Android 16 Baklava

The story

Android 16 moved the annual release to Q2 and introduced a second SDK release in Q4.

Android 16 added Material 3 Expressive, Live Updates notifications, desktop windowing on tablets, and made predictive back the default. It moved to a Q2 cadence.

What shipped

• Material 3 Expressive
• Live Updates notifications
• Desktop windowing on tablets
• Audio sharing
• Gemini Extensions
• Wear OS integration for media

Platform internals

What changed underneath the APIs. These are the changes this site's architecture modules explain in depth.

• The release moves to Q2 (June) with a Q4 feature drop
• Two SDK releases per year starting with 36
• Desktop windowing arrives in developer options then stable

What developers had to deal with

• Predictive back is enabled by default for targeting apps
• New photo picker APIs
• JobScheduler quota changes
• Edge-to-edge continues
• ART mainline updates

Permissions introduced here

• ACCESS_LAUNCHER_DATAunknown
• APPLY_PICTURE_PROFILEunknown
• BIND_APP_FUNCTION_SERVICEsignature
• BIND_TV_AD_SERVICEsignature|privileged
• CAPTURE_KEYBOARDnormal
• EXECUTE_APP_FUNCTIONSnormal
• MANAGE_DEVICE_POLICY_APP_FUNCTIONSinternal|role
• MANAGE_DEVICE_POLICY_THREAD_NETWORKinternal|role
• POST_PROMOTED_NOTIFICATIONSnormal|appops
• QUERY_ADVANCED_PROTECTION_MODEunknown
• RANGINGdangerous
• READ_COLOR_ZONESnormal
• READ_SYSTEM_PREFERENCESunknown
• RECEIVE_SENSITIVE_NOTIFICATIONSsignature|preinstalled|knownSigner|role
• REQUEST_OBSERVE_DEVICE_UUID_PRESENCEunknown
• TV_IMPLICIT_ENTER_PIPunknown
• WRITE_SYSTEM_PREFERENCESsignature|privileged|appop

Where this sits

Kernel

This release shipped on Linux kernel versions 6.12. Kernel versions vary by device.