Before we know it, we’ll be celebrating the launch of Android 16. The new version of the system has been brought forward to coincide with the new generations of Pixel phones, so as not to repeat the situation of last year, when the Pixel 9 was launched several weeks before Android 15. However, that doesn’t mean that this version will bring few new features, quite the opposite.
Ironically, Android 16 may be one of the most diverse releases we’ve seen in a few years, with major differences in design and interface. One of the biggest changes will be in notifications, which now receive a new type called ‘Live Updates ‘ similar to the Live Activities available on iOS. As the name suggests, the big difference between these notifications and regular ones is that their content can change ‘live’, rather than having to display a new message every time.
While this may seem like a small change, it opens the door to new possibilities, as demonstrated by the first app to support Live Updates: Google Maps. Android Authority was able to enable these new notifications in the latest Android 16 beta and the latest available version of Maps, and it looks like they could completely change the way we use the app.
Google Maps takes advantage of Live Updates to show directions directly in notifications when we are in navigation mode; if we swipe down, in addition to the traditional notifications we will see a new section dedicated to Live Updates, and in the case of Maps it will be displayed in green with the icons and instructions for the next navigation indication.
In addition to the direction we should take, this special notification will also display data such as the duration remaining on the journey and the kilometers traveled; this information will be updated in real time, unlike classic notifications that can only display static content.
Not only that, but Live Updates can be displayed directly on the Android home screen, with a pill in the top bar. In the case of Maps, this notification shows the direction we should take and
the time remaining until the next direction.
In effect, this means that we can do other things with the phone, safe in the knowledge that the directions will always be visible ; if we are approaching a turnaround, we can simply tap on the pill or swipe down to see the full contents of the directions. The pill cannot display the directions directly because Android 16 imposes limits on the text it can display, due to space constraints, but this may be enough.
This is just one of the possibilities that demonstrate the potential of this new feature in Android 16. Other apps can take advantage of Live Updates in other ways; for example, a food ordering app like Uber Eats or Just Eat can show the status of our order and what step of the process it is in, in real time.
This article is so poorly written that i lost brain cells