To create a extra constant person expertise for customers who’ve low imaginative and prescient, photosensitivity, or just those that want a darkish system-wide look, QPR2 launched an expanded possibility beneath darkish theme.
The outdated Fitbit app displaying the affect of expanded darkish theme; the brand new Fitbit app straight helps a darkish theme
When the expanded darkish theme setting is enabled by a person, the system makes use of your app’s isLightTheme theme attribute to find out whether or not to use inversion. In case your app inherits from one of many commonplace DayNight themes, that is finished mechanically for you. If it doesn’t, ensure to declare isLightTheme=”false” in your darkish theme to make sure your app shouldn’t be inadvertently inverted. Normal Android Views, Composables, and WebViews can be inverted, whereas customized rendering engines like Flutter won’t.
That is largely meant as an accessibility function. We strongly suggest implementing a local darkish theme, which provides you full management over your app’s look; you may defend your model’s identification, guarantee textual content is readable, and forestall visible glitches from taking place when your UI is mechanically inverted, guaranteeing a cultured, dependable expertise on your customers.
Customized Icon Shapes & Auto-Theming
In QPR2, customers can choose particular shapes for his or her app icons, which apply to all icons and folder previews. Moreover, in case your app doesn’t present a devoted themed icon, the system can now mechanically generate one by making use of a colour filtering algorithm to your current launcher icon.
Interactive Chooser Periods
The sharing expertise is now extra dynamic. Apps can hold the UI interactive even when the system sharesheet is open, permitting for real-time content material updates inside the Chooser.
Boosting Your Productiveness and App Efficiency
We’re introducing instruments and updates designed to streamline your workflow and enhance app efficiency.
The Linux growth atmosphere function has been expanded to assist working Linux GUI functions straight inside the terminal atmosphere.
Widget Engagement Metrics
Now you can question person interplay occasions—equivalent to clicks, scrolls, and impressions—to higher perceive how customers interact together with your widgets.
16KB Web page Dimension Readiness
To assist put together for future structure necessities, we’ve got added early warning dialogs for debuggable apps that aren’t 16KB page-aligned.
Media, Connectivity, and Well being
QPR2 brings strong updates to media requirements and system connectivity.
IAMF and Audio Sharing
We’ve got added software program decoding assist for Immersive Audio Mannequin and Codecs (IAMF), an open-source spatial audio format. Moreover, Private Audio Sharing for Bluetooth LE Audio is now built-in straight into the system Output Switcher.
Well being Join Updates
Well being Join now mechanically tracks steps utilizing the system’s sensors. In case your app has the READ_STEPS permission, this knowledge can be accessible from the “android” package deal. Not solely does this simplify the code wanted to do step monitoring, it is also extra energy environment friendly. It can also now monitor weight, set index, and Price of Perceived Exertion (RPE) in train segments.
Smoother Migrations
A brand new Third-party Information Switch API permits extra dependable knowledge migration between Android and iOS units.
Strengthening Privateness and Safety
Safety stays a prime precedence with new options designed to guard person knowledge and system integrity.
Developer Verification
We launched APIs to assist developer verification throughout app set up together with new ADB instructions to simulate verification outcomes. As a developer, you might be free to put in apps with out verification through the use of ADB, so you may proceed to check apps that aren’t meant or not but able to distribute to the broader client inhabitants.
SMS OTP Safety
The supply of messages containing an SMS retriever hash can be delayed for many apps for 3 hours to assist stop OTP hijacking. The RECEIVE_SMS broadcast can be withheld and sms supplier database queries can be filtered. The SMS can be accessible to those apps after the three hour delay.
Safe Lock System
A brand new system-level safety state, Safe Lock System, is being launched. When enabled (e.g., remotely through “Discover My System”), the system locks instantly and requires the first PIN, sample, or password to unlock, heightening safety. When lively, notifications and fast affordances on the lock display screen can be hidden, and biometric unlock could also be quickly disabled.
Get Began
If you happen to’re not within the Beta or Canary applications, your Pixel system ought to get the Android 16 QPR2 launch shortly. If you happen to don’t have a Pixel system, you may use the 64-bit system photos with the Android Emulator in Android Studio. If you’re at present on the Android 16 QPR2 Beta and haven’t but put in the Android 16 QPR3 beta, you may choose out of this system and you’ll then be provided the discharge model of Android 16 QPR2 over the air.
For the most effective growth expertise with Android 16 QPR2, we suggest that you simply use the newest Canary construct of Android Studio Otter.
Thanks once more to everybody who participated in our Android beta program. We’re trying ahead to seeing how your apps reap the benefits of the updates in Android 16 QPR2.