Hello everyone and welcome to the channel. Surprisingly, Google released the second build of Android Canary and it's called 257 or you can call it beta 2. Today I have it on my Pixel 8 Pro to show you everything new. So, let's jump in. So, let's start with the update size and the build number. Here on my 8 Pro, the update size was 540 MGB and the build number is ZP11.5250627.009. And it's also worth noting that after updating the phone, I got this overlay saying that your device has received a custom update Android canary program.
And now let's take a look at the new features. So let's jump right away to the home screen. And the first change is the updated animation. When you change your wallpaper using the home screen overlay menu, now it looks more refined and slower than the previous versions of Android 16. And for reference, here is a side-by-side comparison with QPR1 beta 3 when I change the wallpaper from here.
You see the animation is different. So, let's try it one more time. So, this one looks slightly better. The second change is related to the recent apps screen and we got a brand new haptic feedback when you resize the apps. So for example, this is a haptic feedback, another haptic feedback. So I'm getting around five different haptic feedbacks with every size I choose like this. And the last change in this chapter is related to Google Photos widget.
Now when I try to add any of them, it doesn't take me to the frame style picker immediately like before. But after a while, it will ask me first which Google account I want to choose and then it will show me the frame style picker. When you compare this to the previous versions of Android, even though I have multiple Google accounts on this phone as well, but when I try to do the same action, it takes me right away to the frame style picker. I also spotted another change related to live updates. When you start the navigation in Google Maps and then dismiss the picture and picture window, you will see a pill at the top in the status bar showing the ETA of your navigation and you can tap on it and exit the navigation from here. But nothing appears on the lock screen. As you see here, the pill disappears and you only get a notification. We got this feature previously in one of the previous betas of Android 16 and then it's gone and now it made its way back to Android Canary.
Before jumping to the next chapter, if you like any of the wallpapers you see in this video or any of my previous videos, they are now available in the wallpapers by In-Depth Tech Reviews app and I've just added these 25 new wallpapers that look amazing on any smartphone. And you will see me using them throughout the video to show you how they look in real life. Plus, now you have the ability to download the wallpapers locally on device, so you can apply Android 16 wallpaper effects on them, which will make them look even better. You will find Google Play Store download link in the description. And now, let's get back to the video. The rest of the new changes in this build are under settings. And let's start with Google services. Now, when you go to all services, you will see that the first category is called connected devices and sharing. While previously the first category was settings for Google apps while now in Android Canary you will see this category slightly down. The second change is under the apps menu. Now when I go to default apps and then wallet now I have the ability to use PayPal as my default payment method which never been the case before at least for me.
Moving to the display and touch menu. Now we have two new changes. The first one is under the always on display. Now we have this graphical representation to show you how it looks in real life. And the second change is under dark theme. Now we have a new option called expanded. And the description says automatically applies dark theme to more apps for improved accessibility. So, for example, if you have any of the apps that doesn't support dark theme, like the Fitbit app for example, even though my phone is in dark theme, but the app is still in light theme, but when I switch to the expanded mode and then get back to Fitbit, as you see, it turns into a dark theme app. But it's also worth mentioning that the expanded mode also darkens the home bar. So, you barely see it in dark theme apps. And the status bar as well is dark.
So, for example, when I go to the home screen, you see that my home bar is now black. And when I turn off the expanded mode and go back to standard, the home bar turns into white. When it comes to the apps that already have their own dark theme version, there is no impact between the expanded or the standard versions. They look exactly the same. Then we have a few changes under the system settings. And the first one is under language and region. You'll notice here that now you have the ability to add multiple preferred languages and you have the ability to reorder them as well. You have move down and here you have move up or you can remove the added language. And here you have a button to add your preferred language if you want. When you compare this to QPR1 beta 3 on my Pixel 9 Pro XL, you will see here that I don't have this feature.
But the problem here when I try to remove the language I added the whole system UI crashes and takes me back to the home screen. One more change under the same page. When you add certain languages like this one for example when you scroll down you might see a new menu called numbers preferences and this one is is specific for the Arabic UEE. And when I go inside I can choose between two different versions. And the last change I'm going to show you in this chapter is under software updates. Now we have August Google Play system update which is now available even before reaching August 2025. So that's it when it comes to the new features. Now let's talk about the bugs and bug fixes. Unfortunately, Google didn't share any release notes about this build to let us know what kind of issues we have and what are the fixes. But based on my experience, I spotted some UI glitches and issues here and there while scrolling as you see here.
And sometimes the UI doesn't render things properly. And the bug I already mentioned previously under the settings app. When you go to system language and region when you try to remove your preferred language, the system or the settings app crashes like this and takes you back to the home screen. Other than this, I didn't experience any major issues while filming this video. So that's pretty much it for today. These are all the new changes in Android Canary 257 or beta 2. Please let me know in the comments what do you think. But for now, thanks much for watching and see you in the next.
