Here are 4 Secret Android Features You May See in Android 16 or 17

With every new Android beta build that lands on our phones, deep-dive tinkerers have a chance to try and uncover what may be next. Google has always been pretty bad at hiding their upcoming plans, probably because they just don’t care if they are outed, but with the latest Android 16 Beta 3 release, it feels like more new items than usual were discovered.

Here’s a quick rundown of several new Android features that Google is working on that we could see later this year in the second Android 16 release or as a part of Android 17 in 2026.

New Quick Settings area: Google appears to be deep into testing a Quick Settings redesign that is likely to be controversial. It follows a recent change from Samsung in One UI 7 and essentially copies a pretty bad idea that Apple has used for its similar area. That idea is a split Quick Settings and Notifications area, where a swipe from the left corner will get you notifications, while a swipe from the right corner will bring up settings shortcuts. Once in either area, you can tap on tiles in each corner to switch between each or apparently do a very confusing swipe gesture.

It’s hard to know why Google would entertain this change, but as I mentioned, Samsung added an option for this in One UI 7 and Apple has used a similar setup in iOS for some time. As our phones have gotten larger over the years, I can confirm that reaching separate sides of a notification panel is not fun and this is mostly a bad idea that I hope is only optional and not a default setup should Google release it.

Colorful battery icon: This is a pretty minor secret change, but Google is testing a more colorful battery icon that stays a familiar white when in a good state (a higher charge level), flips to a bright green when actively charging, or can turn to red to warn you that your battery is on the low end.

Custom icon shapes in Pixel Launcher: The Pixel Launcher that comes on Google’s Pixel phones is certainly not the most robust solution for customizing home and lock screen layouts. While it has grown its feature list over the years, something as simple as changing icon shapes has been missing for years. That could change in future update, as a whole new set of icon shapes has been discovered in the latest Android 16 Beta 3.

An updated Home screen customizer is shown below with “Shape” and “Layout” sections. The “Shape” section is where the new icon shapes currently live, and there are apparently 6 of them that are referred to as “circle,” “square,” “four-sided cookie,” “seven-sided cookie,” “arch,” and “complex clover.”

This change is still very much a work-in-progress from Google through the Pixel’s wallpaper app. This could easily arrive in a Pixel Feature Drop or maybe not until Android 17. We really have no idea, as it all depends on when Google finishes it.

Settings redesign: Finally, we have a Settings redesign in the works. It certainly looks familiar to what we have in Android 15, but Google is doing even more to separate each section of each settings area. Visually, this should make it easier to understand what settings you are about to adjust and should make it easier to find what you are looking for. Google is also adding checkmarks to on-off switches when toggled on, but that can show as an “X” when off, which they should have done years ago,

Google is apparently referring to this redesign as “expressive” and it’s far enough along that we could see it later this year, but Android 17 is always a possibility.

Shoutout Mishaal Rahman for finding all of these hidden gems.

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