By Android 15 has only just come out of the oven, but the next recipe is already in the works. On November 19, Google released the first developer preview of Android 16, which included changes that were not included in the initial announcement.
According to 9to5Google, this version, known as Android 16 DP1 (short for Developer Preview 1), introduces three new features: Audio Sharing, a Privacy Dashboard, and a redesigned notification system. As with any preview, this software is currently in its early stages of development. It may alter or lose features before it is officially launched, so don’t get too attached just yet.
The Privacy Dashboard is the most significant upgrade. You may now analyse a week’s worth of data rather than just 24 hours, making it easier to identify apps that have accessed permissions they are not meant to.
The next feature is Audio Sharing. Users first discovered this in Android 15, although the feature cannot yet be activated. It’s an intriguing feature: it allows you to share audio with multiple Bluetooth devices at once, so you and a friend can now watch something together without uncomfortably swapping headphones.
The final new feature is called Notification Cooldown. As the name suggests, it gradually reduces the number of alerts from the same app over a certain period of time. That means a particularly active group chat will no longer knock your phone off the table like an out of control washing machine. Like Audio Sharing, this was an unfinished Android 15 feature.
Note that these features are only available in the Android 16 Developer Preview. Unless you’re interested in looking into the Android code and discovering what clever tricks are in the works, this update is mostly for developers and may cause many stability issues for phones. Still, it’s a thrilling preview of what’s to come and what we may get our hands on once Android 16 is more stable.
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