{"id":172206,"date":"2025-12-03T04:06:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T04:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/172206\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T04:06:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T04:06:14","slug":"android-16-qpr2-rolling-out-with-december-2025-security-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/172206\/","title":{"rendered":"Android 16 QPR2 rolling out with December 2025 security update"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\"\"<\/p>\n

With the December 2025 security patch, Google is rolling out the stable Android 16 QPR2 update for the Pixel 6, 6 Pro, 6a, 7, 7 Pro, 7a, Tablet, Fold, 8, 8 Pro, 8a, 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, 9 Pro Fold, Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold.<\/p>\n

In late 2024<\/a>, Google announced that \u201cAndroid will have more frequent SDK releases\u201d to \u201cdrive faster innovation in apps and devices, with higher stability and polish for users and developers.\u201d Android 16 saw its \u201cmajor release\u201d in June<\/a> (which was moved up a quarter), and today\u2019s 16 QPR2 update is the \u201cminor release.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \u201cmoving from a single, yearly operating system update to more frequent releases,\u201d Google says<\/a> this is a \u201cnew chapter for how Android updates work,\u201d and that users will now \u201cget the latest features as soon as they\u2019re ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Android 16 QPR2 starts with lockscreen widgets that you access by swiping left for a new feed. (There\u2019s also a small tweak where tapping the two-line clock makes it thicker and returns haptic feedback.) To enable, go to Settings > Display & touch > Lock screen > Widgets on lock screen. On the privacy front, Google notes how anyone can view them without unlocking, but you will need to authenticate before opening an app.<\/p>\n

\tAdvertisement – scroll for more content<\/p>\n

You can customize what appears here by long-pressing the screen. Tap a widget to remove or resize, while there\u2019s \u201cAdd widgets\u201d in the top-left corner where you\u2019ll find an updated picker with \u201cFeatured\u201d and \u201cBrowse\u201d tabs. <\/p>\n

After introducing AI message summaries<\/a> last month, Android 16 QPR2 introduces a notification organizer that groups lower-priority alerts into categories like \u201cNews,\u201d \u201cPromotions,\u201d and \u201cSocial Alerts\u201d at the bottom of the shade. When minimized, you see the app icons stacked at the right.<\/p>\n

Go to Wallpaper & style > Icons for custom icon shapes. The circle is joined by a rounded square and three other options that apply to just your homescreen. This behavior matches Themed icons, with Android 16 QPR2 now generating them for every app.<\/p>\n

When long-pressing an app icon, the menu adds \u201cRemove\u201d and \u2018plus\u2019 buttons to quickly add shortcuts to your homescreen.<\/p>\n

A small tweak to the Pixel Launcher search bar makes the microphone, Lens, and AI Mode icons a bit larger, with Dynamic Color much more vibrant here.<\/p>\n

Live Caption has been added to the bottom of the volume slider instead of having to open the full sheet. Disabling the \u201cLive Caption in volume control\u201d setting will remove it from both places.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more Material 3 Expressive in the Settings app, including Notification history (with full app icons and a new card shape) and Security & privacy (again). Additionally:<\/p>\n

\u201cParental controls\u201d has been split off from \u201cDigital Wellbeing\u201d in Settings. This lets you limit screen and app time, set downtime schedules, and more.<\/p>\n

Under Display & touch, \u201cEnhanced HDR brightness\u201d gives you an Intensity slider from Dimmer to Brighter.<\/p>\n

Android 16 QPR2 offers an Expanded dark theme (versus Standard) that \u201cAutomatically applies dark theme to most apps that don\u2019t support it\u201d natively.<\/p>\n

Health Connect can now directly record steps tracked by your device.<\/p>\n

Visit Settings > System > System update and click the \u201cCheck for update\u201d button if the OTA hasn\u2019t appeared on your phone or tablet yet. Android 16 QPR2 Beta 3.3 users will get a small update to this final release.<\/p>\n

The Android Beta Program will remain available and continue testing QPRs and feature drops. To get the stable version, those running Android 16 QPR2 3+ have to opt out first<\/a>. Devices will not be wiped by the stable OTA once that becomes widely available.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\"Add
\n\t\t\t\"Add
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the December 2025 security patch, Google is rolling out the stable Android 16 QPR2 update for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61,60,202,80],"class_list":["post-172206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}