In the coming weeks, Android 15 will be officially released for Pixel phones, but there are already whispers of what’s to come.
Google may be planning to revamp notifications and Quick Settings in Android 16 next year, based on a discovery by Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman in the latest Android 15 QPR beta.
Notifications and quick settings are proposed to be split. With one finger swiped down, a slim notification panel would appear, occupying about a quarter of the screen. This could make checking notifications less disruptive without covering the whole screen.
It’s accessing quick settings that cause the most headaches. To reveal quick settings tiles, Google appears to be experimenting with requiring a two-finger swipe to expand the notification shade. To be honest, it seems counterintuitive. Here is a video showing the changes in action.
Quick Settings remain relatively unchanged, albeit with a few tweaks. Dedicated space is given to brightness control with a text label, while the remaining tiles appear to have shrunk. You can access all settings by swiping.
There is still much to be done in this design. In Android 16, many settings are still missing from the Quick Settings panel, and Google hasn’t confirmed whether this revamped UI will be available. However, it clearly illustrates Google’s Android skin experiments.
