From www.pcmag.com
(Credit: Google)At 9:30 p.m. ET last night, the Android Developers account on X posted, “It’s almost time for the Android 16 final release! See you back here tomorrow.”
The tweet adds a winky face, which may be an acknowledgement of the brand making a big splash while its biggest rival is midway through its annual developers conference, WWDC.
Normally, Android lands in September, which is when iOS 26 is expected to be available. However, Google is mixing things up for 2025. In November, the company said this accelerated schedule is intended “to better align with the schedule of device launches across our ecosystem, so more devices can get the major release of Android sooner.”
In March, Sameer Samat, Google’s President of the Android ecosystem, also told Android Police earlier that it allows developers to consistently work on problems and challenges throughout development, ideally to avoid intensive bug fixing for the last few months of development.
While Android 16 is launching earlier, it will remain limited to Google’s Pixel devices for now, with other third-party handsets expected to get the software at a later date. The Pixel 6 and beyond will all get the update to Android 16.
If you own a Samsung phone or a handset from another third-party manufacturer, you may get Android 16 software, but it’ll take longer to arrive on your phone than it does for Pixel handsets. PCMag’s sister site Mashable has put together a list of devices it expects to get Android 16.
It’s unclear what time of day the update will land, but Android updates often roll out around 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET.
Android 16 brings with it new design changes, allowing you to use even more personalized colors and fonts. Other features include a revamped Quick Settings menu, Live Updates from various apps to keep you abreast of changes, and further changes to the lock screen to make it even more customizable.
[ For more curated Samsung news, check out the main news page here]
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