- Google Maps has become the first application to admit live updates in the last beta of Android 16
- The new notification style allows certain information to persist on the lock screen and the status bar
- Android 16 is expected to throw something from April and June 2025
Although many of the best Android phones recently obtained support for Android 15, the beta versions of Android 16 are already available for Google Pixel users, which bring key updates to the operating system, as well as the set of predetermined Google applications.
One of the most anticipated updates that come with Android 16 are live updates, a new notification function that allows notifications to show much more information and persist on the lock screen. A comparable feature, called live activities, was implemented on iOS devices last year.
As a result, Google Maps is the first application that admits this new feature, with Android 16 adding the ability to see instructions, time until its next turn and estimated arrival time, all in a live update notification.
This new live update is visible on the lock screen, and an estimated arrival time persists in the status bar when the phone unlocks, although Android Authority points out, the new notification style is currently collapsed on the Alway screen.
In a previous construction of Android 16, live updates were available on the Always-on screen as a scheme, so Google will probably enable it again in the stable or subsequent Betas version.
Live updates were technically introduced with the first beta version of Android 16 in January 2025, but as mentioned, no application has been admitted so far.
Android 16 is being implemented at a faster than normal pace, and previously we have heard that the next main update of the Google mobile operating system will arrive earlier than usual in the second quarter of 2025, that is between April and June.
The update should bring live updates to a wide selection of the best Google Pixel phones, as well as the Android phones of other brands such as Samsung and OnePlus. Of course, there is much more on the way than a new notification style: other Android 16 expected and expected features include new camera tools and a better application size change for folding phones.
We will have the latter through our dedicated Android coverage, but for now, let us know what you would like to see from the next Google mobile operating system in the comments below.
