3 Android 16 adjustments that simply do not impress me in any respect

Abstract

Android 16 is a welcome improve, however a few of its adjustments do not actually matter as a lot as Google would possibly need you to consider.
Materials 3 Expressive is extra daring, however only a new coat of paint with out the OS’s accompanying interface enhancements.
The Discover Hub’s location sharing will not be as helpful as you’d assume, and Gemini’s usefulness on watches, TVs, and AR headsets stays to be seen in observe.

Upfront, I will admit that I am on document as preferring iPhones nowadays. My day by day driver is an

iPhone 16 Pro
. However I’ve owned a number of Android telephones through the years, and I nonetheless admire the platform to this present day. There are issues that it does higher than iOS — resembling voice instructions — and I like the truth that it is open-source, even when {hardware} makers haven’t got a lot selection however to license Google providers. It would be unusual to purchase an Android cellphone with out Gmail able to go, in any case.

I am wanting ahead to attempting units with

Android 16
pre-loaded. Nonetheless, the interface impresses me as a lot as

iOS 18
did — which is to say, not very a lot. Enhancements are at all times welcome, but primarily based on what Google’s proven thus far, its newest OS nonetheless appears like a minor evolution. Let’s speak about just a few examples of what I imply.

Associated

5 products that lock you into Apple and Google’s ecosystems

Think twice earlier than you sink cash into these units.

1

Materials 3 Expressive

A brand new coat of (physics-based) paint

Hyperlink Picture

Android 16 definitely seems to be good. There are up to date dynamic colour themes, new font kinds, and much more interface animations, together with bounces and ripples for actions like swiping away your notifications. New aesthetics are literally considered one of my favourite issues about updating any OS, since I get pleasure from personalizing my cellphone as a lot as doable — with out severe modding work, anyway.

For all of the hype round Materials 3 Expressive, it isn’t a radical leap past what you see in Android 15.

My criticism is simply that, for all of the hype round Materials 3 Expressive, it isn’t a radical leap past what you see in Android 15. If something, what issues extra are Google’s sensible interface adjustments, resembling the flexibility to each resize and reorder Fast Settings icons (a la iOS 18’s Management Heart), or observe deliveries and rideshares by way of Dwell Updates (one other factor borrowed from Apple). A yr from now, individuals are going to care much more about checking how quickly their

Uber
goes to reach than what widget colours they’ve obtainable.

I could possibly be stood corrected down the road. Generally, not less than, these types of interface adjustments have a cumulative impact that may’t be conveyed by movies or screenshots. If Android 16 feels genuinely higher to make use of day-to-day on account of its visible tweaks, that may rely for one thing.

The Smart Stack on the Apple Watch Series 9 over a yellow background.

Associated

How to toggle Live Activities in watchOS 11

You may cease actions from hijacking your Apple Watch’s show.

Helpful in principle, however how about in observe?

Sharing personal location via Android 16's Find Hub. — Google

Google

As an entire, I approve of the Discover Hub, a rebrand/redesign of Android’s Discover My Units app. Certainly one of its signature options is healthier sharing of your real-time location with different folks, in principle, serving to family and friends reunite after they get misplaced, or test in on one another’s security — say if somebody’s doing a sundown jog or coming again late from a highway journey. Sharers can select to time-limit this monitoring or go away it on indefinitely.

Mockingly, I feel Discover Hub’s expanded merchandise monitoring is an even bigger deal.

I am positive some folks will profit vastly, however that is one other function copied from Apple, particularly the Discover My app. And let me say — on my iPhone, my spouse and I virtually by no means use Discover My for following one another, although I am out on the health club three nights every week, and our travels generally take us to the alternative aspect of North America. A cellphone name or textual content message is normally a pleasant method of updating somebody on what you are doing, and a few individuals are inherently uncomfortable with sharing their exact location over the web, regardless of any Google assurances about encryption. To essentially make the most of Discover Hub, you may additionally want the folks you are sharing with to have it, too.

Mockingly, I feel Discover Hub’s expanded merchandise monitoring is an even bigger deal. Assist for UWB (ultra-wideband) will make some units and tag equipment easier to search out, and Google is increasing its accomplice checklist, for example, including the flexibility to share Bluetooth tag information with choose airways, beginning in 2026. That is one other transfer copied from Apple.

An AirTag with an iPhone 13 Pro on a wooden table.

Associated

What’s the difference between Bluetooth tracking and ultra-wideband?

They’re actually companions in the identical job.

3

Gemini coming to extra units

The place’s my Google Nest assist?

Google

Gemini does belong in additional locations, notably automobiles. Generally it is troublesome sufficient to decide on music or a preset vacation spot whereas driving, by no means thoughts the stuff you’d usually do in your cellphone. With Gemini,

Android Auto
(and the confusingly-named

Android Automotive
) will allow you to use your voice for duties like unearthing an tackle buried in Gmail, or finding an EV charging station that additionally has a restaurant close by. Should you’re bored or curious, you’ll ask questions on every part from the Grand Canyon to the Spanish Inquisition.

I wish to like Gemini, however I am not going to be impressed by its wider footprint till I see it in real-world conditions.

The AI assistant is coming to Put on OS, Google TV, and

Android XR
as effectively, however I am skeptical of the way it’ll work on these platforms. Smartwatches generally really feel underpowered for what they’re already working, and I do not know that I belief Gemini for film and present suggestions, not to mention answering questions by displaying me YouTube movies. Even well-meaning YouTube channels generally get their information flawed.

Android XR, in the meantime, is an unknown amount, since there are not any appropriate glasses or headsets obtainable to the general public but. Once they do arrive, Gemini goes to must show superb object recognition to be helpful, and that is on prime of minimizing the “hallucinations” (botched solutions) it generally supplies. Google suggests utilizing Gemini on Android XR for duties like dwelling enchancment — however there’s some severe hazard potential if it makes errors about issues like electrical energy or plumbing.

I wish to like Gemini, however I am not going to be impressed by its wider footprint till I see it in real-world conditions. And Google has but to replace any of its Nest audio system or shows with the know-how, which you’d assume can be a pure match. It would be a less complicated method of making sensible dwelling automations, and a dialog is loads simpler with out having to carry a cellphone or distant in entrance of your face.

Heck, think about your Nest Hub having the ability to let you know that it is a mailman on the door, not your good friend who’s speculated to be dropping by.