Android 16 Beta Tips Apple Intelligence-Style AI Notification Summaries

Android may soon get AI-powered notification summaries, Android Authority reports.

The feature would “automatically summarize conversation notifications from apps,” according to code in the Android 16 Beta 3. You’ll be able to turn the feature off and on using a single toggle labeled “Use notification summaries.”

This potential new feature might come as a surprise. A similar Apple Intelligence feature was scaled back earlier this year after news-related summaries served up incorrect information, including incorrectly claiming the UnitedHealth CEO had shot himself.

Notification summaries on Apple Intelligence still work for things like messages, and that appears to be the route Google is taking. The beta code suggests the Android feature will only apply to notifications from messaging apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, or Telegram, meaning the new feature won’t have to contend with the complexities of summarizing breaking news stories.

Google is perhaps mindful that it’s own AI has produced occasionally inaccurate, humorous, and sometimes outright bizarre results, like telling users to add glue to their pizza.

Google has not officially announced anything about the new feature, but Android Authority speculates that the new feature won’t appear in the first stable version of Android 16, currently expected around Google I/O in May.

If AI summaries don’t seem like much of a selling point, Android 16 still promises plenty of features that could encourage users to upgrade, such as providing “live updates” on food deliveries while the user’s screen is locked. Also on the table are new tools for photographers and people working with high-definition video, as well as “predictive back animations” that preview what a swipe back in an app will cause.

About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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