Google could introduce “Rich Ongoing Notifications” in Android 16. Apps with access to this feature could show notifications similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island.
Android 16 may allow apps access to dynamic notifications
Be it Apple’s iOS for iPhones or Google’s Android, both operating systems optimize notifications. Properly managed, notifications can significantly impact the usage of the device and the installed apps.
Android allows apps to be closed. Unlike in iOS, most Android apps aren’t always running. Hence, Google keeps tweaking notifications to make the notifications intuitive, useful, and at the same time, less distracting.
Google has so far made every notification dismissible. Android minimizes heads-up notifications while displaying videos. Moreover, recent Android updates block old notifications. Moving forward, the Android OS could allow apps to create “Rich Ongoing Notifications”.
What are Rich Ongoing Notifications and how will they work?
Notifications have improved vastly in the Android OS. However, the Status Bar still shows app icons. In other words, apps are limited to merely conveying to the user that they have a notification.
According to Android Authority, the latest Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 release has a new API called Rich Ongoing Notifications. It lets Android apps show more than just an icon in the status bar.
The API could allow apps to create dynamic “chips”. These notifications could have their own text and background color. They would appear on the Status Bar.
Currently, Rich Ongoing Notifications aren’t active even in the latest Android 15 QPR1 beta 3 release. Moreover, it is not available to Android apps. Hence, it is not clear how Google would tweak notifications on the Status Bar. However, tapping on the chips may unfurl the notification or offer some more information about the ongoing notification.
Although dynamic notifications cannot be experienced yet, it would be safe to presume that Google is experimenting with notifications on the Status Bar. As the stable version of Android 15 is already out, Google may introduce Rich Ongoing Notifications in Android 16.
