Android 16 gets more features, and some of them could come to One UI 8.5

[Jenith]

Google has released Android 16 QPR2, which brings even more features to the operating system. The new features include AI-powered notification summaries, an expanded dark theme, themed icons, SMS OTP protection, and an easier way to leave unwanted group chats.

Some of those features will likely come to Galaxy phones and tablets next year with the One UI 8.5 update.

Android 16 QPR2 gets released with new and improved features​

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Android 16's second quarterly platform release (QPR2) is now available, and it is aim to bring new and improved features to the Android OS. With this release, Google is moving away from an annual release cycle. The company will now release two Android updates every year. The one in the first half of the year will bring platform-level changes and improvements, while the second release will bring more user-facing features in the second half of the year.

While the updates will first come for Pixel devices, other Android phone brands, like Samsung, will get more chances to bring newer features to their devices faster.

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• • AI Notification Summaries: Android devices will use the NPU inside their processors to summarize notifications. This feature currently only works with chat apps. It will summarize longer messages, giving you an idea of what a particular chat conversation is all about. It works with both 1:1 chats and group chats.
  • Notifications Organizer: It will automatically group unimportant notifications and silence them. This system identifies low-priority notifications like alerts, news, and promotions from emails and social platforms.
  • Themed App Icon: You can customize the color and shapes of app icons on your phone's home screen and app drawer. This feature is only for Pixel phones for now. While other brands could implement this feature, Samsung will likely not bring app icon shape customization for Galaxy devices, but it could bring auto-themed icons (matching color with the home screen wallpaper's dominant colors) with the One UI 8.5 update next year.

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• • Google Chrome Pinned Tabs: You can finally pin important tabs in Google Chrome.

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• • Extended Dark Theme: It automatically darkens apps even if they don’t natively support the dark theme. It intelligently doesn't darken images and some other graphics elements.

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• • Improved Parental Controls: All parental controls, which are currently visible in Google's Family Link app, are now consolidated in a device's Settings app. They include app purchase approvals, app usage, downtime schedules, location alerts, school time, and screen time controls for kids.

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• • Circle to Search for Spam Detection: You can now use Circle to Search to circle a message or email to check if it is scam or spam.
  • Urgent Calls: The Phone app from Google can now display if a call from a family member or friend is urgent. The caller can mark the call as urgent so that you know about its importance.

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• • Spam Message Detection: When you get invited to a chat or a group chat, the Google Messages app will display key information about the person or the group so that you can easily decide whether to reply or leave the chat. You can easily block the number and report it as spam.

Google has also added several accessbility features to Android 16 with the QPR2 update.

• • Expressive Captions: It tries to capture the intensity of real-time speech by tagging people in the videos with emotions like [Joyful] and [Sad]. It is available on YouTube for videos in English uploaded after October 2025.
  • Fast Pair Improvements: Google's Fast Pair feature now works with compatible hearing aids with Bluetooth LE. It is coming first to Demant and then to Starkey hearing aids.
  • Voice Dictation Command and Gestures: You can start voice dictation using Android's Talkback feature to read the screen via the two-finger double-tap gesture on the Gboard keyboard. You can also say “Hey Google, start Voice Access” to start voice dictation.

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• • Guided Frame: This feature is in the Camera app on Google's Pixel phones. It uses Gemini AI to offer you a more descriptive understanding of what’s in the camera’s view. Rather than just saying there is a face in the camera's frame, it will describe the scene and tell you things like “One boy with a black T-shirt stands on the sidewalk, walking a d**.“

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