What you need to know
- A discovery in Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 shows Google is working on adding "rich ongoing notifications."
- The feature is similar to Apple's Dynamic Island or OnePlus' variant as "ongoing notifications" would occupy a chip beside a user's clock in the status bar.
- More in-depth information was unknown; however, this feature could debut with Android 16.
Google dropped its latest Android 15 QPR1 beta for testers and there are clues in the code about upcoming features.
In a post by Mishaal Rahman (Android Authority), Google is reportedly working on a new style of alerts titled "rich ongoing notifications." Rahman states this is a new API, but there's little else to understand about it. What was easily known from the latest Android 15 QPR beta is the design Google might chase. Supposedly, this API will give app creators agency over the color and more for this consistent, "ongoing" notification chip beside a device's clock.
The chip's location mirrors where users can currently find app notification icons or phone calls on Android today. Moreover, it only seems to occupy that space between the clock and your phone's punch-hole selfie camera. It's not entirely like Apple's Dynamic Island, but it's reminiscent.
It's also unclear what apps Google plans to support with this "ongoing notification" feature. Rahman was able to leverage the code and force a few apps to appear in the status bar. From his examples, if a food order was on the way from Uber, it seems the chip would show the app's logo alongside an estimated time for pickup/delivery. The example included one for air travel, showing the company's logo and when you'd need to board.
Rahman speculates that tapping on this ongoing notification chip could produce "some sort of dialog provided by the app." The dialogue could include information about the chip's display or something else entirely. A lot is still left uncertain, especially considering it was discovered in the Android 15 QPR1 beta. Moreover, Rahman doesn't suspect this will debut in December with the expected feature drop.
Rahman claims this could arrive for users during Android 16's launch. What's more, we've seen a chip similar to Google's idea via OxygenOS 14 by OnePlus. The purpose of it was to give users glanceable, up-to-date information for whichever app occupied the space. Tapping it would expand it into a rounded corner box, but did not consume the selfie camera like Apple's version.
Speaking of Android 16, it seems Google is preparing to introduce a new feature called "Modes" to replace the fabled DND (do not disturb). Through these "modes," the recent beta showed users can create different versions, each containing specific device behavior. Options seen suggest users can create a unique icon, name, and activation trigger. Once enabled, this DND variant will be displayed in the status bar beside your connectivity icons.
This change to DND was previously spotted in another beta, but called "Priority Modes."
Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 arrived for enrolled Pixel testers yesterday (Oct 25). The update was packed with loads of fixes for reported system crashes and a screen problem with its foldables.
