Latest Android 16 Preview Tips Improved App Response, Location Security

Less than a month after an unexpectedly early debut of the first Android 16 developer preview, Google has now shipped a second developer preview of its next-gen mobile operating system. 

The release notes posted Wednesday outline a set of under-the-hood changes that, if implemented effectively by developers, could make Android 16 apps a little more responsive, private, efficient, and secure. 

One set of changes, for example, gives developers more tools to optimize how their apps start up and then execute and complete jobs. Another makes it easier for apps to save power by exploiting the option to change screen refresh rates (first shipped in Android 15) without “potentially jank-inducing” switches.

The new preview also adds a set of APIs that enable developers to add custom haptic interfaces without fussing over differences in the force-feedback hardware on particular devices, plus another set for developing app-specific animations when users swipe left to go back in an app. 

For apps that request access to your photos, the privacy-optimized photo picker that only lets an app see the images you select can also access cloud storage and local libraries. Similarly, the Health Connect enclave that Google developed with Samsung now supports an activity-intensity data type and enables apps to read and write to it in the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources standard.

Finally, Android 16 taps into a location-specific version of the Wi-Fi 6 standard called 802.11az that apps can use to determine a device’s whereabouts with more precision but also greater security, courtesy of stronger encryption and defenses against man-in-the-middle attacks. 

Wednesday’s post says that Android 16 remains on track to launch in the second quarter of 2025. But if this update is anything like previous Android releases, most people now using Google’s Pixel-series devices will have to wait months longer for vendors to ship versions of it for their phones and tablets.

Hands On With the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

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About Rob Pegoraro

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Rob Pegoraro writes about interesting problems and possibilities in computers, gadgets, apps, services, telecom, and other things that beep or blink. He’s covered such developments as the evolution of the cell phone from 1G to 5G, the fall and rise of Apple, Google’s growth from obscure Yahoo rival to verb status, and the transformation of social media from CompuServe forums to Facebook’s billions of users. Pegoraro has met most of the founders of the internet and once received a single-word email reply from Steve Jobs.

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