Summary
- Android 16 Developer Preview 2 (DP 2) brings new features and quality of life improvements.
- It also features a new emoji set that was previewed earlier this year.
- For now, only those that have DP2 installed and can see and use the new emojis.
Today is an exciting day as Android 16 Developer Preview 2 makes its way to Pixel devices. This is a fantastic update before we head into the holidays, bringing more new features for those that are willing to test the next iteration of Android. Not only does the update bring nice refinements with better haptics controls and better use of adaptive refresh rates, but it also introduces some smaller features too.
Perhaps one that might get overlooked but will probably be the most overused when it’s actually available is going to be the new emoji set. The new additions were highlighted by Android Authority with the release of DP2. Of course, we knew this was coming already thanks to a preview of the new emojis at the beginning of the year with the Unicode Emoji 16.0 Alpha.
New ways to communicate
And while it did give us a good idea of what to expect, companies can always add their own twist to emojis if they want. The latest emoji set can be accessed by anyone running the latest Preview. There are several new emojis to choose from, like the face with bags under eyes, the fingerprint, the root vegetable emoji, and more.
However, it’s important to realize that only folks running DP2 will be able to see these new emojis on Android devices. Those running an older version of Android, which is probably going to be the majority of people are right now, will instead get a placeholder symbol instead.
Of course, this will change as soon as Android 16 goes live to the public next year. For now, you can install Android 16 DP2 if you want to give the new features a try, or you can just check out the image above if you want to see what these new emoji look like.
If you’re curious about installing the new Developer Preview and want to give it a try but aren’t sure where to begin, we have a great guide that can walk you through the process.
