Android 16 gets big 'expressive' redesign ahead of release date
Google is giving Android a big makeover with more customization than ever
🤖 Android 16 is getting a bigger upgrade than we thought
🎨 Google has announced Material 3 Expressive, which gives Android a more customizable interface
🤳 Animations are more springy, fonts are wilder, buttons are more colorful, and the whole experience looks more alive
🖌️ It’ll take over Material You, which was announced back in 2021
📱 The new design will debut first on Pixel devices
📅 Google will release Android 16 soon
In case you thought Android couldn’t get any more animated, think again. During its Android Show: I/O Edition event, Google announced a major design refresh for Android 16, which has been in beta for months before its earlier-than-usual release date. Called Material 3 Expressive, the new design is aimed at “making your device feel unique to you” with new ways to personalize the entire experience. It’s also more alive with springy animations and other effects that lean further into Google’s whimsical approach it’s taken with Android the past few generations.
What’s new in Android 16
🎨 Way more customization. The marquee feature of Android 16 is Material 3 Expressive, which promises to deliver a more personalized experience than ever before. The new design builds on Material You with dynamic color themes that stretch to new areas of the interface. You also get emphasized typography options that are far bolder than anything Android has included in the past. Some of these visual cues will also be integrated into apps like Google Photos, Fitbit, and Gmail. You get a lot of different options to make your phone feel like an extension of your personality.
👀 Livelier animations. Another notable element of Material 3 Expressive are the livelier animations, which are much more springy and reactive. Swipe away a notification and you’ll see the rest of your notifications jiggle. The same goes for dismissing apps in the multitasking interface, the volume slider, and more. There are little things sprinkled throughout Android 16, all in the name of feeling more fluid and natural.
⏰ Live Updates. Google is finally shipping its own version of Apple’s Live Activities in iOS. With Live Updates in Android 16, you can track the progress of things like food deliveries, Uber rides, live directions, and more. The updates live at the top of your lock screen and can even be seen on the always-on display.
🔒 Enhanced security. Android 16 is also more secure. Google is updating its Messages app with smarter AI-powered Scam Detection to identify things like crypto and financial scams, toll road scams, gift card scams, and more. Find Hub, which helps you keep track of your belongings, will be updated to support satellite connectivity when your phone is out of cellular range so someone can still find you in an emergency. Advanced Protection is also getting updated with stronger security for those who need to lock their phones down (e.g. journalists, public figures, and other VIPs).
📦 New stuff plus the old stuff. Google is shipping all of these features alongside the rest of what we’ve seen from Android 16 betas over the past few months. This includes things like Health Connect 2.0 which offers deeper integration with health devices and the data they collect, an improved photo picker for developers to rely on, camera improvements, Vulkan graphics support, and better compatibility with foldables and large-screen devices.
⌚️ A circle-friendly design for Wear OS. Google is bringing its Material 3 Expressive design to Wear OS alongside Android 16. The interface is better optimized for circle displays, comes with more natural animations, and supports the same dynamic color-theming as Android 16. Notifications have also been improved to be more glanceable. Plus, Wear OS 6 delivers 10 percent better battery life thanks to some under-the-hood improvements.
🤖 Gemini comes to more platforms. Gemini, Google’s advanced AI model and assistant on Android, is coming to more places including Wear OS, Android Auto, Google TV, and Android XR. Using the assistant, you’ll be able to do things like raise your wrist and instantly set a reminder or ask about a certain email in your inbox, find a charging station for your EV near a park on your way to the post office, or offer content recommendations. In Android XR, it’ll also be able to help plan itineraries for vacations and take you to virtual versions of the destinations you explore.
Android 16 release date
Google hasn’t confirmed when Android 16 will be released to the public. However, we know it’ll ship by the end of June, as noted in the company’s official Android 16 timeline. We expect the update to first arrive on Pixel phones, then on other devices like the Galaxy S25 and OnePlus 13 later on.
Stay tuned to The Shortcut for more Google news. I/O 2025 is happening on May 20, and we’ll be covering all the biggest news from the developer conference.
Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.
Android XR looking very intriguing now, afraid to see pricing for Samsung/Google's new headset, would love to try it though. Also, it'll be interesting to see how Gemini performs in smartwatches, is it just going to be a redesign or do we get full Gemini functionality on wearables?