1 of the mobile operating system brings some new features that are also relevant for app developers –, including for the display, live notifications and accessibility. The final release is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025.

According to Google's recommendation, developers should use the latest version of the Android Studio (Meerkat) development environment, which is now available in version 2024.3.1 beta 1.

Flexible orientation on large displays – initially voluntary

Android 16 lays the foundation for making apps more flexible on large screens. Restrictions on orientation – such as portrait mode only – and on resizing are lifted by default on larger displays from 600 dp (density-independent pixels) if API level 36 is set as the target. This also means that restrictions regarding the aspect ratio of an app are ignored, as this example shows:

Google recommends that developers check whether the user interfaces of their apps are also suitable under these new requirements. To make adjustments, they receive support in the form of frameworks, tooling and libraries. If you want to check your app with the new settings without changing the API level, you can use the App Compatibility Framework and activate the UNIVERSAL_RESIZABLE_BY_DEFAULT flag.

Developers currently still have the option of opting out, but this option will no longer be available from Android release 2026 (API level 37).

A blog entry provides further information on adaptive display.

Updates for accessibility, camera and live notifications

Another change is the inclusion of live updates via the new ProgressStyle notification template. This new notification class is intended to enable users to follow the status of an ongoing activity. Here, Google limits the application recommendations to carpooling, food deliveries and navigation.

For video creation, Android 16 comes with support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, which is designed for high-quality video recordings. Photography is also being given a new feature: the new EXTENSION_NIGHT_MODE_INDICATOR indicator tells an app – if supported by the device – when it should activate or deactivate night mode in a camera session in order to achieve high image quality even in poor lighting conditions.

Accessibility is to be improved in Android 16 by, among other things, allowing apps to inform an accessibility service whether an entry is required in a form field. The new option setFieldRequired in AccessibilityNodeInfo is used for this purpose.

These and all other new features in Android 16 Beta 1 can be found on the Android Developers Blog. The list of supported devices can also be found in the release notes.

(mai)