Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR Android 16 introduces Live Updates, a new feature that elevates ongoing notifications to the status bar, but it excludes media playback notifications.
This is because media apps use a dedicated “Media style” template, which is not one of the specific styles that can be promoted to a Live Update.
Switching styles would cause media apps to lose key playback controls and features, a trade-off developers are unlikely to make for this new functionality.
Listening to music, audiobooks, or podcasts is one of the most common smartphone activities, which is why Android gives media notifications special treatment. Instead of lumping them in with other alerts, Android prominently displays media notifications under the Quick Settings panel, on the lock screen, and even on the always-on display. Still, you have to pull down the notification shade just to see the current track’s name. A new feature in Android 16 introduces status bar chips that could solve this, but sadly, it won’t work with your favorite music player. Here’s why.
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Android 16 brings a new notification feature called Live Updates, which are basically Android’s version of Live Activities on iOS. Live Updates are special notifications that the system elevates to appear prominently on the lock screen, always-on display, notification panel, and in the status bar. By design, they are always fully expanded and cannot be collapsed by the user.
On the lock screen and always-on display, Live Updates remain fully expanded even when other notifications are minimized. In the notification drawer, they appear at the top, while in the status bar, they become tiny chips with an icon and a short snippet of text from the app.
Google An example of Live Updates from the Uber Eats app on the AOD (left), lock screen (left middle), status bar (right middle), and heads-up notification (right).
For an app’s notification to qualify as a Live Update, it has to meet several key criteria: It must have a special permission . The app has to request the new POST_PROMOTED_NOTIFICATION permission added in Android 16 QPR1, which the user can grant or revoke at any time from Settings.
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