Here’s every new feature for Pixels in Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2

In less than three months, Google will roll out the second quarterly release of Android 16 to Pixel devices, bringing major new features like an expanded dark theme, auto-themed app icons, an HDR/SDR brightness slider, and more. While Google previewed many of these features in last month’s QPR2 Beta 1 release, the beta program is far from over.

Earlier today, Google rolled out Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2 to supported Pixel devices. It’s the second of three releases in the QPR2 beta program, and while it doesn’t bring as many new features as Android 16 QPR2 Beta 1, it includes a few exciting changes. We installed Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2 on our Pixel devices to find out what’s new, so keep reading if you’re wondering whether it’s worth installing the beta on your own Pixel or waiting for the stable release in December!

Icon shape customization

In Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2, you can now change the shape of app icons on the home screen. When you open the Wallpaper & Style app and tap the Icons option in the Home Screen tab, you’ll find five shape options: the default circle shape, a square, four-sided cookie, seven-sided cookie, and arch.

Google first introduced this icon shape customization feature in the 2508 Android Canary release, but since the Canary track is its own, separate release channel, we weren’t sure when the feature would make its way to users in the stable channel. Now that it’s live in QPR2 Beta 2, we expect the icon shape options to be available in December’s stable Android 16 QPR2 release.

Step tracking in Health Connect

When Google launched Health Connect back in 2022, it was designed as a central hub for all your health and fitness data. Apps would contribute data to Health Connect, which would store that data in a secure, local database. Other apps could then pull that same data, add it to their own databases, and analyze that data. The idea was for Health Connect to simplify data sharing between health and fitness apps instead of tracking data of its own.

Well, it seems Google wants to make Health Connect do more. In Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2, Health Connect now tracks your steps using your phone. When you open the app, you’ll be met by a banner that reads, “Steps tracked on your phone will appear in Health Connect. Steps tracked by this device are now stored in Health Connect for connected apps to access.”

Other changes

• A way to test Android’s new developer verification requirements
  • Google recently announced that Android will block the installation of apps from unverified developers next year. Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2 add a new API that lets developers of apps that support package installation to see if installation failed due to developer verification checks. Developers can also use a new ADB command in QPR2 Beta 2 (adb shell pm set-developer-verification-result) to simulate a verification outcome for testing purposes. Google also confirmed today that ADB installation will bypass Android’s new developer verification checks.
• Protection from SMS OTP hijacking
  • To protect users from malicious apps that steal OTPs from SMS, Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2 now withholds the RECEIVE_SMS broadcast and filters SMS provider database queries for three hours after an SMS containing a retriever hash has been received.
• More efficient garbage collection
  • The Android Runtime (ART) has a new “Generational Concurrent Mark-Compact (CMC) Garbage Collector” that Google says “focuses collection efforts on newly allocated objects, which are more likely to be garbage.” The company says to “expect reduced CPU usage from garbage collection, a smoother user experience with less jank, and improved battery efficiency.”
• Expanded exercise data in Health Connect
  • The ExerciseSegment and ExerciseSession data types have been updated so apps can now “record and read weight, set index, and Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) for exercise segments.”
• Minor SDK version bump
  • The SDK version for Android 16 QPR2 is 36.1, reflecting its status as a minor release with new developer APIs but no new app-facing system behaviors.

This article will be updated as we find more information on Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2. Check back later for more details!