Beta 3 came out on 13 March 2025 and reached platform stability: “the API surface is locked, the app-facing behaviors are final”. From that day, apps targeting Android 16 could be published on Google Play.
| Release date | 13 March 2025; Beta 3.1 on 18 March; Beta 3.2 on 2 April 2025 |
| Build | BP22.250221.010; Beta 3.1 BP22.250221.013; Beta 3.2 BP22.250221.015 |
| Security patch | March 2025 |
| Devices | Pixel 6 and newer, Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet; 64-bit Android Emulator |
| Platform stability | Yes |
Google said there were “only a few new things” this late in the cycle:
- Auracast. Pixel 9 phones on the beta could receive broadcast audio on compatible LE Audio hearing aids, from venues such as airports and classrooms.
- Outline text. It replaced high contrast text, drawing a larger
contrasting area around the text. New
AccessibilityManagerAPIs let UI toolkits and custom text renderers check whether it is on. - Local network protection, opt-in. Google planned to require a
permission for local network access in a future major release. Beta 3 let
developers test it with
adb shell am compat enable RESTRICT_LOCAL_NETWORK <package>; a restricted app sees socket errors such asEPERMorECONNABORTED.
Two bug-fix updates followed. Beta 3.1, on 18 March, fixed a Settings crash when the system language was not English and screen brightness that oscillated. Beta 3.2, on 2 April, fixed miscalibrated haptics and battery drain on idle devices.