The upcoming third beta of Android 16 is anticipated to deliver more user-facing enhancements, with its launch signifying that the operating system is approaching Platform Stability. Google initiated the Android 16 beta program in late January 2025, aimed at making substantial improvements for tablet usage. Within a two-month period, the company released two additional beta versions, including Android 16 beta 2.1, which debuted in late February addressing notable bugs.
According to an announcement from the official Android Developers account on X, the third beta build of Android 16 is scheduled to release tomorrow, March 13. The second beta version already introduced several notable features, such as new camera controls for third-party applications and UltraHDR support for HEIC images. Additionally, it improved the user interface by applying an edge-to-edge layout for apps, effectively eliminating the black bars under the navigation gesture and status bars.
Expectations for the third beta are high, with a focus on user-centric changes that had initially begun appearing in the beta builds after the first Developer Preview was unveiled in mid-November 2024. This upcoming version is set to announce Platform Stability, indicating that all developer APIs and application behaviors are finalized. This milestone will enable developers to start building and updating their applications using the new APIs included in Android 16.
Following the beta release, Google could reveal all the new user-facing changes during its annual developer conference in May, with the goal of delivering a stable version for compatible Pixel devices in June. There may be intermediate hotfix beta builds to tackle any critical bugs, but this timeline appears to be the most plausible. Moreover, after the release of Android 16 in Q2 2025, Google is planning a minor SDK update in Q4 2025, emphasizing feature additions and optimizations rather than substantial behavioral alterations.
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