Today, Google took the wraps off of I/O, its annual developer conference, who’s opening keynote provided a glimpse at the future of Android and the continued evolution of Gemini AI. Although much of the pre-event hype focused on artificial intelligence, it was Android 16 the new update to the mobile OS that stole the show, with major enhancements to the user experience and security.
Android 16 debuts “Material 3 Expressive,” a new design language promising more fluid motion and better haptic response. This new look will also apply for Wear OS 6, so it will be a more consistent experience across devices. Security also plays a big role, coming in the form of Android 16’s beefed-up scam-detection efforts in Messages and a system-level Advanced Protection setting for added protection against more advanced threats.
But even as your average user has to wait for the general rollout of the software next month, developers have been testing the software’s beta release and taken advantage of its features, such as support for Auracast, for easy Bluetooth audio sharing.
But the center of attention was clearly Gemini AI. Google renewed its commitment to integrating Gemini through its platform. For the record, Gemini is heading to the Wear OS, Android Auto, Google TV and the brand new Android XR platform as well. Though the specifics varied, the message was the same: to bring AI-powered help and intelligence to ever more corners of our daily lives.
In Wear OS, it’ll serve as a cloud-based screen for queries while in Android Auto, the relationship will be more integrated and your drives may be a little more productive or at least a bit easier.
The long-awaited Android XR also drew significant interest. Although Google didn’t explicitly announce its mixed reality headset with Samsung, aka “Project Moohan,” a mixed reality viewer, it did say Gemini would be the home of the company’s AI efforts, making for said object recognition and possible 3D mapping.
In addition to the main announcements, Google also called attention to progress in other AI efforts. The multimodal AI assistant Project Astra was updated to demonstrate its capability to comprehend and work with the real world via images and voice commands. Google also introduced “Beam,” an offshoot of Project Starline that seeks to transform video conferencing with 3D rendering of the call participants.
The keynote highlighted Google’s aspirations to become the leader of the AI era, seamlessly integrate its “state- of-the-art AI models” into its existing platforms, and move into new domains such as XR.
Wherever Android 16 leads, a new, more secure era of mobile users will follow, and it’s obvious that wherever Gemini goes, everyone will soon be following, across all Google products. Developers and geeks of all stripes will eagerly be awaiting for more details and deeper dives on these announcements in the rest of Google I/O 2025.