Android 16 Beta 2 started rolling out to builders and testers on Thursday. The newest testing model of Google’s smartphone working system arrives with options designed to enhance the digital camera efficiency of handsets working on Android, together with a hybrid auto-exposure mode and UltraHDR HEIC pictures. New privateness enhancements have additionally been launched on the second Android 16 beta The corporate is predicted to launch the secure model of Android 16 to eligible Google Pixel smartphones within the second quarter of 2025.
Android 16 Beta 2 Arrives With Improved Color Changes, Hybrid Auto-Publicity
After updating to Android 16 Beta 2, builders could have entry to a brand new hybrid auto-exposure mode that permits entry to auto-exposure changes, whereas permitting changes to each publicity time and ISO. These adjustments are a part of the Camera2 API, and may enhance the expertise of professional customers with Android smartphones.
With Android 16, skilled video recording purposes may also be capable of carry out “exact changes of white stability primarily based on the correlated color temperature” utilizing COLOR_CORRECTION_MODE_CCT on Android 16. Till now, white stability settings have been managed by way of CONTROL_AWB_MODE, which supplied a number of presets similar to Incandescent, Cloudy, and Twilight.
UltraHDR help is increasing to HEIC pictures
Photograph Credit score: Google
Google says it has added two new intent actions have been added to Android 16, and these will allow purposes to request the seize of a movement photograph. Smartphones working on Android 16 will introduce help for UltraHDR pictures encoded within the Excessive Effectivity Picture Format (HEIC) file format, and Google says it’s engaged on doing the identical for AV1 Picture File Format (AVIF) pictures.
Privateness and Well being Options on Android 16
Android 16 will embody new protections in opposition to intent redirection assaults, which might allow a maliciously crafted app to achieve entry to non-public recordsdata or elements. Builders will not be allowed to decide out of edge-to-edge show mode, which signifies that their apps might want to prolong their content material to the sides of the display, for a extra immersive look.
Google additionally says apps designed for Android 16 might want to request granular permissions to learn knowledge from Well being Join, which is the default knowledge repository on a person’s smartphone, as an alternative of the BODY_SENSORS permissions. Android 16 additionally provides a key sharing API that permits sharing entry to keys within the Android Keystore, with different purposes on the identical machine.
Android 16 is predicted to succeed in platform stability within the coming weeks, and the corporate’s launch timeline signifies that the secure model of the working system can be launched by Q2 2025, or the top of June. The replace is predicted to roll out to eligible Pixel smartphones, whereas different firms might roll out the replace to their handsets in subsequent months.
