Android 16 Second Beta Update now available

Google has started rolling out the second beta of Android 16 for supported Pixel devices. version (BP22.250124.009) and Size 417MB update brings improvements in professional camera capabilities, graphical effects, and overall performance while refining privacy, security, and background task management.

Android 16 Beta 2 Changelog

Media and Camera Enhancements

Hybrid Auto-Exposure: Android 16 introduces hybrid auto-exposure modes in Camera2, allowing manual control over ISO and exposure time while maintaining auto-exposure adjustments.

Precise Color Adjustments: Professional-grade video recording benefits from fine-tuned color temperature and tint adjustments.

Motion Photo Capture: New Intent actions—ACTION_MOTION_PHOTO_CAPTURE and ACTION_MOTION_PHOTO_

CAPTURE_SECURE—enable apps to request motion photo captures.

UltraHDR Enhancements: The update adds UltraHDR image support in the HEIC format, with additional parameters from the ISO 21496-1 draft standard. AVIF support is currently in development.

Custom Graphical Effects with AGSL

Advanced Graphics Capabilities: Android 16 introduces RuntimeColorFilter and RuntimeXfermode, allowing developers to create complex visual effects such as Threshold, Sepia, and Hue Saturation using AGSL (Android Graphics Shading Language).
Behavioral Changes

Edge-to-Edge Opt-Out Removal: Apps targeting Android 16 must support edge-to-edge displays, ensuring a seamless UI experience.
Health and Fitness Permissions: The BODY_SENSORS permission has been replaced with granular health permissions under android.permissions.health, aligning with Health Connect.

Abandoned Jobs Management: A new stop reason—STOP_REASON_TIMEOUT_ABANDONED—has been introduced for jobs that are abandoned before completion.

Intent Redirect Security: Android 16 enforces default security hardening against Intent redirection attacks, with an opt-out API available for testing.

Elegant Font APIs Deprecated and Disabled: The elegantTextHeight attribute, introduced in Android 15 to improve readability for certain languages, is now deprecated in Android 16. Apps targeting Android 16 will ignore this attribute, and developers are encouraged to adapt layouts for consistent text rendering in languages like Arabic, Lao, Myanmar, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Telugu, and Thai.

Accessibility Improvements

TTSSpan Duration Support: A new TYPE_DURATION enables accurate text-to-speech (TTS) output for time durations.
Multiple UI Labels: UI elements now support multiple accessibility labels for better screen reader compatibility.
Expandable Elements: APIs now support expanded/collapsed states, improving navigation for assistive technologies.
Indeterminate ProgressBars: The new RANGE_TYPE_INDETERMINATE API enhances accessibility feedback for progress indicators.
Tri-State CheckBox Support: Accessibility APIs now support a “partially checked” state, improving user interaction.

Regional Measurement Customization: Users can now customize measurement systems in regional preferences.
Live Wallpaper APIs: New APIs like WallpaperDescription and WallpaperInstance simplify dynamic wallpaper creation.
CPU/GPU Optimization: New headroom APIs (getCpuHeadroom and getGpuHeadroom) help apps optimize resource usage.