Google Releases Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2

Google today released Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2, which brings this coming interim release to Platform Stability.

“Android 16 QPR2 has released Platform Stability today with Beta 2,” Google vice president Matthew McCullough writes. “That means that the API surface is locked, and the app-facing behaviors are final, so you can incorporate them into your apps and take advantage of our latest platform innovations.”

Android 16 QPR2 is the second interim update to Android 16, following QPR1, which launched in early September alongside the new Pixel 10 series phones. Where that release brought the Material Expressive 3 design language to the system, QPR2 will deliver auto icon theming for the home screen, an expanded dark theme, PDF document annotation and editing, Quick Settings tile categories, Phone Theft Protection, and other updates.

Given the short development timeframe, this second beta only includes a few new features: Developer verification, SMS OTP Protection, custom home screen icon shapes, native step tracking and expanded exercise data in Health Connect, and more efficient garbage collection.

But Android 16 QPR2 also marks the first time that Android will get a minor SDK version update in which the new behaviors are additive and minimize compatibility issues.

Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2 is available for supported Pixel devices and via the Android emulator in Android Studio.