Android 16 may showcase notifications inspired by Apple's Dynamic Island

Key Takeaways

• A new chip notification system was found in the code of the Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3.
• While not official, what's been seen looks similar to what we've seen with iPhone's Dynamic Island.
• Android 16 may arrive in Q2 2025, potentially being the most secure OS version.

We're still digging through the release of Android 15 on Pixels, and we're now already getting more news of what to expect in Android 16. While the release is still a little ways out, it could be coming a lot sooner than you think, with speculation that it may even arrive as early as Q2 2025. Of course, we can't wait for Android 16 to make its debut, as we've been hearing that it could be the most secure version of the OS to date.

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Furthermore, Google could also implement some interesting changes, like allowing users to bubble all apps for easy access. There's even word that it may implement a new notification system that may take cues from Apple's Dynamic Island. Many have long requested that OEMs copy this feature and bring it to Android in an elegant way, but we've yet to see it appear on phones by Samsung, OnePlus or Google.

Something new, something borrowed

Source: Android Authority

Well, Android expert Mishaal Rahman has been digging through the code of the latest Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 release in an attempt to find clues on what could arrive with future Android releases. In his latest report for Android Authority, he uncovered a new chip notification that is part of the new Rich Ongoing Notifications API, allowing notifications to show up in the status bar, providing a new way to show off notifications on Android.

Rahman shares that this isn't something that's just available for all to see, and he's tinkered with the code to get it working. By doing this, Rahman is able to show off just what this new chip notification might look like when it's implemented in the future. As you can see in the images above, it looks a little like the Dynamic Island notifications that are commonly found on current iPhones.

Of course, it isn't completely the same, as this is still an incomplete version of the chip. And while this does look promising, it's unclear whether this will find it way to a live release of Android. But what's really going to make this feature pop is the adoption of the new API by app developers. Without this, it really wouldn't be something worth talking about, similar to what happened when Apple's Dynamic Island was first released.

Again, it will be interesting to see how this all develops, and could even end up becoming something entirely different when released. But there's no doubt that we'll be hearing more about this feature in the future as Android 16 gets closer to a formal release. Rahman shares that he believes this will be part of the upcoming update as the API is already "tied" to Android 15.