The Android 16 upgrade is here (for Pixel phones anyway), but Google’s curiously modular rollout approach feels wholly unsatisfying.
Yesterday we reported on the news that Android 16 was rolling out as part of the June Pixel Drop. Rolling out a major OS update, and mentioning that fact as an incidental detail in a list of relatively minor features felt downright odd.
In a sense, Google was identifying the problem I have with this whole Android 16 release. It is only an incidental detail on the company’s wider release schedule, and it’s left me feeling slightly deflated.
Google’s struggling to Express itself
The elephant in the room here is Material 3 Expressive, Google’s bold new design language that has been curiously divorced from the Android 16 release.
While Android 16 is rolling out to a Pixel phone near you right now, the refreshed look that would typically signify any major new OS release is nowhere to be seen. That’s not going to arrive until September, likely around the time of the Google Pixel 10 launch.
So what does Android 16 actually look like, if it’s not a core expression of Google’s new design language? Simple – it looks like Android 15.
Using my Google Pixel 9 Pro with Android 16 installed, it’s a struggle to spot the difference unless you stumble upon one of the new features. Some of these are pretty good.
The new VIP widget gives the most important people in your life newfound prominence on your home screen; you can create custom stickers; and Camera Education promises to improve your photography in real time. I haven’t had a chance to use any of them properly as yet, but I like the sound of all of them.
With that said, all of the menus, icons, and layouts are deeply familiar. I’d say it feels like Android 15.5, but it might not even go that far.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Android 16 beta
By way of an experiment, I fired up the latest Android 16 beta on a Google Pixel 9 I had to hand. This does feature some of these Material 3 Expressive flourishes, albeit at a pretty basic level at this point, with seemingly none of Google’s apps receiving the makeover.
However, it’s still enough to make the whole experience feel fresh. Comparing it to Android 16 on my Pixel 9 Pro (see above), everything just feels that little bit different and exciting, from the thicker font on the PIN code entry and the more condensed lock screen widget, to the slightly transparent notification pane and app tray.
There’s a much higher degree of contrast to the shortcut toggles here. The Settings menu has new colour-coded icons (which, let’s face it, makes it look more like iOS and Samsung’s One UI). There are also new Settings toggles with the ticks in them for that extra micro-dose of affirmation.
The Wallpaper menu gently morphs and resizes key elements as you scroll down it, subtly shifting the point of attention.
The latest version, QPR Beta 2, is also the only way to try out Google’s new desktop mode, which is similar to Samsung DeX.
Should Google have waited?
I’m really just scratching the surface here, and this is all fairly minor stuff. Indeed, I haven’t even made my mind up whether I like all of these changes yet – not all of us at Tech Advisor are fully onboard with Material 3 Expressive, even at this early stage.
But the point is, this new take on Android felt novel to me. It offered a clean break from the experience I’ve been living with for a fair chunk of the past 12 months, which is surely a fundamental part of getting something new.
Google’s decision here seems to be weighted towards reserving that sparkly new sensation for its new hardware later in the year (see Pixel 10), which might well turn out to be a smart move but it would have been more impactful to bring it all together at once.
In the here and now, however, this Pixel 9 Pro user can’t help but find Android 16 a bit of a damp squib.
