Google’s Android 16 stable is expected to be out next month, but it won’t bring the coveted Expressive redesign. The UI refresh is expected to arrive with a subsequent Pixel Feature Drop, likely the one in September.
In case you’re impatient like me, and don’t want to wait until September to try out the refresh, or if you just want to show off the redesigned UI to your less tech-savvy friends, you might want to hop into the QPR beta channel.
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Not only does the update bring new fonts, animations, and more blurry elements, it also introduces a revamped status bar battery and Wi-Fi icon, new icons for the Settings app, and a revamped Quick Settings panel. Before you ask, no, the update does not introduce split notification and Quick Settings shades, but it does finally bring the option to resize your Quick Setting tiles.
Accessed via the familiar edit mode (pencil icon), users can now tap any Quick Setting tile to reveal its draggable handle, allowing them to resize between the current 2×1 and a more compact 1×1 tile. Going with the smaller 1×1 layout will let you fit 16 tiles in the first Quick Settings panel. The smaller tiles, however, only highlight the function’s icon and not the accompanying text.
Fit 16 Quick Settings tiles instead of 8
The edit mode is also where you’d go to view all unused Quick Settings tiles, which are now divided into Connectivity, Utilities, Display, Privacy, Accessibility, and From system apps.
Your existing tiles will appear in the 2×1 layout, but all subsequently added tiles will automatically snap into 1×1.
Other Quick Settings panel changes include a less-curved brightness slider with its own dedicated handle, a new icon for the internet tile (the same as the status bar redesign), and a slightly tweaked font.
For what it’s worth, the menu’s behavior remains the same. You pull down once to view your notification shade, and you pull down a second time to reveal all Quick Setting tiles.
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