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Today's Topics:
1. Android 16 is just around the corner (Stephen Loosley)
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:53:10 +1030
From: Stephen Loosley <[email protected]>
To: "link" <[email protected]>
Subject: [LINK] Android 16 is just around the corner
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Here?s the One Feature I?m Excited About in the Latest Android 16 Beta Update
Android 16 is just around the corner.
By Florence Ion Published March 13, 2025
https://gizmodo.com/the-latest-android-16-beta-adds-support-for-auracast-2000575369
There?s good, albeit boring, news for the future of Android phones today.
Google is officially rolling out Android 16 Beta 3 for those running it on a
compatible device.
This version is what Google calls a ?platform stability? release, meaning
developers can go ahead and code their apps to this.
With Google I/O approaching in less than two months, it can only mean one
thing: the full release of Android 16 is close and imminent.
Why is this update dull? It mainly includes under-the-hood improvements,
security enhancements, and little tweaks across the interface. It?s nothing
particularly flashy and marketing-worthy like Material You was when it launched
with Android 12 in 2021.
That?s not to say there isn?t something worthy about the update coming soon to
an Android phone near you.
One feature I?m particularly excited about with Android 16 is broadcast audio
support through Auracast.
I experienced a demonstration of the technology a few years back at CES. I
loved the idea of dropping in on a collective audio stream, like an
announcement channel, from my Bluetooth headphones. Android 16 Beta 3 enables
Auracast for Pixel 9 devices.
However, it only works with LE Audio hearing aids for now, which Google
positions as part of its ethos to ?enhance audio accessibility? on the
platform. (Auracast is also available on Samsung?s Galaxy devices with One UI 7
and Android 15.)
Auracast Enables Bluetooth Broadcasting That Could Save Your Sanity
I?ll admit, the advent of Android 16 isn?t as interesting as it used to be. It
used to be that a new version of Android meant all these new features to laud
about and look forward to. For many years, the conversation around the upcoming
version of Android would be just as exciting and noteworthy as Apple?s updates
to iOS.
As Google moves further away from Android as a flagship experience?the
operating system now exists more as a skeleton for mobile phones than the
brains?it?s Gemini and Google?s AI efforts that take center stage. Google I/O
will likely be focused entirely on Gemini?s abilities on the phone and other
hardware rather than Android.
If you are on a Pixel device and feel brave, this is about the time it?d be
safest to run Android 16 in beta on your daily device. You can visit the
developer?s site to learn more about that. It?s super easy, and all it requires
is registering a Pixel device and waiting for the over-the-air update.
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